ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: The following declaration was adopted at a joint meeting of around 300 representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan civil societies organized by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan here on Monday.
Reaffirming its faith in the inviolable dignity of all human beings and their equal entitlement to all basic human freedoms and rights, the meeting appreciated the urgency of learning appropriate lessons from the recent events which had caused heavy losses in life and property to the Afghan people and total devastation of their land and subjected their civil society to extraordinary strains.
‘‘Taking cognizance of the assurances by the international coalition to let the people of Afghanistan rebuild their political and socio-economic structures without hindrance, interference or dictation from outside.
‘‘Realizing that one of the major causes of the over two decades long ordeal suffered by the people of Afghanistan was not only the exclusion of their civil society from public affairs but also deliberate attempts to suppress it, and that the civil society in Pakistan too has greatly suffered as a result of similar marginalization; and ‘‘conscious of the need for strengthening the global human rights movement, especially to arrest the trend towards using measures against terrorism to underline the rule of law and erode guarantees of civil liberties.’’
It declares: “That the people of Afghanistan have an unqualified right to reconstruct their state and social organizations on the universally acknowledged principles of democracy, pluralism, justice, equity and gender equality; in this struggle the civil society elements in Afghanistan must be allowed their due role; the Afghan people deserve the widest possible support from all people of goodwill in addressing the challenges confronting them.”
It further declared that “the people of Pakistan have a duty to render their neighbours in Afghanistan whatever assistance is possible; and the civil society institutions and organizations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan have to fight for establishing genuinely democratic order and against militarism, terrorism, communalism, social injustice, oppression of women and vulnerable minority groups.”
The meeting welcomed the UN resolution 137 and initiatives such as the Bonn Accord and hoped that these processes would be pursued to their logical end, prevent fresh outbreaks among armed forces and lead to the establishment of a regime capable of guaranteeing rule of law, protection against discrimination, respect for basic rights education health, food and shelter, due space to women and the marginalised sections of society.
It called upon the interim government of Afghanistan to guarantee all its people security of life and equal share in relief and rehabilitation regardless of belief, ethnicity, social status or gender.
The meeting “believes it is necessary to continue requisite humanitarian assistance to Afghan refugees, especially women, children and the sick and infirm among them, whether they are in camps or out of them. Forced repatriation of refugees should be avoided and they should be enabled to go home only after arrangements for their peaceful rehabilitation have been made.”
The meeting called on the UN Commission on Human Rights to set up an experts’ body to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and violation of Geneva Conventions, committed by any party over the past many years and take steps to bring all offenders to justice.
The meeting asked the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to ratify the charter of International Criminal Court.
The defenders of human rights in Pakistan pledge themselves to struggle for the publication of a white paper by the forthcoming democratic government on the role of Pakistan’s institutions in fuelling militancy in the region and promoting abuse of religion.
The meeting resolved to form a Pak-Afghan Friendship Forum to strive for the realization of the above-mentioned objectives, and entrusted the task of working out the Forums organizational framework and its programme to a four-member committee comprising, Prof Rasul Amin, Ms Fakhria Assad, Afrasiab Khattak and Ms Jamila Jilani.
The meeting, presided over by HRCP Chairman Afrasiab Khattak, was addressed among others by Ms Irene Khan, secretary-general of Amnesty International, Prof Rasul Ameen the newly-appointed Minister in the interim Afghan Government, Mahmud Khan Achakzai, Ms Wida, Ms Sara Hanifee, Ms Fakhria Assad, Dr Abdul Ghais Mukammal, Babrak Shinwari, Ms Hamida Nisar and Abdul Majeed Kanjoo.