UN body to take up Pakistan’s rights report

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Third Universal Periodic Review Report will be presented before the UN Human Rights Council in November this year.

This was disclosed during a national consultative meeting on the report here on Monday with Secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha in the chair. Representatives of relevant federal and provincial governments and civil society organisations attended the meeting.

Rabiya Javeri said her ministry was mandated to represent Pakistan at international level and in previous months, the Ministry presented and defended Pakistan’s reports on CRC, CAT, ICESCR and ICCPR before United Nations.

"The Universal Periodic Review is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states. It basically provides an opportunity for Pakistan to declare what actions we have taken to improve the human rights situations in our country," she said.

The secretary said Pakistan’s report would be presented before the UN Human Rights Council on 13th November, 2017. She said Pakistan’s human rights situation had been reviewed/ accessed during its first cycle held in 2008 and during second cycle of UPR held on 30th October 2012.

She said several States forwarded recommendations to the Pakistan to improve its overall human rights situation by initiating Constitutional amendments and reforms, legislation, improving institutional arrangements for protection of human rights, resolving gender issues including violence against women, trafficking in women and girls, improving women’s health, protect rights of individuals and vulnerable groups, reducing enforced disappearances, improving economic, social to housing, clean water and sanitation, providing social security and alleviating poverty etc.

The secretary said the ministry disseminated the recommendations in 2012 and after wide consultations at provincial headquarters, ministry has drafted a national report which provides information on constitutional, policy, legislative, administrative and institutional arrangements and initiatives taken to improve human rights situation in their respective areas.

"The report has been uploaded on the official website of the ministry to have views of all relevant authorities," she said. Muhammad Hassan Mangi, Director General (IC), ministry of human Rights stated that the report is to be submitted to the Foreign Office by 31st July 2017. He said the relevant information has been received from federal and provincial governments which enabled this ministry to draft the report in line with United Nations Guidelines and format.

He said in mostly cases, relevant portions of the report had been forwarded to the stakeholders for updates. The official said the ministry intends to include new areas in the report like prisons, entrepreneurship, sports, land and sanitation etc if relevant information is provided by the stakeholders. He also raised number of issues/ problems which Pakistan faces while defending the report before particular committees of United Nations.

He said the ministry had drafted the report and bifurcated the information into thematic clustering which includes cross cutting issues, Civil and Political rights, economic, social and cultural rights and rights of vulnerable groups.

The official said steps taken by federal and provincial governments in collaboration with civil society organisations to uplift the standard of living of a common man have been mentioned in the report. He, however, invited participants to update the information, add missing information and initiatives taken recently.

The representatives of federal and provincial governments and civil society organisations appreciated the efforts of Ministry in drafting a comprehensive report including all major steps taken by them to improve human rights situation of the country. They further highlighted their initiatives, schemes, plan and updated the information relevant to their divisions/ departments/organisations.