The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) notes that widespread social and economic marginalisation have left the weakest segments of society invisible and unheard.
HRCP’s honorary spokesperson IA Rehman has termed Pakistan’s human rights record in 2019 ‘greatly worrisome’, adding that the ongoing global pandemic ‘is likely to cast a long shadow on prospects for human rights.’
On the release of its flagship annual report, State of Human Rights in 2019, HRCP’s secretary-general Harris Khalique observed: ‘Last year will be remembered for systematic curbs on political dissent, the chokehold on press freedom, and the grievous neglect of economic and social rights.’ ‘The 2019 report also offers standalone chapters on each federating unit and administered territories so that no area remains underreported or missed out,’ he added.
Pakistan has failed to protect its most vulnerable: reports of child labourers being sexually abused in mines surfaced in Balochistan, while news of young children being raped, murdered and dumped has become frighteningly common. Women continued to bear the brunt of society’s fixation with ‘honour’, with Punjab accounting for the highest proportion of ‘honour’ crimes. Equally, Pakistan does not protect those to whom it has a duty of care: prisoners in the country’s sorely overpopulated jails remain relegated to subhuman level.
Chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan reaffirmed HRCP’s distress over the gross violations of human rights committed in Indian-held Kashmir since August 2019 and the imminent fallout of the situation on regional peace and stability.
