Seminar: Human rights bill to be tabled in NA soon

Participants discuss role of a national human rights body.

ISLAMABAD:

The revised Human Rights Bill will be tabled before the National Assembly for approval soon with most of the amendments recommended by PILDAT having been accepted.  This was announced at the Legislative Forum held to discuss the National Commission for Human Rights Bill 2008 on Tuesday. The event was organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT).

Ayesha Hamid, an advocate High Court, I A Rehman, general secretary Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Ahmed Bilal, executive eirector PILDAT along with MNAs, lawyers and human right activists were present on the occasion.

The participants urged the government to investigate whether the provinces needed to have their own human rights commissions after the 18th Amendment or not.

Fauzia Habib, member National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights and political secretary to the president, said currently the human rights situation owes to the dictatorship in the past and a lot of effort was needed to improve the situation.

“Governments come and go, but institutions remain, so it is high time institutions are strengthened,” she said.

I A Rehman, on the other hand, said, “The first element in reviewing the bill is to see its compliance with the UN Resolution and Paris Principles. No government in the world can bear any independent human rights commission or body.”

National Human Rights Commission, after its establishment, needs regular consultations with similar type of private bodies, Rehman added. He contended that basic human rights should not be compromised even in extreme cases, for instance the Constitution of Pakistan cannot be violated for the sake of national security.

“In this draft bill, separate human rights courts are to be set up which will create a separate and parallel judicial system, thats why this clause should be omitted,” she said.

Moreover, Hamid stressed that the commission should be independent according to the Paris Principles, member of commission should be impartial and representatives of the society and funding of commission should be from independent sources.

The participants said that chairperson and member of the commission may be appointed by recommendations of a committee, which will have the prime minister as chairman and other important members of the national assembly.

In the discussion session, participants also presented many suggestions while a debate on the jurisdiction of the parliament to pass a bill for setting up the National Commission for Human Rights was also questioned. Some believed that after the passage of 18th Amendment, Human Rights had become a provincial subject and parliament had no right to legislate for setting up the National Commission.

The formation of parallel courts with the existing courts will create confusion and difficulties, said a participant.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2011.