In an outburst move, the Ministry of Human Rights lamented the annual report 2019 ‘The State of Human Rights in Pakistan’ launched by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) while saying that the report ignored several major factors towards securing and safeguarding the rights of vulnerable groups of society.
The HRCP launched its report on Thursday which highlighted overall human rights situation across the country. Right after two days the Ministry gave its response over this. The Ministry said in a statement that “the report accurately cites an alarmingly high number of cases of violence against women and children, it does not account for the important institutional as well as legislative measures that have been taken in the last year to safeguard and promote their rights”, that the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act 2020 are the developments made in 2019.
Besides this, the Ministry claimed, formulation of a comprehensive National Action Plan against Child Abuse was another major step of the Ministry which thoroughly overlooked in the report.
The Ministry said that important steps have also been taken towards the criminalization of domestic violence and related awareness campaigns in the media.
Moreover, the Ministry recalled, the year has featured some important advancements with regards to the rights of prisoners in Pakistan.
Regarding a verdict issued by Islamabad High Court (IHC), the Ministry claimed that in compliance an Implementation Commission on Prison Reforms on the has been constituted by the Ministry.
With regards to the right to freedom of press and curbs on political dissent, it added, a very important new legislation on the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals was discussed with journalists and media professionals in 2019 and approved in principle by the Cabinet in early 2020.
“The bill is now in the process of being finalized through the relevant process before being tabled in the National Assembly”, it claimed adding that the proposed legislation features several unprecedented protections for journalists and media professional in the country and could play an important role in improving the freedom of press and information in the country.
