Grim report

The human rights indicators for this year appear to be no better than for the years before this, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s annual report on the state of human rights in the country. The detailed publication has noted a worsening in mob attacks on minorities and no improvement in the situation of women. There is also comment on the National Action Plan against terrorism adopted early last year and consequent amendments in the law which gave military courts the jurisdiction to try all persons including civilians and juveniles in cases related to terrorism. That this led to 342 executions of people who had no apparent links to terrorism is a detail which raises concern, the report notes. The HRCP has also found thousands of cases of violence against women with at least 987 recorded honour crimes. Around 170 of the victims were minors. It has also noted an increase in cases of violence against minority groups, most notably Christians who were attacked in churches in Lahore and against Ahmadis who, under the law, were given the status of unequal citizens.

The issue of press freedom and the continuing problem of missing persons, notably in Balochistan, have also been raised in the document. There have been 151 cases of disappearances in that province between January and November 2015. All these trends are of course deeply disturbing. They suggest that the patterns of discrimination and violence are not changing in the country. We have seen the same patterns repeated year after year, creating a vicious cycle from which it seems impossible for us to break free. Among its recommendations, the HRCP has suggested changes in law and enforcement of international instruments that Pakistan has ratified as a means to change the situation. There is, however, a struggle to achieve this because of administrative and legal factors. How far we succeed in the matter will determine the contours of our society in the months ahead and whether it can escape the forces that act to cripple it and prevent it from gaining the momentum that is required in order to move forward and take a stride towards a distinct improvement in the situation of groups living within the country.