ISLAMABAD, May 17: The proposed National Commission for Human Rights should not become a parking lot for retired bureaucrats. This demand was made during a consultation organized by the Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights (PCHR), Pakistan, held at its secretariat.
Parliamentarians, foreign diplomats and representatives of civil society organizations attended the consultation. The PCHR chairman, Riaz Fatyana MNA, chaired the meeting and State Minister for Interior Dr Shehzad Waseem participated in the meeting as chief guest.
The consultation focused on mandate, composition, functions, powers and funding of the proposed commission. Mr Fatyana termed the introduction of National Human Rights Act in the assembly a historic moment and a step in the right direction to improve the human rights situation in the country.
Dr Shahzad Waseem assured the members of the resolve of the government to protect human rights. Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada, PPP MNA and member National Assembly Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights, viewed that this should be discussed in detail at all forums and urged the civil society to come up with concrete suggestions to further improve this draft.
Maulana Rehmatullah MNA also called it a step in the right direction and suggested some amendments in the proposed bill.
The civil society organization had the consensus opinion that the commission should be independent and autonomous and it should have adequate administrative powers to be able to address human rights violations.
As regards appointment of retired judges and bureaucrats, it was unanimous opinion that the commission should have full autonomy to hire professional and competent staff to run its affairs.
The consultation reached the conclusion that establishment of separate human rights courts was futile rather the commission should strive for raising awareness of human rights among the judiciary.
Regarding composition of the commission, it was recommended that the commission should have equal representation of women and opposition and treasury benches and that retired judges and bureaucrats should not be taken on board.
The members expressed reservations about discriminatory age limits for members and mandating commission to engage itself in education and execution of human rights activities.
Dr Shehzad Waseem said establishment of the commission will speed up redressal of human rights grievances, as the commission enjoyed powers to intervene into any proceeding involving an allegation of violation of human rights pending with a court with the approval of such court.
The PCHR chief coordinator, Shafique Chaudhry, briefed the participants on the role of the commission in the establishment of the National Commission for Human Rights.