Tuesday, September 8, 2009

PAKISTAN: Clampdown on Human Rights and Women's Groups

The Pakistani authorities have turned their guns on women's and human rights groups after a headline-grabbing crackdown on the press.

The groups, involved in development work, have been accused of "anti-state" and "anti-Islamic" activities.

The Punjab provincial administration closed about 1,500 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and ordered an inquiry into the functioning of thousands of others in May. The accounts of those it closed were frozen and criminal cases registered against them.

Justifying the Government's action, Punjab Social Welfare Minister Binyamin Rizvi claimed that most of the organisations were fake or were working to serve the interests of their foreign donors.

He said that only NGOs which strictly adhered to rules laid down by the Government would be allowed to operate.

The administration's move, ostensibly to weed out "corrupt" NGOs, has raised fears of a clampdown on high-profile independent organisations such as the Human Right Commission of Pakistan, the Women's Action Forum and think-tanks which have been critical of government policies.

The Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) appears to be the main target of the attack for raising its voice against extra-judicial killings, crimes against women and religious bigotry.

To prepare the ground for the Punjab Government's action, government controlled television and radio channels have launched a propaganda campaign against these organisations, declaring them "foreign agents".

They have also been accused of undermining "Islamic values" and of "distorting Pakistan's image".

The Newsletter of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has been folded and the reason given by the Punjab Government is that HRCP has not submitted two copies of the quarterly newsletter to the Government and that the Government issued a notice to that effect. The fact remains that no such notice was received by HRCP.

The HRCP has been regularly submitting copies of all its publications to the concerned departments of both the Punjab and federal governments. This action on the part of Punjab government is plain and simple harassment.

"The main objective of the Government is to destroy civil society and consolidate authoritarian rule," director I. A. Rehman said.

The attack on women's groups has intensified following their recent protest against the Government's failure to stop the killing of women in the name of family and clan honour. The conflict was further aggravated when the groups accused the administration of protecting the parents of murdered Saima Sarwar. (Also known as Saima Imran)

Asma Jahangir, the Chairperson of HRCP and her sister Hina Jilani have been threatened with death both by the mullahs and the state apparatus for defending

Samia Sarwar.

Saima, 28, who had taken refuge in a shelter run by women's organisation Dastak in Lahore and was seeking a divorce from her husband, was shot dead by an assassin allegedly hired by her parents. In many parts of Pakistan this is an acceptable social practice of honor killing.

Police have yet to arrest the parents despite their having been named as the main suspects behind Saima's killing.

The Lahore-based Institute of Women's Studies is another organisation which has come under fire for mobilising public opinion against the sharia law bill passed by the National Assembly. The institute, which has been set up with funding from European countries, conducts postgraduate studies on women's issues.

The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy has made an urgent appeal to all who respect democracy and human rights across the world to stand up, and protest against the Pakistan government's attitude, apathy and inaction on the perpetrators of the crime and demand safety of human rights activists.

source:www.hrsolidarity.net

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