ANOTHER annual report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and we are reminded that the expression ‘it cannot get any worse than this’ really does not apply to this country. The report, which is spread over some 350 pages of horrifying everyday details about rights in Pakistan, confirms the deepening malaise and continued lack of effort to address this by those at the helm. It was a bad year for minorities, a year during which hundreds fell to sectarian violence. After Balochistan, nationalists were now killed in Sindh and their bodies dumped by the wayside. It was the year of Hindu migration resulting from their persecution by the majority in their homeland, of forced conversions and marriages and of growing pressure on journalists. If the case of a former bonded labourer, a Hindu woman, taking part in the general election sought to create a rare happy example, the violence in Joseph Colony, Lahore, and the Peshawar church blast intervened to ensure that the gloom hanging over Pakistan persisted, even thickened. An ugly manifestation of faith-based violence was present in several acts of terrorism.
There were no signs of reform. The law enforcers remained weakly motivated and ill-equipped, and as the HRCP report rightly points out, the legislators could not bring themselves to perform their job with greater responsibility. The lawmakers appeared disinterested; they consisted of both, those who had been members of the parliament that completed its term in early 2013 and those who were brought into the house after an election marred by violence and blatant rights violations of its own. The militants did not allow some of the major parties to campaign and the system was in no condition to foil their designs.
The year could have been better had some in the lead cared to make an effort to deliver on their promises. For instance, it was Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry’s last year as the country’s chief justice. However, if anyone had hoped that the last few months of his term would be spent on trying to improve the system in aid of justice to the people at large, that was not to be. As millions of litigants remained stuck in the system, the judiciary’s priority in taking up select high-profile cases was questioned. The advent of a new government also raised hopes, but a few months down the road, HRCP reports that minorities are feeling increasingly threatened in Pakistan. Just as the minorities are wary of talks with the proscribed Taliban, the PML-N’s attempts at establishing control by applying a draconian law called the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance raises serious concerns. The law brings out the essential flaws of thinking in a country where those who believe that they have power prefer to use force to settle issues. That lies at the root of rights violations.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Pakistan: Rights violations in 2013
ANOTHER annual report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and we are reminded that the expression ‘it cannot get any worse than this’ really does not apply to this country. The report, which is spread over some 350 pages of horrifying everyday details about rights in Pakistan, confirms the deepening malaise and continued lack of effort to address this by those at the helm. It was a bad year for minorities, a year during which hundreds fell to sectarian violence. After Balochistan, nationalists were now killed in Sindh and their bodies dumped by the wayside. It was the year of Hindu migration resulting from their persecution by the majority in their homeland, of forced conversions and marriages and of growing pressure on journalists. If the case of a former bonded labourer, a Hindu woman, taking part in the general election sought to create a rare happy example, the violence in Joseph Colony, Lahore, and the Peshawar church blast intervened to ensure that the gloom hanging over Pakistan persisted, even thickened. An ugly manifestation of faith-based violence was present in several acts of terrorism.
There were no signs of reform. The law enforcers remained weakly motivated and ill-equipped, and as the HRCP report rightly points out, the legislators could not bring themselves to perform their job with greater responsibility. The lawmakers appeared disinterested; they consisted of both, those who had been members of the parliament that completed its term in early 2013 and those who were brought into the house after an election marred by violence and blatant rights violations of its own. The militants did not allow some of the major parties to campaign and the system was in no condition to foil their designs.
The year could have been better had some in the lead cared to make an effort to deliver on their promises. For instance, it was Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry’s last year as the country’s chief justice. However, if anyone had hoped that the last few months of his term would be spent on trying to improve the system in aid of justice to the people at large, that was not to be. As millions of litigants remained stuck in the system, the judiciary’s priority in taking up select high-profile cases was questioned. The advent of a new government also raised hopes, but a few months down the road, HRCP reports that minorities are feeling increasingly threatened in Pakistan. Just as the minorities are wary of talks with the proscribed Taliban, the PML-N’s attempts at establishing control by applying a draconian law called the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance raises serious concerns. The law brings out the essential flaws of thinking in a country where those who believe that they have power prefer to use force to settle issues. That lies at the root of rights violations.
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