ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: There is a need to revise the existing laws — most of which are a legacy of British colonialism — to ensure a speedy dispensation of justice.

This was the consensus reached by speakers at a Struggle For Change (SACH) seminar here on Thursday, that aimed to sensitize professionals on human rights.

SACH executive-director Khalida Saleemi said that in Pakistan, laws were made to victimize people, not to safeguard their rights. “Most of our present laws being a legacy of the past, we have not been able to develop the expertise to formulate indigenous legislation,” she added.

Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan president Hamid Khan said state institutions indirectly promoted crime by failing to take immediate action against the perpetrators.

Mr Khan said the civil society’s failure to fight law-abusers was responsible for the increasing incidence of torture in the society.

“We have become a very egocentric society and don’t feel the pain inflicted on others,” he remarked.

Answering a question on how to resist violation of our rights, Supreme Court lawyer Raza Khan Kasuri said, “we need to develop a culture of resisting the abuse”. In the Punjab, police officers violate the norms of justice in dealing with suspects and their families but in the NWFP, where the police know that any abuse of power would be avenged, they do not dare surpass their lawful authority, Mr Kasuri added.

Mujtaba Haider Sherazi, a practising lawyer, said the people who suffered on account of judicial inefficiency or corruption felt compelled to settle their scores outside the ambit of law.

Expressing his views on the post-September 11 events, Mr Khan said the US should have constituted a congressional committee to investigate the reasons for the security lapse in their air- defence. Bombing the innocent Afghan civilians had no justification, he added.

He said in accordance with the extradition law, the US was required to present a docket case to the host country against Osama bin Laden .

Terrorism must have a universal definition which could not be distorted to serve the interests of the West, he added.—Hajra Elahi