The speakers of Public forum for the improvement in the situation of human rights of marginalized groups called upon the government that the Government must avoid enforcing indirect tax through imposition of RGST (Reformed General Sales Tax) on the public, but must enforce direct tax on politicians, bureaucrats, landlords and industrialists for alleviating poverty and inflation, and for providing relief to the general public;
The Public Forum on the theme "Human Rights and Marginalized Groups" to mark international human rights day was jointly organised by Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), Peace and Human Development (PHD), Liaison for Enforcement of Human Rights (LEHR) and Lyallpur Development Organisation (LDO). Naseem Anthony (Executive Secretary-AWAM), Jaffar Hassan Mubarak, George Clement, Sr. Nasreen Daniel, Mujahid Gillani Advocate, Shazia George, Nazia Sardar, Arif Ayaz and Iftikhar Ahmad were among the speakers of the forum.
The speakers demanded that the Government should be ensured proper implementation on the UN convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), and implementation on the existing laws for the protection of women should be ensured, and new legislation must be created to end violence against women. Discriminatory laws (Hudood Ordinance, Law of Evidence, Citizenship Act, Qisas and Diyat Ordinance and Custody of children) and customary practices (honour killing, wata sata, vani, early marriages and burying women alive) against women must be repealed, and informal courts/jirga system must be outlawed, they added.
They further demanded that the Government should be ratify UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) and must ensure firm implementation on all policies and law especially quota in education and jobs for persons with disabilities.