Increase in human rights violations: Marvi Memon releases ‘white paper’ in National Assembly
ISLAMABAD: A Member National Assembly of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Saturday released a ‘white paper’ on the unprecedented increase in Human Rights Violations in Pakistan in 2010 that badly damage its image at international level.
The white paper has the chronologies of different human rights violations reported in media during the outgoing year 2010, such as acid throwing, rape, honour killing, violence against minorities, domestic violence, child labour, human trafficking, sexual harassment and other violations.
Talking to Business Recorder, Marvi said that it was very unfortunate that despite reporting the violation of human rights in media repeatedly, the issue was being unheeded by the government, which was denying fulfilling its obligations of providing protection to the people.
She said that being an important pillar of the state, media was fulfilling its responsibility and now it was obligatory on the government to fill its duty and take serious notice of the unabated human rights violations in the country, which was not only negating the concept of a welfare state, but also giving bad name to the country at international level.
Marvi, through a letter attached with the white paper to Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Speaker National Assembly, Dr Fehmida Miraz and Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights, Riaz Fityana, said, “Executive and parliament must fulfil its responsibility or else judiciary will be burdened unnecessarily to save Pakistan from worsening human rights indexes.”
She said that as an active member of Parliament, it was her duty to identify the human rights violation issues and demanded of the government to take practical measures to curb the menace. She said that a number of cases related to human rights violations have increased in 2010, which have inflicted great damage to Pakistan’s image, as a just welfare state.
The MNA said that she had submitted a bill “Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010” in National Assembly Secretariat on January 26, 2010, since then the bill has been pending with National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior. In the bill, Marvi said that she had proposed severe punishments, such as life imprisonment for culprits involved in acid throwing. She said that the bill also proposes certain amendments, which deal with acid sale and purchase regularisation.
She was of the view that the acid throwing issues could have been minimised if the legislation had to be done in the light of the Bill. Citing some cases of acid throwing incidents, she said that acid was thrown on a schoolteacher Nosheen, adding that the victim might have been saved if the bill been passed from Parliament and a group of “Baloch Gharitmand” might have not been able to throw acid on two innocent girls in Dalbandin and 31 people might have not suffered burn injuries in an acid attack on a protest in Ghanta Ghar Peshawar.
She said that the acid throwing incidents have increased to the extent that even Supreme Court had to direct law enforcing agencies to check the menace “vigorously”. Marvi said last year she personally visited different cities and villages in Pakistan to highlight human rights violations and support the victims and their families in the time of need. She said from Ghanchy to Malir, she had tried to respond to every human rights violation.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:1/2/2011
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