On December 11, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) organized a conference to mark International Human Rights Day and call on the Pakistani state to protect and uphold the right to ‘freedom, justice and equality for all’.
Speakers included, HRCP Council member Sadia Baloch, lawyer Akhtar Hussain, poet Waheed Noor, women’s rights activist Anis Haroon, HRCP Council member and journalist Sohail Sangi climate justice activist Yasir Hussain, labour rights activist Nasir Mansoor, senior journalist Tauseef Ahmed Khan, HRCP Council member Mahnaz Rahman, rights activist Surath Lohar, Lala Wahab from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, Defence of Human Rights activist Aishah Masood, activist Sarang Joyo, and psychologist Dr Syed Ali Wasif cited numerous examples where the state’s use of such tactics against its own citizens had led to the collapse of social structures.
The conference advocated democratic reforms to allow effective representation in legislatures, not just those of elite interests; called upon the state to prioritize economic and social justice; emphasized the need to protect fundamental freedoms and restore student unions; underscored the importance of the right to health, education and shelter; condemned enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings; added that environmental rights were integral to human rights; and threats to freedom of expression in the present climate had resulted in self-censorship.
