KARACHI: The Sindh police has set up a human rights cell as its first initiative to establish a specialised unit which will operate as a supervisory body responsible for focusing on issues of human rights.

A senior official said on Thursday that the specialised unit would primarily deal with cases pertaining to vulnerable communities that include women, children, minorities and transgender persons.

The new cell, which would work under the command of DIG (headquarters) Abdul Khaliq Shaikh, has created three major sections addressing the issues of minorities, women and children. The cell would take up matters of human rights related to regular policing from all parts of the province, he said.

“Police being an important law enforcement agency plays its role for upholding basic human rights, but due to plethora of crime, important events and law and order situations both energy and attention of the police leadership and force are diverted toward heinous crimes and security of events,” said the official citing the objective and reasons behind creation of the new cell.

“Such state of affairs warrants that specialised unit should be created as a supervisory body responsible for focusing and emphasising safeguarding human rights. Among all other responsibilities it was imperative for the Sindh police to establish a human rights cell which is centralised at the Central Police Office for streamlining and dealing [with] matters pertaining to human rights.”

Among issues related to overall human rights, he said that the cell would primarily deal with cases pertaining to vulnerable communities.

Elaborating the vision of the new cell, he said that it would provide a platform for better service delivery, implementation of laws and compilation of data pertaining to matters of human rights and human dignity.

When asked about the objective of the new cell, the official said it was expected to provide a centralised and well-organised centre for dealing with the cases of violation of human rights.

“It is aimed at improving the overall response of police units and officers for efficient and just disposal of complaints involving infringement of rights,” he said. “It would also enhance coordination with other stakeholders, including civil society organisations, civil administration and other institutions of criminal justice for achieving the common goal of establishing the rule of law.”

When it came to mechanism of the cell’s operation, he said that the primary function included dissemination of information regarding legislation pertaining to human rights introduced by the parliament to each and every office and ensuring its cognizance by authorities concerned.

“The human rights cell would also aim at creating and then maintaining the record in relation to human rights-related cases,” he said.

“The cell would be to own and supervise cases/instances related to human rights and focus on cases that require or need direct supervision of the police high command. It would also help creating awareness and spreading information with regard to relevant laws.”

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2019