HRCP expresses serious concern over Pakistan’s dire economic situation

INTERNATIONAL DESK:  On concluding its biannual meeting, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s governing Council has expressed serious concern over the country’s dire economic situation, purported increase in child labour and exploitative practices, and reports of suicides allegedly triggered by poverty.

HRCP,  in a press release issued on Sunday, reiterates the need for urgent land reforms to reduce economic inequality and views the growth of high-income housing societies with alarm, given the consequent depletion of agricultural land and associated risk of rising food insecurity.

HRCP strongly feels that the growing political polarisation has undermined parliamentary supremacy. Concerns over the census and allegations of undercounting must also be addressed, given the implications for delimitation of electoral constituencies. Local governments need to be made much more effective in all the provinces to protect people’s rights. HRCP also demands greater judicial accountability and transparency in the appointment of judges.

Unseasonal rains and the growing prospect of floods in Sindh and Balochistan are cause for alarm. Those displaced by the earlier floods must be rehabilitated in areas that are not vulnerable to further natural disasters.

HRCP is also alarmed by the deteriorating law and order in northern Sindh and southern Punjab, including the increase in dacoities and kidnappings, as well as reports of the growing presence of militants in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan.

The state must make a concerted effort to protect the rights of vulnerable groups, including Afghan refugees settled in makeshift camps in Islamabad. It must meet the long-standing demand for compensation for people displaced by the 2010 Attabad disaster and Kargil war in Gilgit-Baltistan and make every effort to repatriate Pakistani fisherfolk incarcerated in Indian jails. HRCP is also concerned over the continuing legal challenges being mounted against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018.

HRCP is especially concerned over the situation of religious minorities, who continue to face discrimination and violence. A bill criminalising forced conversions, currently with the Sindh government, should be passed without further delay. The Sindh Students Union Act must also be implemented promptly.

The continued use of Schedule IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 to harass human rights defenders, political dissidents and journalists in Gilgit-Baltistan must cease. Additionally, the journalists’ safety commission instituted under the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act 2021 must be made operational.

HRCP reiterates its utter dissatisfaction with the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, given that perpetrators of enforced disappearances are still not held accountable. We also call for transparency into the resources that were supposed to have been allocated to the newly merged districts in KP and reportedly have not. Additionally, there needs to be a concerted effort to remove landmines in KP.