LAHORE: The UN Human Rights Committee also called the Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) has raised questions over human rights violations in Pakistan, especially during recent protests, anti-terrorism policy, accountability laws, rampant enforced disappearances, right to life in context of climate change, death row and women rights violations.

The human rights abuses issue was raised during the review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva on Thursday.

Pakistan ratified the ICCPR in 2010 and the first review took place in 2017. It was the day one of the review. The Pakistani delegation was headed by Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan. Live screening of the review meeting was arranged by the Justice Project Pakistan at Annemarie-Schimmel Haus here.

Excessive use of force in recent protests

The UN Rights Committee pointed out that since 2017, the number of enforced disappearances has been quite high in Pakistan. “The Working Group on Involuntary Disappearances quotes the highest number of disappearances over the last five years.

According to our information, enforced disappearances are widespread across the territory and continue to be one of the ways used as a part of the anti-terrorist policy of the state. It could be used as a tool to suppress minorities,“ a committee member said and added that enforced disappearances affected everybody, political opponents, members of their families, journalists, students and human rights defenders. The practice has affected members of Ahmadi or Pashtun communities. She referred to 7,000 cases of enforced disappearances between 2004 and 2024.

Questions raised over clampdown on recent protests, issues of excessive use of force, NAB, climate change, women rights

Short-term enforced disappearances are also reported to remove individuals from protection of the law, including (journalist) Imran Riaz Khan, these people are disappeared, reappeared to be tried in military courts, the committee member pointed out.

“I would like to draw your attention to the worrying information that on Sept 24, the secretary general of the NGO, Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, Sammi Baloch, was not allowed to travel to Geneva.”

There are extrajudicial executions, even on the territory of other states, of separatists, political opponents, activists, journalists, including Arshad Sharif, who was killed in 2022.

The UN body noted excessive use of force by police, particularly against peaceful demonstrators, denounced enforced disappearances and summary executions in Balochistan. It mentioned the excessive use of police force in months of September and October and lack of investigation in violations of rights. It said the efficacy of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances had been questioned even by the Supreme Court that was not satisfied with its functions.

The committee said that the enforced disappearance had not been criminalised in Pakistan’s justice system and a bill in this regard had remained suspended.

Counter terrorism and definition of torture

During the review meeting, the UN body raised the matter of narrowing down the definition of terrorism as against the international laws. A member of the review committee asked about the measures being taken by Pakistan to do away with the provisions that allow the police to seize, search and arrest without a warrant.

“Reports indicate that an act (Anti-Terrorism Act) is being used to ban Ahmad literature and restrict members of the Ahmadi community while individual from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are restricted from holding public gatherings and going abroad,” she said.

The committee expressed alarm at the lack of punishment for custodial deaths or torture as the cases were filed under the PPC that would leave gaps in enforcement. It demanded redefinition of torture to include psychological torture besides physical torture. “In Punjab alone, 624 police officers were disciplined for torture in 2021 but the govt reported only 10 complaints that year,” the committee member said.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has jurisdiction to process complaints of torture but lacks ability to address the issue, the member said and added that widespread torture of women included rape and reprisal they face for reporting torture cases.

The issue of selective accountability

“Reports suggest that despite anti-corruption laws, accountability is selectively applied and politically motivated. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cannot investigate members of judiciary and military personnel but are subject to internal disciplinary systems,” a committee member said.

He asked about the measures to make the investigation system effective and free from political interference besides meeting challenges like budget restrictions and staff shortages in anti-corruption bodies. The member asked the delegation to provide details on the internal anti-corruption mechanism systems within judiciary and military and how they ensured transparency.

Climate change

The committee raised the issue of the right of life in the context of climate change. Hundreds of thousands have been hit by the climate crisis, causing massive displacement and damage to harvests, exacerbated by the heat wave. In 2022, 8m people were displaced, living in precarious conditions.

Questions were raised about the adaptation plan of 2023 and the lack of a sustainable policy for replacement of fossil fuels. Concerns were expressed on attack on environmental defenders and activists while the issue of lack of information on environmental courts and tribunals was raised.

Death row and women rights

The chair of the committee raised the questions over presence of the capital punishment in Pakistani laws including for the offence of blasphemy. “Whether there is any progress for doing away with the death penalty and whether the death penalty has been commuted for the crimes that are not most serious in nature,” a member asked.

Despite the reports of elimination of the death penalty for drug related cases there had been two instance of death penalty in drug-related cases while 93 individuals are on still on death row for drug-related crimes. She asked whether the lower courts follow the policy of higher courts in such cases. As many as 123 petitions have been filed with the president from 2018 to 2023.

A member of the committee pointed out the issue of gender equality and discrimination against women. “I don’t see any female member in the committee and hoping it’s just coincidence.” She expressed concerns at the violence against women, including acid attacks and that sexual harassment in public places was not considered even a crime in Pakistan. Questions were raised over the Jirga system, Qissas and Diyat in criminal cases.

Earlier, the head of Pakistani delegation, Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, gave the perspective of the government on the issues raised in the committee. After receiving questions from the members, he referred laws according to Pakistan constitution that were in place to protect human rights.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2024