LAHORE: Amid nonstop chatter on Panama Papers case following the submission of the Joint Investigation Team report on Monday, #PakHRCreview hashtag made it to top Twitter trends in Pakistan as the country’s delegation completed a two-day review of its obligations under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Commission office in Geneva on July 12.
Live tweets by representatives of rights organisations attending the review highlighted several important observations made at the proceedings and took the Pakistani delegation to task for responses contradictory to ground realities in the country.
Justice Project Pakistan’s Sarah Belal pointed out the glaring contradiction in Pakistani delegation’s claim in front of the review board that death penalty was needed to combat terrorism in the country. She tweeted that her organisation’s research found that death sentences issued by the country’s anti-terrorism courts accounted for just 16 percent of those executed since the lifting of the moratorium on death sentences in 2014.
On reprisals against those reporting disappearances of their relatives, lawyer Reema Omar tweeted when she held was ‘unbelievable’ response of the Pakistani delegation. The response stated that all citizens were free to express themselves in the country and no case of harassment or intimidation of victim families was reported with police, courts, state institution or civil society groups. On Pakistani delegation’s references to introduction of pro-rights laws, commissions and phone helplines, Omar asked has any of that helped in improving human rights situation? “Since ratifying ICCPR, Pakistan has resumed executions, empowered military courts to try civilians and passed a Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. Is that progress?” she asked. On the delegation’s claim that the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) was working in accordance with Paris Principles, she asked why did the commission still not have jurisdiction over matters concerning intelligence agencies.
Activist Mailaka Raza’s tweet about questions to the delegation on harassment of Afghan refugees by Pakistani law enforcement agencies drew quite a few emotionally-charged responses suggesting that refugees should be sent back or asking who was forcing them to stay.
Activists associated with banned Baluch outfits also used the opportunity to highlight to express their opinions on state of human rights.
On the issue of women’s rights, tweeters noted that while the delegation had referred to laws against sexual harassment and domestic violence it had not come up with satisfactory responses on status of implementation of these laws.
Referring to the responses on abortion laws, Omar called attention to the delegation’s description of women as pillars of family and individuals with duties and responsibilities.
A tweeter found herself dumbfounded on the delegation’s response to a question on religious discrimination in Pakistan. The latter had referred to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to a Holi event to substantiate the claim that there was no religious discrimination in the country.
Some other interesting moments from the review live tweeted by activists were the reviewing committee’s reference to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s August 11 speech and a committee member’s recital of Allama Iqbal’s poetry. The member had lamented that Iqbal’s vision was not driving the country’s policies anymore.
The active participation of female members of the Pakistani delegation was noted with appreciation. Amnesty International Pakistan campaigner Nadia Rahman said the female members were more forthcoming in accepting human rights challenges in the country. “It was clear that they were keen to work on delivering results. Unlike their male counterparts, they came prepared with statistics to back up their claims and spoke about specific areas of impact,” she said.
