Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said Pakistan has remained steadfast in promoting respect for human rights at home and abroad.
“Human rights lay deep in the foundations of our nationhood. At its heart, Pakistan’s movement for independence was a constitutional struggle to secure basic human rights, self-determination, and fundamental freedoms for the people,” she adding, “This historical experience informed the process of shaping Pakistan’s constitution and our legal and judicial systems”.
The minister of state said, “Islamic teachings of equality, human dignity, and the right to choose one’s way of life have guided our worldview on human rights. Our contributions to international human rights norms and institution building is also inspired by these ideals.”
“We have always endeavored to build bridges across diverse perspectives and varied interests. As a member of the Human Rights Council and the OIC Coordinator for Human Rights in Geneva, we have played a vital role in forging political consensus on several human rights issues and situations of common concern. We will continue to do so in advancing shared human rights causes,” she added.
The minister of state said each country had unique challenges and environment that it must deal with while pursuing the cause of human rights. Therefore, the human rights record of any State must be considered by understanding the broader social, economic and regional context, not in isolation, she added.
“In the past three years, like many other developing countries, Pakistan has been adversely affected by the cascading crises of the COVID pandemic, the global financial crunch, and the fallout of longstanding conflicts in our region and beyond.”
“On top of it, last summer, we were also hit by the most unprecedented climate calamity of this century. The human cost of this catastrophe, not of our making, is enormous: 33 million affected; thousands injured or dead; 8 million displaced; 2 million homes, 1.8 million hectares of crops, 14,000 km of roads, 18,000 schools, and 5,000 clinics damaged or destroyed”, she mentioned.
The minister of state pointed out that these interlocking crises have squeezed fiscal space and eroded development gains in many areas. “We are, however, fully committed to rebuilding the lives and livelihoods of our people and resolved to pursue a resilient recovery on these fronts with the support of our international partners,” she maintained.
Hina Rabbani Khar said that States as duty bearers of rights and freedoms are increasingly facing the scourge of disinformation and hate speech spread through social media platforms. “We are pleased to have pioneered an initiative at the UN General Assembly in shaping a consensus on countering disinformation.”
“At home, we are working on laws and policies to deal with this contemporary phenomena of concern with an informed approach towards rights and responsibilities.”
The minister of state further said that “While we are proud of our progress and achievements, we are mindful of the need to sustain the momentum and overcome the challenges. The Government has made utmost efforts to advance human rights through institutional, legal, and policy measures.”
Touching upon some of the critical areas of this progress that align with several recommendations emanating from Pakistan’s last UPR, the Minister of State said that in order to strengthen institutional support, the Government has enhanced the capacity of existing structures on human rights and established new ones.
“The Ministry of Human Rights has upgraded its Regional Human Rights Directorates for effective coordination with provincial stakeholders. Complaint cells have been established at the Federal and Provincial Directorates under the Human Rights Ministry for redressal and referral of human rights complaints.”
“We have further strengthened our domestic mechanisms to enhance the implementation of the international human rights conventions to which Pakistan is a State Party,” she added.
In addition to the existing Treaty Implementation Cells (TIC) at the Federal and Provincial levels, the Minister of State said that the Government has launched the ‘National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up’ project based on the United Nations guidelines and good practices.
Likewise, the Human Rights Ministry has established a Human Rights Information Management System, which has institutionalized data collection and analysis about human rights trends in the country, she said, adding, “This system has helped us craft evidence-based policy and administrative measures and prepare Pakistan’s periodic treaty bodies reports.”
“We are cognizant of the importance of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and have strengthened the capacities and autonomy of the National Commissions on human rights, women, and children.”
“We are encouraging these commissions to expedite the process of accreditation with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRIs). Additionally, we have established Child Protection Institute, Transgender Protection Centre, and a Council for Senior Citizens.”
“These institutions have been fully equipped to provide shelter, medical care, and psycho-social support to children, transgender persons, and elderly individuals in vulnerable situations,” she maintained.
The minister of state said that in the last five years, Pakistan has enacted several progressive legislations in line with its international human rights obligations, focusing on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the vulnerable and the marginalized.
Highlighting a few of them, she said that Pakistan has taken several steps for women’s empowerment. “Last year, we amended the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010 to broaden the definition of employees to include non-conventional workplaces and expand the definition of workplace harassment.”
“Our Parliament also enacted the Anti-Rape Act 2021 and the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act 2020 to build legal deterrence against the menace of rape and deprivation of women of their property rights.”
In a landmark move, the minister of state said that all provincial High Courts have established Gender Based Violence Courts; helplines and women’s police stations have been set up across Pakistan.
“We have also conducted special training sessions for lawyers and judges in all provinces on inheritance, birth registration, and early and forced marriage laws.”
Our Parliament enacted one of the most progressive laws on transgender rights in 2018 to protect their fundamental rights like inheritance, education, decent work, property ownership, and participation in public affairs, she added.
“Additionally, we passed a law in 2020 to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and, in 2022, the ICT Senior Citizen Act to prevent discrimination against elderly citizens.”
The minister of state said that the protection of child rights has also remained high on Pakistan’s national agenda. In 2020, the Zainab Alert, Response, and Recovery Act were legislated. An alert system for reporting missing children has been launched in its follow-up.
“Legislation prohibiting child labor is already in force in the country. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development has notified a Child Labour Cell to coordinate and devise a consensus-based National Action Plan with ILO’s technical assistance.”
“We have recently ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime on trafficking in persons (in November 2022). In line with best practices, we passed two separate laws on trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants in 2018.”
“Since the enactment of these laws, there have been more than 1,000 human trafficking investigations and 161 convictions,” she mentioned.