The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP; ) is an independent, democratic

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organisations in the country. HRCP is committed to monitoring, protecting and promoting human rights in Pakistan. It is not associated with the government or with any

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Mission

HRCP's goal is to realise the entire body of

, as defined in international instruments, by all citizens of Pakistan as well as all persons present otherwise in the country. This goal applies without any distinction or discrimination on grounds of gender, race, belief or religion, domicile, disability, socioeconomic status, and sexual identity or orientation. It applies particularly to vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, such as

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, members of ethnic and religious minorities, workers, peasants and victims of human rights abuses.

Scope of work

HRCP's scope of work includes: *

Advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

campaigns to raise public awareness of human rights through publications, workshops, public meetings and rallies. * Focusing attention onto areas in which human rights have been denied or violated, by collecting, publishing and disseminating data. * Organising special fact-finding missions to probe the more serious violations of rights. * Lobbying with the appropriate authorities to introduce and implement measures designed to check human rights abuse and promote respect for human rights by offering concrete alternatives. * Providing redress to victims of human rights abuse by referring complaints and grievances to the authorities concerned and by extending legal aid in special cases or those that affect collective interests. * Promoting democratic governance and the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

by generating ideas and pressure for (a) constitutional and legal reforms, (b) participatory democracy and communities’ role in governance, (c) fair electoral processes, (d) the independence of the judiciary and legal profession, (e) pro-people administration, and (f) minimum standards for law enforcement agencies with respect to the use of force and protection of the rights of litigants and detainees. * Training and mobilising activists to promote awareness, advocacy and intervention. * Networking and cooperation with similar organisations, both domestic and international, on broad human rights themes as well as specific issues. * Liaising with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

system, including the

Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of a ...

, to exchange ideas on the areas listed above.

Structure

HRCP comprises over 5,000 members across Pakistan and is governed by an executive council elected by its members. The organisation's secretariat is based in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

. It has seven regional offices in Gilgit, Hyderabad, Karachi, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and Turbat. Additionally, the Centre for Democratic Development operates from Islamabad. All HRCP offices work with volunteer groups, augmented by active members in districts and towns across Pakistan.

History

Co-founded in 1987 by Asma Jahangir and Ibn Abdur Rehman, HRCP has a wide mandate, including women's rights, including

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

, honour killings,

enforced disappearances An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

, the abolition of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, restrictions on press freedom,

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, freedom of religion and belief,

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...

, state excesses and religiously motivated violence. The commission is a member organisation of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. , Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's chairperson is Hina Jilani, internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer and former UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders.

Some of HRCP’s achievements

''Abolition of separate electorates''. HRCP demanded that separate electorates be replaced by joint electorates at its foundation function in 1986. These demands were largely met in 2002. ''Faith-based discrimination''. HRCP's campaign against the insertion of a ‘religion’ column in people's national identity cards put pressure on the government to withdraw the move. '' Bonded labor''. The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act 1992 was drafted by HRCP and moved in Parliament by one of its board members. The draft was adopted and became law. The

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan (; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance witPart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it h ...

also accepted HRCP's petition whereby bonded ''haris'' can seek relief under this act. ''Rule of law''. In 1995, Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

asked HRCP to investigate the state of lawlessness in Karachi, Pakistan. ''National Human Rights Commission''. While revisiting the draft law on the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Human Rights sought and incorporated input from HRCP. ''

Death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

''. HRCP has consistently campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty. The government placed a moratorium on executions in late 2008, which was withdrawn five years later. Efforts to revive this moratorium and abolish capital punishment continue. ''Electoral reforms''. HRCP's proposal for electoral reforms was accepted by the government, including simultaneous polling for the national and provincial assemblies and extension of adult franchise to the Tribal Areas. ''

Torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

''. HRCP and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

have a long history of collaboration: in 2012, HRCP organised a joint training session for activists from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on monitoring cases of torture. ''Forced labor''. HRCP's data on forced labor was used by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery in the annual report for 2016. ''Enforced disappearances''. HRCP has consistently brought the thorny issue of enforced disappearances to the public agenda. It raised the issue in the

in 2007 and has continued filing cases. ''International work with the UN''. The selection of two HRCP council members—the late Asma Jahangir as a UN Special Rapporteur (on extra-legal killings as well as freedom of belief) and Hina Jilani as the UN Secretary General's first Representative for Human Rights Defenders—was largely in recognition of their work at, and for, HRCP. In 2013/14, they served on UN panels for Palestine and Sri Lanka. In 2010, HRCP was granted special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.

Honours

* Pax Christi International Peace Award, 2016

References

External links

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
official website of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan {{Authority control Human rights organisations based in Pakistan Non-profit organisations based in Pakistan 1987 establishments in Pakistan