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| April 30, 2003 | Wednesday | Safar 27, 1424 |
Political system blamed for rising HR violations
RAWALPINDI, April 29: Only institutionalized democracy and modern educational system can root out the centuries-old barbaric traditions of Karokari, Wani, Watta Satta, honour- killing and violence against women in the country.
These views were expressed by speakers on the last day of a two-day workshop on human rights, organized by the mass awareness and education project of the ministry of law, justice and human rights under the auspices of the Royal Norwegian embassy and the embassy of Switzerland, here on Tuesday.
The speakers deplored the present state of affairs in political and educational institutions, which, they said, was directly and indirectly responsible for the occurrence of deep-rooted human rights violations in the country, especially among the one-third segment of the population who lived below poverty line.
UN goodwill ambassador Faryal Gauhar criticized the meagre allocation of funds to the education and health sectors and said that the wealth of the country had been concentrated in the hands of a few, who have been ruling over the downtrodden and suppressed majority with undemocratic means since independence.
She said relation of poverty with human rights violation was a myth because developed nations, such as the US and the UK, had also violated human rights with an unprecedented scale.
Ms Faryal also criticized some of the advanced nations for using the under-developed countries for dumping harmful wastes. She said many people reused most of the bottles of pesticides for putting their items of daily use, unaware of the fact that it could be hazardous.
Some of the speakers also criticized the US for trying to change the crop patterns and the traditional eating habits in most of the Third World countries, including Pakistan, in order to monopolize the local markets.
They demanded of the government to liberate the country from the shackles of the International Monitory Fund and the World Bank, which have been taking away more than 50 per cent of the country’s annual budget in the shape of debt-servicing.
The speakers also highlighted the alarming water and air pollution in the industrial area of Islamabad. They alleged that the concerned officials were ignoring the emission of hazardous smoke and dust from various steel and marble factories in the area, which had led to chest diseases among majority of the residents.
They expressed concern over the unbridled water-borne diseases in the twin cities as well as the ever-increasing number of drug-addicts.
The participants termed the performance of the provincial environmental tribunals a complete failure and regretted that they have, so far, failed to take any suo motu action against violators of environmental laws. The questioned whether there was any need to continue the tribunals.
They also criticized the attitude of the environment division as well as civil society in connection with protection of environment.
The unavailability of education and basic health facilities, including drinking water and shelters, to an ever-increasing majority was also highlighted. The speakers regretted that on the one hand there were highly standardized schools in Islamabad while on the other children of the poor still studied either in the open or in make-shift schools set up under sheds in the vicinities of the capital.
They said the Federal Review Board had failed to solve the problems of foreigner prisoners as there were more than 40 foreigner prisoners in Adiala Jail alone, who had completed their imprisonment periods a year ago but were still languishing in the prison. They criticized the ministry of interior and said it had not taken any step in this regard.
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