{"id":8926,"date":"2023-12-11T10:17:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T10:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=8926"},"modified":"2023-12-11T10:17:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T10:17:38","slug":"hrcp-calls-for-protection-of-labour-rights-civil-rights-on-human-rights-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/hrcp-calls-for-protection-of-labour-rights-civil-rights-on-human-rights-day\/","title":{"rendered":"HRCP calls for protection of labour rights, civil rights on Human Rights Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release<\/p>\n

HRCP calls for protection of labour rights, civil rights on Human Rights Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karachi, 11 December 2023<\/em>. Several hundred members of civil society gathered at a conference organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) yesterday to mark International Human Rights Day and call on the state to protect and uphold the right to \u2018freedom, justice and equality for all\u2019.<\/p>\n

HRCP Council member Sadia Baloch opened the conference by pointing out that every day should be thought of as \u2018Human Rights Day\u2019. Lawyer Akhtar Hussain underscored the importance of the right to health, education and shelter, while poet Waheed Noor recited verses on the theme of political resistance and human rights. Women\u2019s rights activist Anis Haroon condemned enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, which she said had weakened the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

HRCP Council member and journalist Sohail Sangi emphasized the need to protect fundamental freedoms and restore student unions. Climate justice activist Yasir Hussain pointed to record-high levels of pollution, adding that environmental rights were integral to human rights. Labour rights activist Nasir Mansoor said that labour rights had been neglected and called on the state to protect the right to a living wage and food security. Senior journalist Tauseef Ahmed Khan pointed out that threats to freedom of expression in the present climate had resulted in self-censorship. HRCP Council member Mahnaz Rahman said that the situation of vulnerable women labourers must be improved.<\/p>\n

Rights activist Surath Lohar from Sindh\u2019s Voice for Missing Persons underscored the impunity with which enforced disappearances continued to take place. Lala Wahab from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee added that the planned long march to Islamabad from Balochistan was precisely against such heinous crimes. Defence of Human Rights activist Aishah Masood pointed out that Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution upheld the rights of missing persons. Activist Sarang Joyo emphasized that civil society must be united against enforced disappearances to effect change. Finally, psychologist Dr Syed Ali Wasif cited numerous examples where the state\u2019s use of such tactics against its own citizens had led to the collapse of social structures.<\/p>\n

Concluding the conference, HRCP chair Asad Iqbal Butt advocated democratic reforms to allow effective representation in legislatures, not just those of elite interests. HRCP\u2019s vice-chair for Sindh, Qazi Khizar Habib, agreed, adding that the state must prioritize economic and social justice.<\/p>\n

Asad Iqbal Butt
\nChairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>