To monitor, investigate HR abuses in country: government urged to make NHRC independent

The federal government should immediately make the state body National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) independent and functional to investigate human rights abuses, monitor the state of human rights, and protect and promote human rights in the country.
This was demanded by the human rights (HR) defenders during a protest rally entitled "Speak Up for Rights of Marginalised Groups" to mark International Human Rights Day, held outside District Council in Faisalabad. At this juncture, the participants shouted slogans against human rights abuses being committed in society. They expressed grave concerns on the dismal situation of human rights in the country and urged the government, state institutions, political parties and all other stakeholders to pay attention before the situation goes out of control completely. The event was organised by the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), Agency for Sustainable Development (ASDP), Peace and Human Development (PHD Foundation) in collaboration with REAT Human Rights Defenders Network Faisalabad, Adara Samaji Behbood (ASB), and Peace for Nation International (PNI).
Speaking on the occasion, a human rights defender, Peter Jacob said, "The govt must take steps to address the human rights situation by protecting fundamental civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of citizens particularly vulnerable segments of society, and should act following the approaches of social justice and gender equity for the empowerment of Marginalised groups so that they could maintain a safe, decent standard of living."
The director of the ASDP, Amina Zaman said, "The justice system must be strengthened through reforming the rules, procedures and police investigation, and sensitising the legal enforcing agencies on dealing with cases of violence against women and girls." "The government and civil society must fortify their efforts for raising women vehemently and prominently for a deeper impact, and establishing a just and tolerant society by ensuring respect for human rights and dignity," she added.
The director of the AWAM, Nazia Sardar said, "The government must prioritise for the recognition of unregistered women workers engaged in informal sectors as part of labour force, and ratify ILO convention No 177 that deals with home-based workers and ILO Convention No 189 that deals with domestic workers, and ensure its proper implementation so as to guarantee women's access to social security benefits." "The lady health workers and police workers must be protected because they put their lives at risk to save the future generation from polio. The government must arrest culprits who humiliated a Christian woman in Sheikhupura, and dragged her and forced her to parade naked in the street, which is a grave human rights violation," she added. The director of the PHD Foundation, Suneel Malik said, "The government must speed up efforts to protect vulnerable sections of the society and to provide them with legislative, administrative, institutional and infrastructural support to enable them lead a happy and healthy life." "It is landmark to have a functional National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) equipped with the mandate to investigate human rights abuses, monitor the situation of human rights in the country and ensure compliance with Pakistan's international obligations under human rights treaties that it has ratified," he demanded.
A women's rights activist, Shazia George said, "Domestic violence is continuously rising in Pakistan which is an alarming sign. The situation cannot be improved unless legislation is introduced and enforced to eliminate this menace. Therefore, severe punishment to the culprits involved in offences against women must be clearly mentioned and implemented." "The citizens have a democratic right to peaceful assembly and expression as guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan, therefore the government must respect human rights and avoid making Pakistan a police state," she added.
A human rights activist, Naseem Anthony said, "The discrimination on different grounds is the root cause of conflicts in Pakistan, which causes violence in the society, therefore, the educational curricula should be purged of all kinds of literature inciting hatred so that it promotes values of peace and respect for human rights." A minority rights advocate, Robin Daniel said, "The federal and provincial governments must sincerely invest in health to reduce the number of deaths of children in Tharparkar and Punjab due to hunger and lack of facilities available at hospitals, and take exemplary steps to save the lives of future generation across Pakistan."