National Human Rights Commission to get chairperson today

Names of members of the commission will be finalised on July 22.

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee is set to meet on July 21 to consider nominations made by the prime minister and leader of the opposition for the appointment of a chairperson and members of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

The parliamentary panel will appoint an NCHR chairperson on July 21 and will finalise names for the rest of the committee's members on on July 22.

The government has so far failed to constitute the NCHR, despite the fact that the National Commission for Human Rights Act 2012 was passed and approved by the then president in May 2012.

Under the NCHR Act 2012, the federal government is responsible for constituting a commission for the promotion and protection of rights in the country.

Furthermore, the commission must consist of 10 members, including a chairperson and a member each from the four provinces, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata and Islamabad Capital Territory, minority communities and the chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women. Two seats must be allocated to women within the commission.

According to the Paris Principles, which were adopted at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris in October 1991, and endorsed by the UN General Assembly, member states must establish national rights institutions.

Nearly 100 national human rights institutions have been subsequently constituted by member states. The NHCR in India has been functioning since 1993.While amendments have been made in the Human Rights Act, 1993 in 2006. However, even after nearly 21 years, Pakistan has failed to constitute a national human rights commission so far.