Daily Times

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on Wednesday, called for re-energising the human rights discourse especially in times when intense political polarisation was overshadowing the human rights enterprise, at all levels.’

This was said as the commission concluded its national conference on human rights and democratic participation.

The conference had examined crucial questions related to freedom of expression: assembly and association; federalism; freedom of religion and belief; rule of law and constitutionalism. HRCP’s co-chair, Uzma Noorani, spoke on the occasion and said it was a critical time for human rights in Pakistan. The HRCP sought to uphold the ethos of its co-founder, Asma Jahangir, she added.

In his keynote address at the beginning of the conference, HRCP’s honorary spokesperson, I A Rehman remarked that it was “the right of the people of Pakistan to be governed democratically.”

The political parties needed to come together to work on a new charter of democracy, he added. HRCP’s Secretary-General, Harris Khalique, emphasised that it was imperative that, “we continue to speak the truth about the challenges to human rights in Pakistan.”

In the light of the growing intimidation and self-censorship under which the media was forced to operate, the first panel, titled, “Stifling crucial voices of dissent,” explored why freedom of expression and freedom of the press was integral to monitor and protect human rights, especially with a view to shaping public opinion and rights-based policy.

Those who spoke on the esteemed occasion included senior journalists Ghazi Salahuddin, Zahid Hussain and Shahzada Zulfiqar; broadcast journalists Munizae Jahangir and Asma Shirazi and digital rights activist Farieha Aziz.

The second panel examined why enabling freedom of assembly and association was perceived as threatening. Looking at the constrained space accorded to workers, students, civil society and social movements, the panel discussed why the state tended to limit what should otherwise be inalienable rights; and what strategies could be adopted to strengthen these rights as the drivers of change.

The panel comprised of Balochistan National Party’s (Mengal) Malik Naseer Shahwani; Khwendo Kor’s founder and chief executive, Maryam Bibi; lawyer and human rights activist, Jibran Nasir; Awami Workers Party member, Alia Amirali and South Asia Partnership Pakistan’s director, Mohammad Tahseen.

The conference also raised important issues related to the right to participatory democracy and the challenges to federalism.

The third panel looked at Pakistan’s identity as a federation while calling the ability and will to build a pluralist democracy key to the integrity of the state.

The panel included former senators Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiab Khattak, and members of the National Assembly (MNA) Ahsan Iqbal, Kishwer Zehra and Mohsin Dawar. Members emphasised that the 18th Amendment must not be rolled back if the rights and interests of the federating units were to be protected.

The fourth panel looked at how the “spectre of extremism” posed a threat to human rights and democratic participation. Panellists looked at how growing conservatism was rapidly eroding away the right to freedom of religion and belief on top of what the state and civil society must do to counter the increasing ‘acceptability’ of extremist thought and practice.

The speakers included Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mahmood; former MNA, Bushra Gohar; National Commission on the Status of Women’s chairperson, Khawar Mumtaz; senior journalist and writer, Ahmed Rashid; Centre for Social Justice Executive Director, Peter Jacob and National Commission for Human Rights member, Anis Haroon.

Minister Mehmood announced plans to review the curriculum for hate material and take steps to curb extremism in this context.

The final panel deliberated upon safeguarding the rule of law and constitutionalism.

Former Justice of the Lahore High Court, Justice (Retd) Nasira Iqbal; former president of the Gilgit-Baltistan High Court Bar Association, Amjad Hussain, former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Dr Abid Saqi; human rights lawyer and Musawi chief executive, Fatima Bokhari; human rights lawyer and Centre for Reproductive Rights, Advocacy Advisor Asia, Sara Malkani as well as SC advocate and vice-chair of HRCP’s Balochistan chapter, Habib Tahir, spoke as part of the panel.

Members of the panel examined why impunity remained an obstacle to accountability, just law-making, open government and accessible dispute resolution. In her keynote address, Senator Sherry Rehman, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) vice-president and parliamentary leader, said that the public conversation must turn to “our ability to protect the vulnerable, the dispossessed and the discriminated.”

She added the rights agenda has to be reset, and it must be reset for Parliament and by Parliament through “coalitions for rights-based legislation.”

Senior advocate and HRCP Council member, Hina Jilani, gave the concluding address and asserted it was important to sustain the conversation on human rights. The conference sought to ‘incite’ people to act on this front, she added.

Through this conference, HRCP has asserted, it hopes to lead to agreement on the essential requirements for legislative and institutional reform; policy formulations and implementation plans to instate fuller respect for human rights.

It is crucial to bring greater visibility to human rights issues in Pakistan, including that of empowering the more vulnerable sections of the population and projecting them as a priority for the government to tackle.