Championing Human Rights in Pakistan
Imagine a world where human rights abuses, such as arbitrary detention, torture, gender-based violence and discrimination against minorities, are a thing of the past.
Human rights are a fundamental part of social justice, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development envisaging a world with a “universal respect for human rights and human dignity, rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination.”
More sobering is the warning that achieving the “full human potential and of sustainable development [will not be] possible if one half of humanity continues to be denied its full human rights and opportunities.”
How can human rights violations be addressed?
Persistent human rights violations in Pakistan have long been a cause for global concern, but work is now underway to help address this and protect the country’s citizens from deplorable human rights abuse.
Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. The country has struggled to fulfil its human rights obligations in certain areas.
Over the years, Pakistan has struggled to fulfil its human rights obligations in certain areas, which has been a cause for concern both for Pakistan as well as for the international community.
Significant strides have been made by government and civil society networks, but they have highlighted the need for continuous and persistent effort to alleviate human rights violations. In 2015, Pakistan established the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), in Islamabad, to promote, protect and fulfil human rights, as detailed in Pakistan’s Constitution and international treaties.
As an impartial state body, the Commission works independently from the Government and is directly accountable to Pakistan's Parliament.
Monitoring and investigating human rights issues
The Commission is designed to protect and promote Pakistan’s human rights, including monitoring and investigating human rights issues, reviewing safeguards, advising the Government on legislation and conducting research into human rights violations. It is one of almost 135 National Human Rights Institutions established across the world for a collective and global effort towards human rights protection.
However, as a relatively new institution, the NCHR requires support in several key areas. These include (amongst others) case studies on international human rights treaty obligations, case investigation and report writing, as well as on the key recent debates within human rights discourse.
With expertise in many of these areas, Warwick Law School undertook a project to help the Commission develop its potential and build its capacity.
The project, led by the University of Warwick’s Dr Raza Saeed, involved hosting a dialogue and a training workshop on human rights for the Commission staff.
The ‘Dialogue on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions’ and the ‘Capacity Building Workshop for NCHR’ was conducted at the University of Warwick in March 2019.
The four-day workshop was attended by the key officials of the Commission, and provided them with the opportunity to engage with human rights and law experts from Warwick, as well as other UK universities and governmental organisations.
The workshop in progress
'New Pathways for National Human Rights Institutions’
Topics such as international law, human rights and gender equality were covered in the workshop
"The workshop focused on public international law, human rights treaty obligations, rights-based approaches to investigating cases, gender equality, non-discrimination and effective reporting” explains Dr Saeed.
The event at Warwick was followed by the publication of a report entitled ‘New Pathways for National Human Rights Institutions.’
In addition, workshops ran in Islamabad and Karachi which were attended by lawyers, students, academics and policy researchers working in the fields of international law and human rights.
Meetings were also conducted with several stakeholders, including DFID-Pakistan, to explore the possibility of developing a longer-term research and implementation project to follow up the successful delivery of this project.
Invaluable local knowledge
“The delegates invited to the workshop benefited greatly in terms of the current trends and debates in human rights, and in turn provided us with information about local case studies, challenges on the ground and their rich perspective on human rights. In the long term, we hope that the whole population of Pakistan will benefit from an improved and enhanced Commission, with knowledgeable and well-trained staff at the lower tiers addressing human rights issues in the country. This may also assist Pakistan in maintaining its trading status with Europe, as well as fulfil its international treaty obligations and move towards achieving its own Sustainable Development Goal commitments” explains Dr Saeed.
This project is helping pave the way for a new future where human rights, citizenship and justice institutions in Pakistan are strengthened, and the country is recognised as an equal and important member of the international community.
The project directly links to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and will also contribute to Partnerships for the Goals through capacity building and strengthening the Commission.
