Government has failed to curb religious strife: HRCP
ISLAMABAD, February 02 2005: A report on the state of human rights in Pakistan during the last year described the period as of “sectarian madness” and said it had more victims of religious terrorism to mourn than any other year in the past.
The sectarian violence across the country increased with some of the worse incidents at Quetta, Karachi, Multan and Sialkot with the Shia remaining the main target of such attacks, the report released by its current Chairman, Tahir Muhammad Khan said.
The 320-page survey rendered in English as well as Urdu that was commented upon by former Chairman Afrasiab Khattak, Director of Commission, I A Rahman and an activist Nasreen Azhar.
Afrasiab Khattak criticised the role of law enforcement agencies in the Waziristan area of the FATA and also the recent moves by armed forces in Bugti tribal region and said the government had disregarded the so-called “sanctity” of these places but not provided their people with reforms available to the settled areas.
He said the government had moved under the cover of century-old imperial legacy of Frontier Crimes Regulation for the recovery of unlicensed weapons but not extended the same law for same purposes in the rest of country that had become an ammunition dump. Afrasiab Khattak also criticised the government for its failure to bring back Pakistani prisoners from Afghanistan and said according to his information there were between three to four hundred such captives in the Afghani jails.
He questioned the figures given out by the Foreign office that only 49 prisoners were left and Pakistani Embassy in Kabul was trying to get them released.
While lamenting the “sectarian madness” in the country during last year, journalist, trade unionist and human right activist, I A Rehman criticised the government failure to curb religious strife that had spread a sense of insecurity among the minorities. However, Rahman said there was a cheerful note to the report that spoke of an awakening among the urban populace and there have been occasions when it had risen to protect its rights and also what belonged to it.
In its contents the report discussed the recent enactment’s by the Parliament, the role of judiciary, general law and order situation, the state of the minorities, conditions of jail and their inmates, freedoms of movement, thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly, association, political participation, living conditions of women, children and labour. It also pinpointed the shortcomings in the health, education, environment and housing sectors and summed up with a review of the return of refugees to Afghanistan that it said stood at the lowest level in over a decade.
However, under the same title it also discussed the Pakistanis who were internally displaced because of “mega projects”. It also called for ratification of a UN Convention on refugees and also to pay greater attention to the refugees from the Indian-held Kashmir.
In conclusion the report singled out late Zamir Niazi, a journalist activist and media historian for a tribute to his years of struggle for press freedom and hoped that it will carried over by others in the coming years.
Discussing the current operations in Waziristan as well as in Balochistan, the Commission described those as “militarisation of society” and recorded its deep concern over their lack of “transparency”. It claimed that the operations in Wana alone had claimed several lives, including women and children and rendered over 30, 000 homeless.
It called for a complete account of actual casualties of the Army personnel and the details of the circumstances in which they lost of their lives.
The Commission also called for review of “death penalty regime” and recommended that priority should be given to a review and evaluation of the changes in the judicial system. It also urged the early “burial” of infamous Frontier Crimes Regulation and abolishing of parallel judicial systems.
Among other topics, the report criticised “a long delay in filling” vacancies in the Supreme Court and also called for stringent laws on curbing the increasing pollution in the country. It suggested acceleration of conversion of vehicle to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and a ban on the heavily leaded fuel.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:2/2/2005
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