The federal government asked the concerned ministries and
departments to take "requisite legislative, policy and administrative
measures" in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations
(UN), calling for the termination of military courts and limiting the
role of the army in civil spheres, DawnNews reported on Thursday.
The
UN had urged Islamabad to ensure the implementation of 111
recommendations in accordance with its human rights conventions. The
Ministry of Human Rights forwarded the recommendations to the relevant
departments and ministries for further action.
According to an "office memorandum" issued by the human rights ministry, a copy of which is available with DawnNews,
Pakistan has ratified seven "core human rights conventions".
Subsequently, four progress reports were prepared and submitted before
the relevant UN bodies through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A
high-level delegation led by the human rights minister presented and
defended these reports before the concerned UN committees in the review
meetings, held during 2016 and 2017. The UN committees, while reviewing
the obligatory reports, had made concluding observations and
recommendations.
Based on the recommendations put
forward by the UN committees in this regard, the human rights ministry
compiled a matrix and forwarded it to all concerned ministries and
departments, asking them to take "requisite legislative, policy and
administrative measures".
According to the document, the
UN asked Islamabad to immediately put a moratorium on the capital
punishment and eventually "consider abolishing the death penalty". In
addition to this, if ineluctable, the death penalties should not be
imposed by the military courts — particularly in cases involving
civilians.
The UN also recommended that the death penalty
should only be awarded for the most serious crimes, involving
intentional killings.
The UN committees also recommended
to "repeal or amend Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulations 2011 in
order to abolish the military's power to establish internment centres in
the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially
Administrated Tribal Areas (Pata)". It also urged Islamabad to ensure
that no one is held in secret or incommunicado detention anywhere in the
country.
The UN has suggested making amendments in the
Army Act 2015 in order to eliminate retrospective immunity and clarify
that anyone committing acts of torture will be subjected to criminal
prosecutions.
The committees also recommended to
strengthen the powers of the National Commission and ensure that it is
able to investigate all cases or torture and ill-treatment committed by
any entity carrying out arrest and detentions in the country, including
intelligence agencies and armed forces.
According to
the document, the global rights body recommended taking effective
measures to mitigate the "intensified hostility towards Afghan refugees
by police and security forces". The government was also asked to
"expedite the adoption of national refugee law and a voluntary
repatriation policy on Afghan refugees".
The UN body
also recommended to abolish the role of military courts or at least
limit their role. Those who are convicted by a military court should be
provided with a right to appeal against the sentence before a civil
court, it was recommended.
The body also recommended
granting permission to local and international non-governmental
organisations to make official and unannounced visits to all detention
centres. According to the document, it was also recommended to "end the
use of paramilitary forces to carry out law enforcement tasks".
