QUETTA: Members of civil society have called for full respect of human rights and urged the government to find a political solution to the problems being faced by Balochistan.

The need was stressed at a consultative meeting on civil society’s role in GSP+ monitoring compliance held here on Wednesday. The event was jointly organised by the Democracy Reporting International (DRI), All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF) and Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO).

Take a look: HRCP says concerned over rights violations in Balochistan

The meeting underlined the need for taking effective measures to stop the killing of innocent people and pay serious attention to development work in Balochistan.

In his presentation, DRI team leader Zulfiqar Shah shared details about compliance requirements and reporting mechanisms and said the European Union was considering including civil society in its monitoring procedure.

He said civil society would have to engage itself with the government to improve the human rights situation in the country and play an active role in monitoring compliance. “It is important that the government implement key reforms before the first review takes place in January 2016,” he said.

SPO’s regional head Mukhtiar Chalgri said NGOs could play a role in ensuring compliance on core human rights conventions agreed upon under the GSP+ conditionality.

APLF Chairman Sultan Khan said the status of implementation on core labour standards was not impressive and if the government really wanted to meet the GSP+ requirements, it should demonstrate seriousness in addressing workers’ issues. He regretted that only two to three per cent workforce was unionised which showed that the right to organise and collectively bargain was highly compromised.

“Similar is the situation if you evaluate the status of other rights using data,” he said.

Advocate Sohail Ansari said that compliance on 27 conventions attached to the GSP+ conditionality would require an enormous legal exercise because the government would be required to make changes in many laws and policies to bring them in conformity with international standards.

Shahzada Zulfiqar, a senior journalist and representative of the PFUJ, said the media could play a role in monitoring compliance on human rights. He said the media was influential in opinion making on any subject, but it had not paid much attention to human or labour rights.

Advocate Jalila Haider said women were the worst victims of human rights violation. She said that 1,825 people of the Hazara community had been killed in Balochistan over the past few years and women of the victim families were now undergoing psychological trauma and economic stress.

She said social indicators suggested there was dismal situation of women rights in Balochistan. “Maternal mortality rate in Balochistan is 781 per 100,000 births – two times higher than Karachi.”

Ms Haider said time had come to collectively raise the voice against killing and enforced disappearances.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play