CM’s assistant stresses need for collaboration among departments to enforce human rights

The human rights department of the Sindh government has reiterated its commitment to implementing the international conventions on human rights.

In a recent awareness session held by the department under the title ‘Orientation Session on International Human Rights Obligations and its Implementation Mechanism at Federal and Provincial Level’, the department said it wanted to collaborate with other departments and institutions to ensure zero tolerance for human rights violations.

The awareness session was attended by representatives of the revenue, police and law departments as well as bodies working for the protection and rights of vulnerable sections of society, including women and children. Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to the Sindh Chief Minister on Human Rights Surendar Valasai said Sindh was ahead of other provinces in preventing human rights violations and providing protection and justice to the victims.

He pointed out that by enforcing human rights, Pakistan could also increase its foreign revenue by getting GSP+ status by the European Union.

Valasai said the groundwork for GSP+ was done during the government led by former president Asif Ali Zardari. He added that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had always had an unequivocal stand regarding human rights that could not be expected from other political parties. The special assistant to the CM said that only the federal and provincial mechanisms for prevention of human rights violations were not enough and those mechanisms needed to be extended to the district level.