The poor state of human rights in Pakistan
HRCP state of human rights 2021report paints a sorry picture of the human rights in Pakistan
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The HRCP put
forward its detailed review of the state of human rights in the country and the
measures that should be taken to reduce human rights violations in the country.
The media remained under pressure as the PTI government continue to target the
journalists having critical views about the government policies. At least 9 journalists
faced harassment and violence in the line of the duty.
The violence
against women is still rampant and took every possible form: from rape to domestic
abuse to horrific murders to honour killings. The report has noted that 478
honour killings were reported in the country in 2021, although the number is
almost certainly much higher with many never reaching the press, and over 5237
cases of rapes were reported by the media.
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Overall, violence in the country appeared to
have increased quite dramatically. The HRCP has especially noted the case of
Nazim Jokhio, and the mob lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara in
Sialkot. These are but just a few examples of the disturbing trend of increased
violence in the country.
We have
watched in horror as Pakistani society has increasingly grown more violent. We have become a less tolerant society in the last
few years. Religious extremism has also
increased in the last three decades as religious groups become more emboldened
and violent. This is a direct result of consistent state policies that
encouraged extremist religious views and ideologies.
The report
has also noted the way the previous government used ordinances to push through
laws, some of them highly detrimental to freedom of expression. The HRCP has
also noted that religion was used multiple times over the years to try and stop
various acts of legislation from being passed.
One of the
most difficult issues human rights defenders in Pakistan have faced over a
number of years has been that of missing persons or enforced disappearances. In
2021, says the HRCP, the highest number of enforced disappearances was reported
to have been in Balochistan, with the government having failed to resolve the concerns
of families of the missing despite sit-ins in Islamabad.
The report
said the PTI government failed to get the long-awaited bill passed to
criminalise enforced disappearance as a separate autonomous offense despite
making commitments since 2018.
It said the
highest number of enforced disappearances (1,108) reported by the Commission of
Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance in 2021 was in Balochistan while the highest
number of pending cases - 1,417 - were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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“The state’s
attempts to expand the scope of restriction on freedom of expression under
Article 19 of the Constitution have emboldened non-state actors to impose their
whims often violently on those who do not agree with them.”
It pointed
out delays in court cases and said by year-end there were over 2.14 million
cases pending in the judiciary against the 2.15 million in 2020, a slight fall
in the backlog of cases.
The HRCP asked the government to take steps for protecting the freedom of expression and rights of vulnerable and excluded groups.
The report
pointed out that at least 1,896 cases of child abuse were documented across the
country between January and June, according to one estimate though the number
is higher. Children between the ages of six and 15 years, both boys and girls,
remained the most vulnerable to abuse and violence. Police continue to violate
the basic human rights of ordinary citizens.
Pakistan
needs to do a lot more to protect the basic human rights of its citizens. We
have failed to make human rights our priority so far. We need to change our
attitude towards human rights as a state and society. Protecting the most
vulnerable sections of our population including women and children should be
our top priority. Freedom of speech, expression, and media is a must to build a
democratic society.
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