70th anniversary of HR Declaration marked

LAHORE: Marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) organised a public lecture by its honorary spokesperson and veteran human rights defender, IA Rehman.

Held at the Dorab Patel Auditorium here on Sunday, the event was attended widely by civil society, including students, lawyers, human rights activists and media persons. The theme of this lecture was to assess Pakistan’s performance during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2017. Under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, all member states are given the opportunity to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to meet their human rights obligations.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the HRCP said that it is gravely concerned at the exponential rise in the number of recommendations Pakistan has received from its peers with respect to human rights concerns in the country. In 2008, it received 51 recommendations, of which it accepted 43 and rejected eight. At its second UPR in 2012, Pakistan received 167 recommendations, of which it accepted 126, “noted” 34 and rejected seven.