HRCP concerned about inflation and rising extremism
Lahore, 12 November 2021. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that the deteriorating state of human rights in the country has reached a tipping point. In a situation where people are caught between spiralling food inflation and the insidious rise of religious extremism, continued attempts by the establishment and the ruling government to marginalise Parliament represent an existential threat to the country’s democracy. Constant attempts at political engineering and the exploitation of ethnic divisions could set back Pakistan’s fragile democracy by decades. HRCP also strongly opposes any amendments that curb the power of local governments. The political opposition has a duty to its constituents to present solutions to the inflation crisis. HRCP also urges the government to seriously reconsider the neoliberal development models it has adopted. These measures are neither pro-poor nor rights-based. If the state cannot provide its citizens with livelihoods and shelter, it has no right to take away what little they have. That the government chose to negotiate with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was unconscionable. This capitulation to a far-right militant group that is responsible for an estimated 80,000 Pakistani deaths is a grim portent for progressive, secular voices.
HRCP is also gravely concerned by the government’s failure to impose the writ of the state even after at least seven police officers were killed during the recent violence perpetrated by supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). The government’s negotiations with the TLP will embolden other proscribed organisations that have no compunction in seizing the little civic space left to ordinary people. In light of the surge in violence against women, children and transgender persons, HRCP demands immediate measures to strengthen children’s protection bureaus, women’s shelters and gender-based violence courts, and better equip women police officers. HRCP also continues to monitor the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and strongly urges the government to develop and implement a coherent policy towards refugees that guarantees their right to security and freedom of movement.
HRCP welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision to penalise the miscreants who attacked a Hindu temple in Karak district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This sets an important precedent and should make it clear that the state will not tolerate any attacks on religious minorities’ places of worship. Regrettably, this action alone is not enough to protect freedom of religion or belief. We reiterate the need to implement the 2014 Tassadaq Jillani Supreme Court judgment, establish an independent statutory national commission on minorities, enact legislation against forced conversions, and revisit the recommendations of the Senate’s 2018 report on the blasphemy laws. While HRCP supports the urgent need to legislate against the practice of enforced disappearances, it is concerned that the draft legislation does not make adequate provision for deterrence or prosecution, or for holding state agencies accountable for employing this practice as a tool of intimidation. We welcome the passage of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, but the procedural rules that have yet to be issued must not infringe on the right to freedom of expression and opinion, nor should the process of issuing these rules be needlessly delayed. It is deeply ironic, however, that this law is at odds with the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and proposed—draconian—Pakistan Media Development Authority Ordinance. In the current environment, it is therefore deeply fitting that HRCP has chosen to give the Nisar Osmani Award for Courage Journalism in 2021 to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), which has been an indispensable force in resisting the rising coercive regime of censorship.
Hina Jilani
Chairperson
