State of rights: Intolerance rising, writ of state weak

Commission highlights poor governance, failure to curb enforced disappearances.

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Sunday called for attention to pressing human rights challenges in the country.

A statement issued on the conclusion of the annual general body meeting drew attention towards rising violence and intolerance against religious and sectarian minorities, absence of state writ over expanding areas, poor governance, failure to curb enforced disappearances to the point where the numbers from Sindh now match those in Balochistan, dead bodies of missing persons being discovered, targeting of journalists and human rights defenders and considerable internal displacement.



The HRCP said: “The commission can appreciate that the authorities have a long list of violations to contend with, but the one-dimensional and merely reactive response to these violations has made the situation much worse than it would have been otherwise.”

The commission noted that intolerance continued unchecked as evidenced by growing incidents of violence against citizens deemed not to share the majority faith.

The HRCP demanded that early warnings be taken seriously and followed up with meaningful actions. It said the Joseph Colony attack on the Christian community in Lahore seemed to have been already forgotten. It said nothing had been done to inspire confidence that the butchering of Hazara Shias in Balochistan and Shias in Gilgit Baltistan would stop. It said Ahmadis continued to be murdered in targeted attacks on account of their belief.



The commission said distribution of weapons to certain sectarian groups had also been reported. People believed that the situation would not have been so precarious if at least some elements in the state machinery had not supported the trouble makers. There was a dire need to introduce a law on incitement to violence on the basis of religion.

The HRCP said the lawlessness was now the norm in many parts of the country including FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. It was difficult to imagine how the state of affairs could be any worse if there were no government in place in Karachi.

The HRCP said the conflict-related displacement went on with minimal support for the displaced and almost no efforts to address the root causes of displacement. The Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency had been under curfew for over a year. Nearly a million people were internally displaced from FATA. The supreme court was no nearer to deciding petitions against enforced disappearance that it had started hearing in 2007. The bodies of 72 people reported to have gone missing in Balochistan were found in deserted places in 2012.

The HRCP said the failure to implement international human rights treaties or even domestic law was made worse by a renewed appetite for introducing laws that undermine human rights. The perils for those working for promoting and defending human rights had risen perceptibly. Many journalists and human rights defenders had been murdered in targeted attacks. Many others had faced threats and intimidation. In 2012 again, Pakistan was one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. 14 journalists were killed across the country. The threats to journalists were perhaps the most grave in Khuzdar, Balochistan, where relatives of journalists were also killed in targeted attacks. The stubborn refusal to benefit from the energies of women and members of minority communities had not helped in resolving these issues.

The general body expressed grave concern at reports surfacing yet again of concerted moves to prevent women from contesting or voting in the 2013 general elections in Torghar, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Mianwali. The HRCP urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to publicly condemn such illegal acts and take effective measures to stop them; to declare void the results of any constituency which showed disproportionately low or no votes cast by women; and to announce this decision well in advance of the election day.

The HRCP said it was aware of the limited role of the caretaker governments, but they must protect the life, liberty and security of people. The commission said it was imperative that a new government that reflected the genuine will of people took over at the earliest to deal with these challenges. It was vital that the change came through the ballot and not through the gun or fatwas by the “custodians of morality”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2013.