MPs, lawyers hold talks on legislation protecting fundamental rights

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: The Asma Jahangir legal aid cell together with the Pakistan Bar Council had a dialogue with parliamentarians for implementation of legislation protecting fundamental rights. The lawyers were represented by Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council Syed Amjad Shah, Chairman Executive Committee Pakistan Bar Council Hafiz Mohammad Idris and Chairman Human Rights Committee Abid Saqi. The Asma Jahangir legal aid cell was represented by Executive Director Nida Aly, Afrasiab Khattak and Munizae Jahangir.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the chairperson of the Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly attended the event. Senator Mushahidullah Khan, Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Senator Usman Kakar, Farhatullah Babar, MNAs Mohsin Dawar, Shaista Pervaiz, Nafeesa Shah, Chaudhry Manzoor, Saroop Ijaz and Mansoor Awan also participated. Government representatives were also invited to the event, but none of them attended. The purpose of this consultation was to engage the parliamentarians and the legal fraternity for a way forward on the recommendations that emerged from the Asma Jahangir Conference Justice for Empowerment 2018. Consensus was reached on the following resolutions:

1. The challenges to the 18th Amendment and the desire to roll back provincial autonomy and entitlements granted by the 18th Amendment as well as by the Constitution of 1973 generally, such as the National Finance Commission Award, must be resisted. The 19th Amendment related to Article 175 A (appointment of judges in superior judiciary) must be repealed.

2. The role of the Parliamentary Committee in judicial appointments to the superior courts must be revived.

3. Military courts, a parallel justice system, impede access to justice and do not meet standards of fair trial. They should not be extended as they are given jurisdiction over civilians and used against them. The criminal justice system should be strengthened instead.

4. The state must fulfill its responsibility to protect fundamental rights of citizens. Stop the harassment of human rights defenders and immediately lift the ban on International and National Non-Governmental Organizations.

5. Pakistan must implement legislation to criminalize enforced disappearances. The government must prevent torture by adopting the 2014 bill passed by the Senate. The Commission of Missing Persons must prosecute the 153 identified officials responsible for enforced disappearances.

6. There should be effective implementation of merger and reforms in western districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly FATA) as approved by parliament. It is important that transparent elections to the KP Assembly in the western districts of KP take place.

7. Women of western districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly FATA) should be given representation in the NCSW (National Commission for the Status of Women) and should be included in the reform process.

8. Transparent and fair local bodies’ elections should be held in the western districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly FATA).

9. The state’s appeasement of religious fundamentalism must end and all minorities must be protected in the face of new threats, especially the Hazara community in Balochistan. The National Action Plan should be expanded and implemented in letter and spirit.

10. There should be effective legislation and enforcement of such laws against enforced conversions.

11. The legal age that defines a child should be uniform. The legal marriage age for girls should be made 18 years in all provinces (Sindh is the only province where the legal age for marriage is 18). A bipartisan effort should be made to legislate on this issue in provinces and Islamabad.

12. Freedom of expression must not be curtailed by the state and unannounced censorship in print and electronic media must be lifted. Parliament must approve a new bill for the independence of PEMRA according to the recommendation of the media commission report. Parliament must approve a Journalist Safety Bill which was moved in the previous parliament.

13. On Cyber laws, the conference resolved there should be training of judges, lawyers and the cyber-crime wing on Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The parliament should review the laws to remove draconian provisions of Cyber Crime Law. There should be enactment of Data Protection Law which covers all public bodies such as NADRA and Safe Cities. When formulating legislation all stakeholders must be involved.

14. The law on sexual harassment against women in the workplace is not being implemented. Both federal and provincial assemblies have not constituted committees on sexual harassment as mandated by the law.

15. The federation and the provinces must collectively ensure that the curriculum is devoid of hate material and derogatory material with respect to minorities.

16. The Transgender Act 2018 must be implemented in letter and spirit. It was recommended that a monitoring body for the implementation of current protection laws for the transgender community be established. The Pakistan Peoples Party expressed their unfaltering support on abolishing the death penalty. There was clear consensus between the lawyers and the PPP and the PKMAP that currently the system does not provide due process of law and until this is in place, death penalty leads to irrevocable gross injustice.

The moratorium on death penalty should be restored. The Asma Jahangir legal aid cell and the Pakistan Bar Council have formed a committee and pledged to work in coordination with parliamentarians to formulate pro-people legislation protecting human rights and legal reforms.