Call for legislation on ratified human rights conventions
HYDERABAD: Experts and human rights activists lamented on Thursday that though Pakistan was signatory to a number of international conventions, successive governments hadn’t formulated any laws for ensuring basic human rights to people such as education, health and livelihood.
They were speaking at the launch of a national mobilisation campaign for ‘International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ organised at the Hyderabad Press Club by Bhittai Social Watch and Advocacy in collaboration with the Sindh Amun Forum.
Veteran human rights activist I.A Rehman underscored the need for legislation on all covenants signed and ratified by the Pakistan government.
He said that the debate on ICESCR had begun in 1947-48 when socialists found out that the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights suited the western world while conditions in this part of the world were remarkably different.
He said that of all the UN instruments, this one was the most significant cause its covenants focused on peoples’ livelihood and basic rights. He said that it protected the rights of peasants and women.
Mr Rehman said that resources had always belonged to people who were at the helm of affairs and decided how to utilise them but they still couldn’t deprive people of their rights under Article 1(2) of the declaration. He said that the covenants called for formation of trade unions which was very important in Pakistan’s case where the right to their formation had always been denied. He said that workers still didn’t have the rights they used to 40 years ago even though Pakistan was signatory to ILO conventions.
Similarly, said Mr Rehman, social security gave workers a sense of protection. He said that right to health facilities had also been accepted in the covenant.
He said that until April 2010, the right to free education had not been accepted. That happened after the 18th Amendment was passed though it was yet to be seen how the government did it.
He said that the rights covered in these conventions were indivisible but that was wasn’t always the case. “Pakistan ratifies treaties but there has been no serious legislation,” he said.
Mr Rehman called on the civil society to put pressure in the right direction for this purpose. Giving the example of land reforms which the Federal Shariat Court had declared to be un-Islamic, he said that the verdict of this court had been challenged in the apex court.
However, he said, rights groups had to be vigilant of the reports being sent to the ICESCR by the government. “One good thing in the covenant is that it calls for a government report which is true and prepared after public scrutiny,” he said. “Usually, all governments lie, when it comes to defining human rights situation including that of the US and European countries. But with these reports people must be aware of it and it calls on governments to inform them of what has been discussed in the UN.”
Peace activist Asad Iqbal Butt regretted that the parliament did not back up the conventions signed by Pakistani government even though there were many towering personalities in the legal fraternity.
He said that the education sector was allocated only two percent of the budget while defence received a large percentage. He believed that the state didn’t have confidence in its own laws. “In any society where there is no supremacy of law and the state itself resorts to enforced disappearances and there is throwing away of mutilated bodies, people will be forced to take up arms,” he said. “It the state broke its own laws then the people were also under no obligation to abide by them.”
Mr Butt was critical of the fact that government was poised to hold dialogues with the Taliban but was least interested in talking to those had launched a peaceful struggle.
Another speaker, Anwar Rashid, observed that peoples’ heroes should be Bhittai, Bullay Shah and Umar Khayam and said that it was actually the mindset of people which needed changing.
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