Human rights courts for Islamabad notified

Islamabad: Pursuing the Islamabad High Court (IHC) orders, the government has designated the Courts of District and Session Judges (East and West) Islamabad as Human Rights Courts for speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights.

The IHC directed the Federal Government to complete the process of establishing and notifying Human Rights Courts under Section 21 of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Act 2012 within 10 days from the date of receiving the order. The directions were issued on October 24, 2022. In compliance with the order, a notification for the establishment of Human Rights Courts was issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on November 18.

Section 21 of NCHR Act 2012 says that “for the purposes of speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights, the Federal Government may, in consultation with Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, by notification in the official Gazette, specify a Court of Sessions to be the Human Rights Court for that District to try such offences.”

In this regard, the Islamabad High Court issued directives to the Ministry of Human Rights on October 24, 2022, after the visit of IHC judges to Central Jail, Adiala. The visit was conducted in connection with the NCHR’s inquiry report on Custodial Torture at Central Jail (Adiala), Rawalpindi. The NCHR prepared the inquiry report at the behest of Justice Minallah on the basis of a complaint against custodial torture filed by Imtiaz Bibi before the IHC. During the inquiry, the Commission also facilitated the speedy trial and release of 62 juvenile prisoners from Central Jail, Adiala

Responding to the decision, Chairperson NCHR Rabiya Javeri Agha thanked the judiciary, particularly the Islamabad High Court, for proactive measures they have taken to support and empower the Commission to do its legally mandated job which is the promotion and protection of Human Rights in the country.

“We would like to thank former IHC Chief Justice Ather Minallah and current Chief Justice Amir Farooq for the very timely intervention in the creation of Human Rights Courts. “The Human Rights courts will go a long way in ensuring that violations of human rights are addressed and acted upon swiftly and judiciously,” she said.

In addition to establishing the Human Rights Courts, the IHC directed the Federal Government to place copies of the inquiry report and IHC order before the Prime Minister and his Cabinet and asked the Government to take urgent measures to facilitate Commission to effectively undertake its functions so as to prevent human rights abuse in general and implementation of the recommendations made in the inquiry report in particular.

The court also ordered the commission and Federal Government to send a copy of the inquiry report to Punjab Government through Chief Minister to take immediate action against public servants responsible for human rights abuses in the Central Jail, Rawalpindi. It also asked the Government to seek a report from the Punjab Government regarding remedial actions taken to prevent further human rights abuses by officials of Central Jail and the disciplinary action taken against officials engaged in such abuse and negligence.

The court also directed the Federal Government to extend assistance to the commission in establishing a Complaint Cell in the central jail and asked the commission to nominate a representative who shall visit the Central Jail in order to ensure that prisoners who have disclosed instances of custodial torture are not harmed or subjected to act of reprisal by the prison authorities.