PAKISTAN FACT SHEET

1,100 Police Torture Cases in 2004: REPORT

1,100 cases of police torture were reported in Pakistan during the last year, Madadgaar, ngo stated. In police stations across Pakistan, as in other countries in South Asia, the use of torture is routine procedure to extract confessions.

The police tortured 828 men, 180 women, 65 boys and 27 girls during the last year. The vast majority have been reported from Punjab and Sindh, with 644 and 405 cases respectively. Eight cases of police torture were reported from Balochistan and 43 cases from NWFP. Madadgaar is a joint venture of LHRLA and UNICEF. It is Pakistan’s first help line and referral service for women and children. Madadgaar documents all cases that are published in newspapers or are otherwise acknowledged, to collect information regarding human rights violations in the country, especially against women and children.(Daily Times 11.02.05)

Call for Struggle against Human Rights Abuses

The chairman of the London-based Peace and Human Rights Trust, and a former PPP leader, Mr Mukhtar Rana, has called for a consistent struggle against human rights abuses, including bonded and child labour. Speaking at a press conference, he said violation of laws dealing with child labour and private jails continued unabated. He said that he would take up the case of Manu Bheel, whose family could not be freed from an influential landlord despite a lapse of several years and directives of the Sindh government. (Dawn 01.03.05)

Rape Case Decision Disappoints HRCP

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed its disappointment over the acquittal of five out of the six men convicted of gang rape of Mukhtaran Mai on orders of a jirga in Meerwala. In a statement the HRCP said the acquittal highlighted some of the factors behind the continuously soaring rate of crime against women. It said it was disappointed that people involved in a most heinous crime had been able to escape penalty, and that the victim had instead been forced to pay the price for state's failure to ensure justice. The HRCP said the LHC court observations, in its short order, about flaws in the police inquiry and insufficient evidence against the accused, betrayed a lack of genuine willingness on the part of authorities to pursue cases of crime against women, especially the rural poor among them. (Dawn 5.03.05)

Karo Kari Outcome of Poverty, Illiteracy: Hamida

Dr. Hamida Khuhro, the Sindh Minister for Education and Literacy said that in Sindh, it is caused by the poverty, illiteracy and because of socio-economical problems. She also emphasised the need for research in past 100 years to find out the reasons of such a trend. She underlined the need for massive awareness to curb the trend. (The Nation & The News 18.02.05)

Illitracy the Main Reason for Child Rights Violation: REPORT

Pakistan being a Third World country is faced with innumerable problems, besides poverty and hunger. There is the dilemma of the rights of the child being violated blatantly and the reason for that is the lack of education, especially among mothers who, as a result of this, cannot cater to the basic needs of their children. The child being the future of the country is being neglected by his/her parents childhood onwards. For this reason he or she remains in search for better lot in life which ultimately results in the child’s developing of criminal tendencies.

These circumstances have led to grave incidents and the data presented at a press conference by an NGO Madadagar. The data provides to the journalists showed that 10 children were abused throughout the country daily in different crimes. Quoting figures, that over the last five years, 2755 children were murdered nationwide, among them 358 in Karachi, 1431 minor girls were raped, 171 in Karachi, and 1300 boys were sodomised, among them 100 in Karachi,

During this period 1218 children were brutally tortured, 232 of whom were from Karachi, 4346 children were missing whereas 1127 from Karachi alone, 4088 children were kidnapped, 889 of them from Karachi, 1618 children committed suicide of whom 323 were from Karachi, 266 children were trafficked of whom 79 were from Karachi.

The trend of violation of child rights in Pakistan increased at an alarming pace as compared to the previous years, said Awan, and added that 357 children were kidnapped in 2000 whereas their number soared to 1157 in 2004, 130 children were murdered in 2000, 193 minor girls were raped in 2000, a figure which almost doubled, to 311, in 2004. A hundred-and-ninety-two boys were sodomised in 2000, their number rising to 231 in 2004, and 46 children were physically tortured in 2000, the number rising to 298 in 2004.

Honour Killing Law Compact, Needs No Amendment: Law Minister

The Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code have already been amended to deal with honor killing cases and there is no need to amend the existing law further, said Law and Justice Minister Wasi Zafar. In a statement, the minister clarified the position with regard to a proposed bill by Kashmala Tariq, which has been rejected by the National Assembly.

He said Section 302 of the PPC had been amended and an honor killing crime had been categorized under intentional murder and punishment for the crime was either death or life imprisonment. The murderer had been excluded from the definition of ‘Wali’ by an amendment in Section 305 of the PPC, he added. Earlier, the murderer was given the benefit of being the victim’s ‘Wali’. (Daily Times 5.03.05)

Singer Shot Dead by Father

PESHAWAR: A young singer and stage drama actress was killed allegedly by her father at her home as she had refused to perform in a stage show organized in Karachi, police officials said. Abida Anwar told the police that her 21-year-old daughter Robina Anwar had been refusing to perform in the stage show organized in Karachi for the last few days despite her husband Mohammad Anwar had made commitment with the organizers. (Dawn 21.01.05)

Amendments to Hudood laws on the anvil

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights is set to move a bill in the National Assembly to make certain provisions of the Hudood Ordinances, 1979, non-cognizable. The objective is to make adultery and trading of persons non-cognizable offence, it is learnt. The proposed amendment to the law, legal experts understand, will take away much of the biting force of the controversial laws. For this section 10(2) of the ordinance is being changed to effectively divest the police of the powers to take cognizance of concerned offences. The laws have been exceedingly misused by the police for over 25 years now. The amendments, if passed by the parliament will mean that the police will have no powers to register a case, initiate investigation or arrest a person charged under this section of the Hudood laws.

The law has also been used by parents to deter their daughters from marrying of their own free will. The Lahore High Court has settled a number of such cases in the recent past, allowing newly wed couples to lead a married life on grounds that they have a constitutional right to do so. Many superior courts have taken note of undue interference by the police in domestic life and often held that the police have transgressed their authority by implicating law-abiding citizens in Hudood cases. (Dawn 01.03.05)

Child Labour in Urban Areas on the Rise

ISLAMABAD: Child labour is a great social problem across the world as it exploits and harms the children mentally, physically and morally. Like most of the developing countries, Pakistan is also facing the curse of child labour and even in the capital city of Islamabad and Rawalpindi many children between the age of 15 and 18 could be seen working at different places.

According to a survey conducted by The Nation hundreds of children are working at workshops and restaurants. They could also be seen selling flowers on roads and washing the vehicles of well-off people. It is a matter of concern that most of the studies conducted in the past showed that child labour is rampant only in rural areas but off late it has assumed alarming proportions in the urban centres as well. The children working at these places are of very small age and one can easily assess what could be the impact of hard labour on the soul and minds of innocent kids.

Most of the children interviewed during the survey said they work due to poverty. They said the meager resources of their parents left them with no other option but to work on their own to have their both ends meet. According to a survey, many children are forced to labour in order to contribute to their family income. The lack of financial resource forced the parents to end their kids’ schooling and instead send them to workplaces. (The Nation 20.02.05)

Honor Killing bill's Rejection Criticized

ISLAMABAD: People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA Sherry Rehman has criticized rejection of honor killing bill both by the government and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) , saying that it has exposed the hollow slogan of enlightened moderation by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Talking to a group of reporters she said rejection of the bill had also exposed true face of the friendly opposition. She regretted that whenever any women issue was raised in the parliament, it was made a religious issue by the treasury benches and MMA members.

She said the honor-killing bill, tabled by the ruling party MNA, Kashmala Tariq, had only sought more protection for women and there was no question of Islamic or unIslamic about it. She said Islam had given equal rights to women and men and there was nothing against Islamic injunctions in the bill. Moreover, she said, it was not the right of the MMA members to declare anything Islamic or unIslamic. (Dawn 4.03.05)

$100m WB Annual Aid for Punjab Education Sector

Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood said the World Bank has agreed to support Punjab education reforms program for 10 years. He said that the bank would provide $100 million each year for 10 years in order to improve education standard in the province. He said 40,000 out of 63,000 schools in Punjab are without basic facilities like boundary walls and toilets. He said 38,000 more teachers are needed in addition to the earlier recruited educators. (The News 13.02.05)

490 English Teachers' Appointment Approved

Ministry of Education has approved the appointment of 490 English teachers to be posted in primary schools of Islamabad Capital Territory, Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi said. These teachers would be getting double salary package (Rs10,000) as compared to their counterparts. These appointments were part of the ministry's decision of declaring English as compulsory subject from class I to V in Urdu medium schools of the ICT. (Dawn 4.03.05)

7% Pakistanis carrying hepatitis C virus: SURVEY

A survey conducted by the American Board of Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine and Consultant Haematologists has revealed that prevalence of hepatitis has assumed alarming proportion in Pakistan. The survey says that 15 million Pakistanis are carrying the hepatitis virus, and if the government failed in launching a special campaign to eliminate it, the number of hepatitis patients would reach 60 million in 2010. According to the survey, seven per cent of about 150 million population of Pakistan has already been infected by hepatitis C virus while another four per cent Pakistanis are hepatitis B patients. (The News 28.02.05)

Local Polls Might be Delayed

Following differences between the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) and provincial governments over the appointment of administrators before the local bodies elections, the federal government has decided to link the schedule of the local bodies elections with the schedule of the general elections, which indicates that the local bodies polls may be delayed, government sources told Daily Times. They said think tanks had advised the government not to ignore the objections of the provincial governments and link the schedule of the local bodies polls to that of the general elections. “If the government holds general elections even in the beginning of 2007 or before it, the local bodies elections will be held between June and August 2005 in three phases, and if the general elections are held after the National Assembly completes its tenure, the local bodies elections will be held late,” sources said, adding that this proposal was pressuring decision makers on deciding about holding general elections.

“Actually, the NRB wants the present nazims to spend the budget of the fiscal year 2004-2005, which will end by June 15, while the provincial governments believe that it will benefit the nazims of the opposition parties,” sources added. The NRB had also suggested holding the local council elections after the completion of the fiscal year, sources said. (Daily Times)

Half of World’s Population will Live in Cities by 2007

Half the world’s population will live in cities in two years, a huge jump from the 30 percent residing in urban areas in 1950.  Some 3.2 billion of the world’s 6.5 billion people live in cities today, and the number will climb to 5 billion — an estimated 61 percent of the global population — by 2030, the UN Commission on Population and Development said in a report.

The number of very large urban areas was also rising, the commission said. Twenty cities now have 10 million or more inhabitants, compared with just four — Tokyo, New York, Shanghai and Mexico City — in 1975 and just two — New York and Tokyo — in 1950. 50. The five biggest cities today in population are Tokyo (35.3 million), Mexico City (19.2 million), New York (18.5 million), Bombay (18.3 million) and Sao Paulo (18.3 million). (Daily Times 18.02.05)

648,000 tourists visited Pakistan in 2004

The year 2004 set "a new history" with 648,000 tourists arrival in Pakistan compared to 500,900 in the previous year, registering "a remarkable" increase of 29.4 per cent. Likewise, the country earned $185.6 million during last year from foreign tourism as against $135.6 million in 2003, showing increase of 36.9 per cent, noted Federal Minister for Tourism Dr Ghazi Ghulab Jamal. (The News 28.02.05)

Birth Registration as Low as 20% in Pakistan

Islamabad: Birth registration is a fundamental right of every child, but only 20 percent children are officially registered on birth in Pakistan. Due to illiteracy and inadequate facilities the rest are not registered, causing complications. The low rate of birth registration was first revealed during the inauguration of the Universal Birth Registration campaign, launched by Plan International, an international NGO, in collaboration with different public sector stakeholders. (Daily Times 18.02.05)

FACE, Foundation for the Advancement of Community Education was set up by a group of known and seasoned political, social and human right activists of Lahore. They are struggling for many years to create a just and equitable society in Pakistan, based on principles of mutual respect and dignity for all citizens without any prejudices and discrimination on the basis of sex, race, faith and nationality. FACE, is a non-governmental organization registered under “Societies Registration Act 1860”. FACE, has been initiating a series of activities, targeting the most neglected and marginalized sections of society, living in the slums of main urban centers and surrounding villages of 10 districts of Pakistan. FACE is also publishing of its Urdu News Letter “Bahtar Hakoomat” (Good Governance) and circulate national wide.

Vision: FACE envisages a society in Pakistan, which is socially just, environmentally sound, genuinely democratic and economically productive and equitable.