KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: On the eve of International Human Rights Day, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pledged Pakistan’s commitment to human rights, urging the world to raise voice against HR violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu 7 Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and Palestine.
He said on Friday “our commitment to human rights is unshakable and every effort will be made to ensure protection and promotion of rights of every citizen of the country”. In his message on the eve of International Human Rights Day, being observed on Saturday, December 10, the PPP chairman said his party had fought for decades against the usurpers of democratic and human rights of people enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan is party to 27 International Conventions including 7 core Human Rights Treaties. On account of being party to 27 Conventions, Pakistan entered into the GSP agreement with the EU in 2014. Under these obligations, Pakistan has shown significant progress on human rights at legislative, institutional and policy reforms level. At national level, these developments include, but are not limited to, establishment of the Treaty Implementation Cell (TIC), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) such as National Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on the Rights of Child, and formulation of the National Action Plan for Human Rights.
Bilawal pointed out that at provincial level, the PPP government also exhibited profound commitment to human rights. The Sindh government developed a very robust legal institutional and policy framework protecting, promoting and fulfilling rights of the marginalised sections of society such as children, women, religious monitories, agriculture workers, home-based workers, bonded labourers and informal workers.
The major laws enacted by the Sindh government include Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013, Sindh Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Act 2013, Sindh Senior Citizens Welfare Act 2014, Sindh Differently-abled Persons Employment Rehabilitation and Welfare Act 2014, Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 2015, Sindh Hindus Marriage Act 2016, and Sindh Hindu Marriage Amendment Act 2018, Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018, and Sindh Prisons and Corrections Services Act 2019.
Major human rights commissions, set up by the Sindh government include the Sindh Child Protection Authority (SCPA), established under the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act (SCPAA) 2011, the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC), set up under the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act 2011, the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW), set up under the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women Act (SCSWA) 2015.
The Sindh Human Rights Department has recently made key strides. It prepared a draft Human Rights Policy for the province of Sindh with the technical support of Huqooq-e-Pakistan project, European Union project team and other experts. Realising importance of GSP, the department organised a conference on Human Rights Reforms in Sindh, ‘GSP and Beyond’ in May 2022. In Karachi, Charg d Affaires of the European Union (EU) delegation to Pakistan Thomas Seiler also attended the conference as a speaker. —PPI