Authorities in Pakistan have failed to curb a range of human rights violations, including a sharp increase in blasphemy-related violence, the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) noted this month.
Abductions of girls who are then forced to convert to Islam, arbitrary detentions, disappearances and crackdown on political dissent were among the violations, members noted during the second review of Pakistan’s human rights record at the 142nd session of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, on Oct 17-18.
Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2010, and the first review took place in 2017.
Expressing serious concern over frequent attacks against religious minorities, including accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, lynchings, mob violence, forced conversions and desecration of places of worship, the committee observed that Pakistani society has become increasingly intolerant of religious diversity.
“Religious minorities are facing a constant threat of persecution and discrimination amid the rise of religious radicalism,” the committee stated.
It noted that the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2023, instead of curbing sectarianism, had increased persecution of minorities and minority sects by increasing punishment for using derogatory remarks against holy persons from three years jail to life imprisonment.
The committee also sought information on amendment of the blasphemy laws to prevent their misuse.
Raising the issue of forced conversions, the committee expressed shock at the magnitude of cases of Christian and Hindu girls abducted and forced to convert to Islam and married to their abductors. The committee rejected the state’s reported number of 74 cases, saying the actual figure was much higher.
“Sometimes these cases don’t even reach courts, and when they do, the girls are not sent back to their families but to their abductors or sent to shelter homes, which often lack necessary security to protect these victims,” a committee member said. “Some of these girls are also exposed to sexual exploitation.”
The committee asked the state about the progress made to modify the anti-child marriage law. It also questioned non-implementation of an order passed by the Lahore High Court, ruling that the minimum marriageable age for both genders should be increased to 18 years.
The Punjab provincial government on April 25 submitted the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2024, in the Punjab Provincial Assembly, which would raise the legal age for marriage for both boys and girls to 18 years. Under previous law the legal age for marriage for girls is 16.
The bill, introduced by Member of Punjab Assembly Sarah Ahmad, who is also chairperson of the Child Protection & Welfare Bureau (CPWB), has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Law but is yet to be brought to vote.
Killings
The UN Rights Committee also 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,” the committee noted. “Enforced disappearances are widespread across the territory and continue to be one of the ways used as a part of the anti-terrorism policy of the state. It could be used as a tool to suppress minorities.”
The committee added that at least 7,000 cases of enforced disappearances were reported between 2004 and 2024.
The UN body also considered reports of extrajudicial executions – even outside of Pakistan – of separatists, political opponents, activists and journalists. It stated that the efficacy of Pakistan’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances had been questioned even by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Enforced disappearance has not been criminalized in Pakistan, it noted, and a related bill remains suspended.
The purpose of the UNHRC, also called the Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), is to periodically review the implementation and adherence of state parties to the ICCPR. It is, therefore, a principal institution for ensuring that human rights not only exist on paper but are practically implemented.
The committee asked the state for a thorough explanation on how the government would ensure that the Anti-Terrorism Act would not be abused to target human rights defenders and minorities, especially in regard to forced disappearances.
Enquiring about safety measures for journalists and human rights defenders, the committee observed that despite the enactment of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act three years ago, its implementation remained weak, and that a commission required under the act was yet to be established.
“Threats, harassment, abduction, violence, enforced disappearances, and killing of journalists are rampant, leading to self-censorship,” the committee reported.
It also pointed out Pakistan’s frequent internet outages and blockage of social media apps or slower connectivity, raising concerns about information control and violation of freedom of expression.
“In May 2023 protests, there were four days of internet blackout and social media shutdown followed by frequent outages and restrictions continuing until general elections, which prevented voters from accessing polling information and limiting communication,” a member said.
The committee observed that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) gave authorities the power to charge individuals, particularly young people, with blasphemy based on digital media.
“We know that the intelligence service was granted power this year to conduct surveillance for national security. We have multiple examples of PECA being used for unlawful surveillance,” it said, seeking a review of the discretionary powers of surveillance to state agencies.
On the issue of bonded labor, the UN rights committee said that more than 3 million Pakistanis were trapped in forced labor and servitude, particularly in the farming sector, brick kilns and domestic work.
“After the floods of 2022, more people, particularly children, have been forced to work despite the national and provincial laws,” it stated, asking how the Pakistani delegation “intends to control the menace and the steps taken to combat the forced labor and conditions of servitude, including among children, particularly in context of the climate change.”
The committee also 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, 8 million people were displaced, living in precarious conditions.
It asked questions about the adaptation plan of 2023 and the lack of a sustainable policy for replacement of fossil fuels. The issue of lack of information on environmental courts and tribunals was also raised.
The most effective improving measure, the Pakistani delegation stated, was the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), established in 2012 and entrusted with government oversight. Led by Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, the delegation said that the NCHR can hear all complaints related to maltreatment in detention, gender-based violence and enforced disappearances.
The HRC members highlighted, however, that the NCHR is not in line with the Paris Principles – which require it to be fully equipped to prosecute violations committed by officials, such as police, through the national justice system – thus rendering it toothless.
The official press statement on the Second Periodic Review of Pakistan was expected to be issued at the end of the 142nd session on Nov. 4.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
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