June 28, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 27: United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour has called for an expeditious and consensual resolution of the judiciary issue but without compromising on the independence of judiciary and clipping the remedial powers of courts.

“I stress that the ultimate outcome has to be one that secures for Pakistan in the long run a free and independent judiciary with security of 10 years for judges and a court that has appropriate remedial powers to deliver justice, particularly to those who face great difficulties in accessing the courts,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told a media briefing on Friday at the conclusion of her three-day visit to Pakistan.

During her stay, Ms Arbour held meetings with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Law Minister Farooq H. Naek and representatives of civil society and the diplomatic community.

Ms Arbour said she was convinced that the matter was “hijacking the rest of the government agenda” and “risked paralysing the new government’s ability to address critical policy challenges.”

She urged all stakeholders to find common grounds for resolving the issue. Appreciating the civil society’s movement for the reinstatement of judges, Ms Arbour said it already had a transformative effect on the people’s consciousness.

She criticised the government’s peace deals with militants, saying such deals had undermined the state’s authority in areas controlled by militants, leaving local people vulnerable to human rights abuses.

Ms Arbour said the choice of an appropriate strategy for the troubled tribal regions and the NWFP remained a prerogative of the government, but at the same time the protection of civilians was its prime responsibility.

She described the issue of missing persons as the most horrendous human rights violation.

“We have seen human rights violations in the context of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, including hundreds of unresolved cases of people disappearing,” she said and urged the government to ratify the relevant international conventions.

The UN human rights chief commended the government for taking steps towards commuting the death sentences of condemned prisoners to life term. “I’m greatly encouraged by Prime Minister Gilani’s recent announcement that he intends to push for thousands of death sentences to be commuted.”

She urged the government to place moratorium on the use of death sentence and suggested that as a first step the number of offences carrying capital punishment should be reduced.