Injustice abounds

‘Human rights’ are not high on the agenda of this or any other previous government, and injustices in a variety of forms and formats, some of them institutional, abound and appear to be multiplying. The latest report by Amnesty International (AI) says bluntly that 2014 was a “dark year for human rights in Pakistan”. It is the ordinary civilians of Pakistan who bear the brunt of violence and armed groups continue to “show a shocking disregard” for human life. It is not only the government and its various agencies that violate human rights; it must also be remembered that terrorists violate those rights as well, and with lethal or life-changing consequences. Those most at risk are not properly protected — the endless reports of workers associated with the polio vaccination drives is a case in point — and the arrest and successful prosecution of those who carry out such attacks is extremely rare.



The AI report is scathing in its criticism of the inaction over the Supreme Court ruling of 2013, which ordered the recovery of victims of enforced disappearances. It claims a failure to fulfil national and international obligations as well as obligations under the Constitution. It is difficult to disagree with any element of the AI report. In broad terms, human rights have moved to the back burner as the government wades into the National Action Plan and begins to prime the military courts that are shortly to begin operation. Terrorists are unlikely to be deterred by the re-introduction of the death penalty as they are already happy to espouse death anyway, and their execution is providing ready-made martyrs for their cause.

Raw terrorism aside, the AI report touches on the injustices suffered by religious minorities, sectarianism and the abuse of the blasphemy laws. The perils of journalism make Pakistan one of the most dangerous countries to report on, with eight dead in 2014. Whilst it is accepted that extraordinary times may require extraordinary measures, the wholesale dismantling of the human rights infrastructure does not bode well for the future of Pakistan as a developing state; rights thus lost are never easily regained.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th,  2015.

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