NCHR presents annual report in Parliament

Islamabad:The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) dealt with total 2972 complaints during the last one year. Among these complaints, 2459 were disposed of, whereas 513 are under process.

The data was shared in the Annual Report of the Commission which was presented in and approved by the Parliament for the first time since the establishment of the Commission in 2012. Presentation and approval of the Annual Report is the statutory requirement of the National Commission for Human Rights Act 2012. On behalf the Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar presented the NCHR Annual Report for the period from December 2021 to December 2022, in the sitting of the National Assembly held on July 31 and the Senate on July 2.

The report highlights the NCHR’s performance during last one year, ranging from the number of complaints dealt by the Commission to the suo moto actions, visits to jails and hospitals, research reports and fact-finding missions, awareness campaigns conducted by the Commission and the actions taken by the government as a result of NCHR interventions. The annual report shows that the Commission dealt with total 2972 cases during last one year. Among these complaints, 2459 complaints were disposed off, whereas 513 are under process. The report also shares the details of the cases highlighted by the Commission and the action taken on those cases.

The report states that the Commission members visited 21 jails, sub-jails and district jails in one year and raised a strong voice regarding the challenges faced by inmates. The Commission also prepared a manual for police and medico-legal examiners on the best practices of investigating torture. On the recommendation of NCHR, IG Police Punjab directed heads of all Police training institutes to make module of prevention of custodial torture a part of all promotional and mandatory courses.

As a result of NCHR’s intervention, 85 juvenile prisoners were released from Punjab and Balochistan prisons. NCHR’s efforts also led to the first ever notification of Juvenile Justice Committees in Islamabad and the notification of two Human Rights Courts. The report states that the Commission reviewed and lobbied for 15 legislation and launched or still working on 7 fact-finding and research reports. The Commission ran 17 awareness campaigns around human rights issues.

As a result of NCHR’s intervention, 600 students of three new medical colleges from Balochistan were registered by Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC). The PMC denied registration of these students before the action was taken by the Commission in response to a complaint. In another fact-finding report into the state of mental health legislation, policies, licensing, and facilities in the country, the Commission gave 20 recommendations to address the mental health infrastructure in the country which was shared with Parliamentarians, Registrar of the Supreme Court, President, and Prime Minister’s office. The report was acknowledged by the President of Pakistan in an address to the joint session of Parliament and it also contributed in levelling a ground for approval of a law to decriminalise suicide in the country.

The Annual Report shares that NCHR worked on the reinstatement of 500 dismissed CDA employees and took up the case of 14 Christian daily wagers of Municipal Committee Shahiwal. The Commission’s intervention resulted in the regularisation of the workers. In response to a letter written by NCHR to the Chief Election Commissioner, the Pakistan Election Commission changed the date of local body elections which were scheduled on Christmas day. The NCHR was also successful in getting pledges from the Punjab, KPK and Bloachistan governments for removing the column of religion in the job advertisements for sanitary workers. In addition to that, the Annual Report also shares the details of the policy recommendations given by the Commission to federal and provincial government and different government departments, meetings conducted with national and international partners and engagements with other stakeholders on human rights related issues.

The NCHR Annual Report can be viewed at https://ww­w.nchr.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Annual-Report-2022.pdf