KARACHI: Stress laid on state’s duty to protect citizens’ right
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 10: Speakers at a seminar on Sunday said that since all human beings had equal rights regardless of their caste, creed or colour, it was the duty of the state to protect those human rights.
They were speaking at a seminar on ‘Development of Human Rights-friendly culture is a must for the social fibre’ organised by the Regional Directorate of the Human Rights Ministry in connection with the International Human Rights Day, celebrated globally on December 10.
They said that whenever an incident of human rights violation was reported, the judiciary at every level should take suo motu notice and ensure that the victimisation was checked promptly and the culprits were punished according to the law.
They said that the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, had always been one of the major violators of human rights and the past rulers had particularly used the police to bully their opponents. They said efforts were being made to change that negative character of the police.
They said that under the laws the police had to produce a person who had been picked up for investigation in the relevant court with in 24 hours, but this law was rarely honoured by the police, and people had been lying in illegal official custody for days, or even for far longer periods.
They said police usually did not inform relatives or the family of the person they picked up for investigations, and the family kept worrying regarding the whereabouts of the people who went missing.
They stressed that the police be directed to inform the family of the person taken into custody so that the suspected persons’ rights could be protected through lawyers hired by the family.
They also said that police for long had been picking up close relatives, including women folk, if they could not find the wanted person, which was a gross violation of human rights and such illegal practice should be done away with immediately.
They also urged the people not to watch silently when they saw human rights of others being violated and should stand up and raise their voice against the culprits, who could not stand against the collective voice or resistance put up by the people.
They said that a human rights-friendly culture could not be developed until every segment of society recognized and respected rights of others.
Regretting the hypocrisy prevalent in society, particularly among influential people, they said that while everybody made tall claims and said that laws be enforced equally on everybody, they themselves did not abide by the law.
They also called for launching a mass campaign for creating awareness regarding human rights so that people became aware of one another’s rights and duties. Once this awareness was created people would be more tolerant towards others and would be willing to accommodate people whose views did not match their’s.
Sindh Home Affairs Adviser Waseem Akhtar, Justice (retd) Ghaus Mohammad of the Sindh Judicial Academy, AIG Niaz Siddiqui, Dr Khalida Ghaus of Karachi University, Mazahir Hussain and Maj Nazrul Islam of the Human Rights Ministry, Sharmine Osmany, Raana Khan and others also spoke.
KARACHI, Dec 10: Speakers at a seminar on Sunday said that since all human beings had equal rights regardless of their caste, creed or colour, it was the duty of the state to protect those human rights.
