Pakistan's civil society frustrated by draconian situation

Several organizations have spoken out against 'deteriorating' human rights situation in the country.

Lahore:  Rights groups have lamented the "environment of fear" prevalent in Pakistan amid crackdowns on non-governmental organizations, unions and freedom of speech.

They spoke out at a Dec. 10 forum organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for the U.N's Human Rights Day.

"People are being targeted in the name of national security and there is an environment of fear. There are no trials; people just disappear. Writers are afraid to discuss state matters even in private," said I. A. Rehman, the commission's secretary general.

"More than half of the journalists in tribal areas have either left their work or migrated. The Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority is now closing channels instead of regulating them," Rehman said.

The commission has long been trying to outlaw the practice of forced disappearance by law enforcement. According to the commission's records there were 2,584 disappearances between 2011-2016.

Nationalist, Zakir Bozdar, who was picked up by plain-clothed men from Hashim Bozdar village in Sindh province on Dec. 3, was found dead on the morning of Human Rights Day.

Furthermore, the state has been suppressing unions for 30 years. Student unions have been banned throughout that time and only three percent of the Pakistani labor force, the 10th largest in the world, is unionized.

On Dec. 1, the media authority suspended the licenses of Din News and Neo TV and fined them one million rupees each for leveling false allegations against a judge of the Supreme Court.

In October, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fired Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid from his cabinet for leaking a news story about the Pakistan military backing foreign jihadist fighters.

"His party, as well as the Pakistan Army's media wing use Twitter extensively so we cannot ask questions or follow up and we only get headlines. There is no accountability or transparency in governance on Twitter," Ahmad Rashid, a Pakistan and Afghanistan analyst, told ucanews.com.

At a seminar, also organized to support Human Rights Day, United States Consul General Yuri Fedkiw called for more safeguards for civil and religious groups.

The day before, on Dec. 9, protesters waved placards outside the Lahore press club and shouted slogans such as, "protection is our right" and "stop harassing us."

"The government should turn its attention towards deteriorating human rights. The gypsy community, brick kiln workers, sanitary workers, transgender people, people with disabilities and religious minorities are presently among the most marginalized segments of society. The worst part is that the space for civil society is shrinking constantly," said Samson Salamat, director of the Center for Human Rights Education.

"2017 should be declared as a year for Rwadari ("religious tolerance and interfaith harmony") in the Pakistan in order to defeat religious extremism," he added.

Source: UCAN