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Address human rights violations seriously: Hina Jilani to Pak Government

Amid rising cases of forced disappearances in the country, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairperson Hina Jilani on Friday asked the Shehbaz Sharif’s government not to take the issues of human rights violations lightly. The report said the PTI government failed to get the long-awaited bill passed to criminalise enforced disappearance as a separate autonomous offence despite making commitments since 2018, Dawn reported. It further explained that the highest number of enforced disappearances (1,108) reported by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance in 2021 was in Balochistan while the highest number of pending cases – 1,417 – were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In February, a large group of protesters held a week-long sit-in in Islamabad against enforced disappearances in Balochistan.Ms Jilani and HRCP Secretary General Harris Khalique, along with members of the commission, launched the report.Highlighting the issue of freedom of expression, the report pointed out that at least in nine cases, journalists were intimidated or silenced.

“Although the Prime Minister met a three-member delegation from the sit-in, no progress was made towards recovering their family members,” read the report, adding two students from the University of Balochistan allegedly disappeared in November, stated Dawn.

The report also threw light on the lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot by a mob on allegations of blasphemy and the savage murder of human rights defender Nazim Jokhio allegedly by PPP lawmakers.The HRCP asked the government to take steps for protecting the freedom of expression and rights of vulnerable and excluded groups.“With 5,279 rape cases and 478 honour killings and the macabre murder of Noor Mukhaddam in Islamabad, women’s rights activists rightly spoke of a ‘femicide emergency’ in Pakistan in 2021,” the report said.

It further pointed out delays in court cases and said by year-end there were over 2.14 million cases pending in the judiciary against the 2.15 million in 2020, a slight fall in the backlog of cases.

The HRCP report said a total of 172 laws were enacted by parliament and provincial assemblies: 58 federal and 114 provincial laws.

The report said UN human rights experts called on Pakistan to halt evictions of residents from Gujjar nullah and Orangi nullah in Karachi, and separately appealed for the release of Stephen Masih, a Pakistani Christian from Sialkot detained for two years on blasphemy charges.

Death plenty was awarded to at least 125 convicts in 2021, including three women, a fall from at least 177 people in 2020, it added.

According to Dawn, the transgender community continues to be marginalised both socially and economically. In Karachi alone, more than 200 threatening video and audio messages sent to transgender persons were reported, creating a sense of fear and insecurity among the community.

Children between the ages of six and 15 years, both boys and girls, remained as susceptible to abuse and violence as other marginalised groups, the report quoted, citing sources.Moreover, in January, Islamic State militants kidnapped and killed 11 coal miners from the Shia Hazara community, which led to a multiple-day protest against the incident by the community in Quetta, demanding that the then Prime Minister Imran Khan visit their camp. However, Mr Khan termed their demand ‘blackmailing’ and refused to visit them.In August, the Prime Minister officially launched the much-disputed Single National Curriculum (SNC) for primary schools and seminaries, claiming that this initiative would reduce educational disparities.

However, the SNC drew strong criticism from education experts and human rights defenders for its lack of inclusivity, over-emphasis on Islamic religious content at the expense of religious minorities and poor pedagogy, read the report.

Islamabad’s state terror and crimes against humanity are most unconscionable. In fact, violence against women and girls, including rape, murder, acid attacks, domestic violence, and forced marriage, is quite endemic throughout Pakistan.

https://theprint.in/world/address-human-rights-violations-seriously-hina-jilani-to-pak-government/937845/

EDITORIAL: #Pakistan - Shame -

From tooting the horn of Riyasat-e-Madina (as if to wake the dead) to shamelessly orchestrating a gross massacre of its sanctity, the former ruling party has taken the dirtiest of plunges in its political history.

And that is quite a statement for an entity that has engineered a cult-like following on the shoulders of twisted verses, borrowed majestic characters and the usual dosage of I, Me and Myself. Since the kaptaan can never be wrong, why think twice about the moralities or even technicalities of what his army expects the foot soldiers to do? The die has been cast and the fascist genie refuses to part from the limelight. Why would it, considering the ever-active circus shocking people beyond imagination?Pulling hair, calling names, throwing basic ethics out the window and satiating the beast of misogyny, what transpired in the holiest of lands has not only dragged the entire country through the mire for putting its fault lines on display but even drawn the ire of the Islamic world for shamelessly trampling upon its ideals.

As the wheels have already been set in motion and Riyadh is busy hounding the names of all those involved, having made up its mind to make an example out of them, one can only help but wonder what did the “rebels” manage to achieve out of this heated drama.

It would be a crippling tragedy for those living in Saudi Arabia on a work visa to be banished out of sight. Far more so for their families, many of whome spent their lifetime of savings on a scant ray of hope-remittances.

Now while the great unwashed brace themselves for din prospects, the minds and muscle behind the exercise enjoy their impunity. Because no Saudi official would cast a stone at Imran Khan for breeding a mentality that does not hesitate for a split second before hurling the vilest of accusations. One day, they demand certificates of belief in the finality of prophethood (PBUH) from their rivals and on the other, weave a malicious campaign using the religion card. To top it all off, no country, no city, no mosque, no resting place trumps their so-called crusade to right the wrong allegedly done to them.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/927984/shame-2/

On International #LabourDay, #PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari links sustainable development to change in toiling workers’ conditions

 Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the dream of sustainable development in the country will remain unfulfilled unless the conditions of the toiling workers change.

In his message on the International Labour Day issued by Media Cell Bilawal House, the Chairman PPP and Foreign Minister extended his good wishes and greetings to all Pakistani workers on this May Day. He further said that in Pakistan, PPP has always been at the forefront in recognizing and promoting the rights of workers. 
 
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the ideology and manifesto of PPP is based on the welfare and progress of the workers. He said that the 1973 constitution piloted by Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto guarantees fair wages to the workers, protection of their lives, and equal relationships with the employers, adding that the first-ever Labour Policy introduced by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the country is a paradigm for the rights of the workers in Pakistan. “The Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS), the first provincial tripartite labor policy introduced by the Sindh government during 2013-18 tenure, and the provision of land for landless farmers are just a few of the countless other steps taken by the people’s governments”, he pointed out.
 
PPP Chairman praised the current unity government for raising the minimum wage to Rs 25,000 per month. He said that the failed economic policies of the previously selected regime had severely damaged the national economy, making it difficult for the poor to survive, adding that despite such a difficult situation, the PPP stands in the field to protect the interests of the workers and bring them relief.
 
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has assured all the workers and trade unions of the country that his party, following the ideology of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the philosophy of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, will continue to play the role of advocate and protector of Pakistani workers’ rights.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/26940/