Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire | feeds from sacw.net | @sacw
Home > Human Rights > Rejoinder to Official Report by Pakistan to UN Human Rights Council by (...)

Rejoinder to Official Report by Pakistan to UN Human Rights Council by Civil Society Networks - Oct 2012

26 October 2012

print version of this article print version

“The State report overlooks fundamental rights violations in the everyday lives of the citizens. There needs to be stronger commitment for protection of human rights in Pakistan accompanied with measureable action plan to address the existing gaps in legislative and law enforcement order of the country and in the political will of the state itself.â€

Karachi: 24 October 2012: The civil society of Pakistan issued a joint response to the official national report submitted by the Government of Pakistan to the United Nations Human Rights Council this week. The report documents an account of the implementation of recommendations accepted by the country under the first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2008.

Over a dozen CSOs and networks in a joint statement released today as a rejoinder to the official report said that they are deeply disappointed to read the government’s version of the state of human rights in Pakistan. “It’s a glossy document that does not reflect the ground realities at all. Instead of presenting the true picture of the status of human rights in the country and sharing an action plan to face the challenges, the government has relied on the old bureaucracy rhetoric of ‘all’s well’ and ‘we remain committed’. This may never help to address the blatant violation of human rights taking place in everyday life in the country.â€

The civil society called on the members of the Human Rights Council to take serious note of the state’s failure to respect the global human rights mechanisms. “There is hardly any evidence that the recommendations of the last review were ever implemented. In the last four years, the condition of human rights has degenerated as the state has adopted an increasingly withdrawn posture with regards to its constitutional obligations towards the citizens, compromising right to life, security and livelihood; people’s access to basic necessities; and fundamental rights and freedoms.â€

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT BELOW:

Universal Periodic Review: Civil Society Response on official report on human rights submitted by Govt. of Pakistan to UN HRC
October 2012