Quetta: Parliamentarians, civil society members, including lawyers, trade unions, and business community demanded from the federal and provincial governments to improve human rights protection and ensure compliance with Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+).
Stakeholders expressed these views at a forum organized by Democracy Reporting International (DRI), on Wednesday.
William John Barkat, Chairperson Standing Committee on Human Rights in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, shared that standing committees did not exist since last many years hence process of legislation was negatively affected. He expressed concerns on continued violations of minority rights and urged for their protection.
Nasarullah Khan Zeeray, Member Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, stated the need to strengthen democratic value systems, essential for promotion and protection of human rights. Consistent dictatorship regimes and prevalence of injustice resulted in Pakistan’s decline on socioeconomic and political grounds, he added.
Earlier, Hassan Nasir Mirbahar, Team Leader DRI Pakistan, in his opening remarks said that in its review of Pakistan’s compliance with conditions under GSP+, the EU has made recommendations on increasing human rights protection, but it is also important that Pakistani stakeholders come together and discuss priorities for human rights reforms in the country.
Lala Sultan Muhammad, President of All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF), said that despite GSP+ conditions, labour rights are still compromised at large. Percentage of organized workers in Pakistan is merely 2%. Hence they are unable to effectively work for protection of their rights.
Advocate Tahir Hussain of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan shared the concerns on continued violations of human rights, challenges faced by the human rights defenders, weakened law enforcement mechanisms and inability of human rights bodies.
Niaz Khan, representative of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) said that Balochistan has remained unable to reap benefits of GSP+ trade benefits because provincial government did nothing to enhance Balochistan’s trade base.
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