Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that Pakistan’s human rights record will deteriorate further during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Releasing the report on State of Human Rights 2019 Wednesday, HRCP spokesperson IA Rehman in a press release said that Coronavirus is likely to cast a long shadow on prospects for human rights.
The report says that 2019 was a difficult year for Pakistanis and the marginalised groups continued to be neglected in the society. It says that social and economic discrimination has brought marginalised groups to a point where they no longer matter to those in power.
HRCP noted that during 2019, Pakistan failed to protect its vulnerable citizens. Child abuse reports have come to surface from Balochistan’s mines and stories of rape and murder of children have become extremely common. Honour killing of women continued in 2019, with Punjab reporting the highest number of such cases.
The report also highlights the state of censorship in Pakistan. It states that journalists from all parts of the country have spoken about the difficulties being faced for reporting the truth and criticising state policies.
Former HRCP Chairman Zahra Yousuf highlighted that controls and financial pressures on mainstream media and restrictions on social media have caused Pakistan’s position in the global press freedom index to fall further.
She also highlighted the reports of forced disappearances and the need to criminalise the offense.
Releasing the report on State of Human Rights 2019 Wednesday, HRCP spokesperson IA Rehman in a press release said that Coronavirus is likely to cast a long shadow on prospects for human rights.
The report says that 2019 was a difficult year for Pakistanis and the marginalised groups continued to be neglected in the society. It says that social and economic discrimination has brought marginalised groups to a point where they no longer matter to those in power.
HRCP noted that during 2019, Pakistan failed to protect its vulnerable citizens. Child abuse reports have come to surface from Balochistan’s mines and stories of rape and murder of children have become extremely common. Honour killing of women continued in 2019, with Punjab reporting the highest number of such cases.
The report also highlights the state of censorship in Pakistan. It states that journalists from all parts of the country have spoken about the difficulties being faced for reporting the truth and criticising state policies.
Former HRCP Chairman Zahra Yousuf highlighted that controls and financial pressures on mainstream media and restrictions on social media have caused Pakistan’s position in the global press freedom index to fall further.
She also highlighted the reports of forced disappearances and the need to criminalise the offense.