On the Human Rights Day, observed worldwide every December 10, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called upon every citizen of the country to join the people of Balochistan in their struggle for the realisation of their rights and to urge the government to make vigorous efforts for ensuring respect for the rights of the people in the long suffering province.
Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, HRCP Chairperson Zohra Yusuf said the Commission is commemorating the Human Rights Day in solidarity with the people of Balochistan to support their aspirations to realise their rights.
Yusuf said she believes that the human rights situation faced by the people in Balochistan, irrespective of their ethnic, religious or sectarian identity, is an issue of foremost concern in the country today.
She said the HRCP reiterates its grave distress at the absence of adequate measures to resolve the lingering issues of human rights violations.
“It’s a matter of grave alarm that 107 new cases of forced disappearance have been reported in Balochistan this year, and the ‘missing persons’ are increasingly turning up dead. Bodies of at least 225 ‘missing persons’ have been recovered from various parts of the province since July last year. It is scandalous that not a single person has been held accountable for these disappearances and killings,” she added.
She said the situation is particularly grave for non-Muslims and minority Muslim sects; as many as 80 members of the Shia Hazara community have been killed in the province this year for no reason other than their religious beliefs.
Yusuf said the HRCP also has serious concerns over targeted killings of teachers, intellectuals and non-Baloch ‘settlers’ in Balochistan; the Commission calls upon all political elements in the province and beyond to unequivocally condemn these killings and play their role in ending such callous acts of violence.
She said, “The precarious situation in Balochistan has been further compounded by targeting of human rights defenders in the province by various parties, making access to reliable information on the human rights situation all the more difficult. The murder of two HRCP activists and three journalists in the province this year signifies the dangers that those highlighting human rights violations face on a daily basis.”
She also said the HRCP calls upon the government to deal with threats to human rights defenders and facilitate their safe access to all parts of the province; the Commission also expects the civil society and media to engage more diligently in the issue and play their role in ending the silence on violations against human rights as well as demand justice for these violations.
“The primary responsibility of ensuring their rights and tackling the unfortunate state of affairs lies with the government, but it does not mean that the people have to remain passive spectators until the state is woken from its slumber. The people must realise that these problems are not Balochistan’s problems alone and that their resolution is a vital prerequisite to the progress and prosperity of the country. It is time for every citizen to join the people of Balochistan in their struggle and reassure them that they do not stand alone in their struggle for the realisation of their rights,” she added.
Yusuf said the HRCP urges the government to take immediate and meaningful measures to ensure the rights of all the people in Balochistan, including their right to life, justice, peace, progress, control over their resources and democratic management of their affairs.
