Karachi, October 14, 2021 (PPI-OT):Special Assistant to Sindh Chief Minister on Human Rights Mr Surendar Valasai has said that the provincial government is considering establishing human rights committees in each district of Sindh to curb violation of human rights at grassroots levels. In this regard, he underlined the need for increased coordination with rights and civil society organisations.
He was speaking during an expert briefing delivered by a think tank, The Knowledge Forum, at his office on Wednesday. Secretary of the Human Rights department Mr. Javed Sibghatullah Mahar was also present on the occasion.
Mr. Valasai said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is heading the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights has appointed him to look into the human rights situation in Sindh. The provincial government of Sindh has established a Human Rights Information Management System with the cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme to digitise the human rights data in the province.
Earlier, a human rights expert Mr Jameel Junejo from The Knowledge Forum gave a presentation on the fundamental rights inscribed in the Constitution of Pakistan. He also explained the core international human rights conventions, which Pakistan has ratified. Out of the total of nine major UN covenants on Human Rights Pakistan has already ratified seven.
Mr. Junejo described the United Nations’s human rights mechanism, which included the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) on Human rights, Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures. After every four and a half years the UN holds reviews of the human rights situation in every member country. He said Pakistan’s last human rights review was held on 16 November 2017 and during that meeting the members provided several recommendations to the Pakistan government for improvement of human rights. Pakistan’s next review is due in 2022.
Pakistan is a member of the UN Human Rights Council and the country should improve its performance. He said the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations have visited Pakistan two times in the past. Last year the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders had also visited Pakistan.
He said under the GSP-Plus facility Pakistan has agreed to abide by international conventions including seven Human Rights and eight ILO labour standards. The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) Plus is a trade incentive scheme and provided to developing countries to sell their products in the European Union member countries without paying duties.
Mr. Valasai and Mr. Mahar said that the department of human rights remains committed to protect human rights in the province and also take all possible measures to help improve the country’s image at the international level by ensuring compliance with international commitments. Human Rights activists Shujauddin Qureshi, Naghma Iqtidar, Tahir Hassan Khan and department staff also participated in the briefing.
For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
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