The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Thursday expressed serious concern over an additional list of 131 missing persons. While chairing the meeting, Nasreen Jalil said that it was a serious issue as no responsibility was fixed nor a single FIR was registered against anyone in this regard. Member committee Nisar Muhamamd Khan said that the human rights organizations have failed to protect human rights as they are not fulfilling their responsibilities.
The committee also expressed concern over daily wages labourers' poor working conditions in Malakand. The committee was informed that the government gave tax exemption to industry in Malakand but it is not taking notice of labours' long working hours. The labourers are forced to work from 16 to 18 hours against wages of Rs 8000 to Rs 10,000 there.
The committee members alleged that the state is responsible for human right violation itself, as it has not been implementing various protection clauses, described in human rights laws and Constitution. Member committee Faratullah Babar said that Pakistan is a signatory of various international conventions but it is violating these laws by not providing protection to the vulnerable segment of society. He said that the state is not dealing with the issues like force labour, early age marriages, women and children protection seriously.
The committee recommended that the corporate sector should establish a special welfare fund for labour, besides implementing labour laws. The committee further recommended that the present government should remove ambiguities and repeal the labour laws after holding a comprehensive study in this regard. The executive director PIPS also gave briefing about the National Action Plan on business and human rights.
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