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HYDERABAD, June 26: Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday criticised the new police ordinance, under which police officials have been given sweeping powers, saying that no positive change could take place in the society unless discriminatory laws such as Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, Hudood Ordinance, and blasphemy laws were repealed.
THe speakers said this at the seminar, which was organized by the Sindh National Council at a local hotel, to observe the international day in support of the victims of torture. It was presided over by Advocate Rochi Ram.
They called upon the government to ratify all conventions pertaining to fundamental human, women, and child rights.
In his paper, Sindh National Council’s Hussain Bux Thebo expressed hope that one day the world would be torture-free.
Dr Rahim Solangi vowed to wage a struggle for the oppressed people. He said even those organizations which were diametrically opposed to the use of torture and violence were using weapons.
Citing reasons for torture by sadists, Dr Hameed Memon, a psychiatrist, told participants that joblessness in the society was the root cause. He said those who indulged in torture tactics always do it regardless of the consequences of their acts. He said that medical tests of these people showed that their brain was found immature in various cases.
The torture victims and heirs of those who fell prey to custodial or extra-judicial killings also narrated their woeful tales.
Lambasting the government for not ratifying various conventions on human rights, Advocate Ms Noor Naz Agha, called for the right of self-determination of an individual, and added that the government was not doing it deliberately.
She described the Hudood Ordinance a bogus and jocular law which led to an increase in the number of women internees in jails under this offence.
Likewise, she informed the audience that the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance had also become a license to kill and also saw an increase in the number of Karo-kari cases.
She added that blasphemy was also a discriminatory law having affected minorities badly.
She said that all discriminatory laws should be amended.
RESOLUTION: The seminar adopted several resolutions, condemning use of torture in different forms in Pakistan and all other countries and expressing support with all the torture victims who were struggling to overcome the psychological effects of these practices.
The resolution treated all the confessional statements and evidences extorted by way of torture as inadmissible in any legal proceedings in order to prohibit them in the eyes of the law.
It expressed grave concern over torture tactics being applied at private jails, and demanded abolition of compulsory labour.
Another resolution treated women as equal citizens and demanded restitution of their rights, life, and honour at home as well as in the society.
It said that strict measures should be taken to stop use of violence against them and killings on the pretext of Karo-kari.
The resolution demanded abolition of all the discriminatory laws against women including the Hudood Ordinance and Qanoon-e-Shahadat.
Demanding abolition of child labour, in another resolution, the seminar condemned use of torture in all manifestations against children at home, madrassah, school, or any other institution.
It also condemned torture tactics, employed by activists of racial and religious organizations against their opponents or those who differed with their views. It said that these groups should carry out de-weaponization in their ranks.
The seminar appealed to the government to ratify the UN convention against torture thereby accepting obligations to adopt effective measures in preventing acts of torture and treating all these acts as an offence punishable under the relevant laws.
MODERNIZATION: The Zila Nazim, Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman has said that Hyderabad would soon become an ultra-modern city where economic activities were gaining momentum.
Inaugurating a branch of a private aviation services company here on Wednesday, Mr Zaman held out the assurance that the district authorities would extend all cooperation for the development of tourism and travel.
