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| September 11, 2005 | Sunday | Sha’aban 6, 1426 |
HRCP to raise issue of ‘missing people’
PESHAWAR, Sept 10: The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir, said on Saturday that scores of people picked up by intelligence agencies were missing and being kept incommunicado. Denouncing the detention of various persons by the state agencies, Ms Jehangir said that they would raise the issue at different forums.
“We need the names, addresses and telephone numbers of each and every individual picked by the agencies so as to raise the issue at different levels,” she said.
Speaking at a reception hosted for HRCP’s executive council members by the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday, Ms Jehangir said that relatives of the detainees were scared and they were often hesitant to give any details about these detentions.
The HRCP’s two-day council meeting commenced here on Saturday.
She said that the HRCP had to face hurdles in all the governments but in dictatorial regimes such difficulties multiplied.
Criticising President General Pervez Musharraf for his statement against NGOs, Ms Jehangir said that he believed that the image of Pakistan was only related to women and NGOs, whereas in fact the army generals had inflicted more harm to the image of the country abroad. “The women have always improved the image of the country whereas successive army generals tarnished that image,” Ms Jehangir added.
The image of the country, she added, could only be improved with the provision of justice to all, upholding democratic norms, ending discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, caste, colour and creed.
“The only political agenda of human rights organisations, like the HRCP, and quite a few others, can be their commitment to international norms of human rights which we believe must be respected regardless of political and cultural factors,” she said.
The HRCP’s chairperson stated that the national interest was not a concern of an individual or the government rather it was the interest of people. She urged upon the media-persons to play their role in enlightening the general public as they remained in touch with people.
Ms Jehangir stated that journalists had played a vital role in the establishment of HRCP, especially the late Nisar Usmani, who always remained a source of inspiration for activists.
I.A.Rehman said that the media and human rights groups should join hands for tackling the laws introduced by the military government regarding the press in 2002. He said that both the press and the human rights groups were integral to each other.
The secretary general of HRCP, Iqbal Haider, regretted that political parties in Pakistan were apologetic about their secular credentials. He said that the sectarian, ethnic and other militant groups were a major threat to society and these groups had been patronised by the establishment for its own vested interests.
The Peshawar Press Club’s president, Muhammad Riaz, stated that the HRCP had always helped journalists in their struggle for their rights. He said that the relationship between the press and the human rights groups was of great significance.
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