Press release

HRCP deplores damage to democracy, calls for economic justice

Lahore, 12 November 2023. On concluding its 37^th annual general meeting, the general body of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed its apprehension over the growing sense of powerlessness among ordinary people amid economic deprivation and unemployment.

HRCP believes that the most serious victims of political engineering in the run-up to the general elections have been democracy, electoral politics and the rule of law. Additionally, the establishment’s incursions into civic and political spaces have damaged the prospect of free, fair and credible elections. Concerns over contentious delimitations must also be taken into account by the ECP.

HRCP condemns the continuing curbs on freedom of expression: not only have journalists been summarily removed for expressing dissenting opinions, but many have also been prevented from reporting on recent events in areas such as Parachinar and Chaman. HRCP is well aware of the pressures on the media and is determined to hold the state accountable for such restrictions as the elections approach.

HRCP demands that the discredited chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances be removed, and the commission be held to account for its poor track record. In cases where victims’ families have filed petitions, HRCP urges the courts to identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable, and to ensure that victims and their families are given reparations. The continued use of internment centres is also cause for alarm and HRCP urges the Supreme Court to hear the petition filed on this matter urgently.

The state of law and order, especially in the kachha areas of Sindh and Punjab, needs immediate attention, amid reports that vulnerable Hindu families are being compelled to migrate as a result. The provincial governments must heed residents’ credible suspicion that influential persons are involved in drawing financial or political benefits from the deteriorating security situation. HRCP is also extremely concerned by the rise in number of police encounters and reminds the state that extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances are crimes against humanity and cannot be justified under any circumstances.

HRCP demands that the Newly Merged Districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be mainstreamed without further delay and local bodies empowered. It also expresses concern over the revival of the FATA Tribunal. The government must also monitor the situation in Parachinar and protect people’s right to security by preventing further sectarian violence.

The rising number of suicides, especially in Sindh, South Punjab and Gilgit, are cause for concern, given that many cases are connected to rising poverty. Economic deprivations have also had social consequences, reportedly driving many people to send their children to seminaries rather than schools, where radicalisation can be expected, to the detriment of society. This situation has been compounded by shrinking civic spaces, including curbs on academic freedom, including the persecution of a professor in Bannu, and curbs on freedom of peaceful assembly in Cholistan.

HRCP is especially alarmed by rights violations against vulnerable groups, including the relentless persecution of the Ahmadiyya, Christian and Hindu communities; and violence against children and women, including honour killings. Child domestic workers, who remain highly vulnerable to abuse and sexual violence, need special protection. The recent ban in Kohistan on women from working at NGOs must also be strongly condemned. HRCP opposes the ongoing drive to deport Afghan nationals, including those with legitimate documents. The government must also protect people’s right to fair wages and safe working conditions, particularly for fisherfolk, miners and sanitation workers.

HRCP is alarmed by the continued allotment of collectively owned land in Gilgit-Baltistan to private individuals and the impact of environmental degradation on people’s right to health and livelihood in this area.

Hina Jilani
Chairperson