Mr. Pervez Musharraf
President
Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad
Fax: +92 51 922 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Geneva – Paris - Lahore, 16 May 2008
Excellency,
Re: Draft report of the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council
FIDH are writing to you in the aftermath of the examination of Pakistan’s human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place earlier this week in Geneva, Switzerland.
We welcome the fact that the government of Pakistan recently ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture, consistent with the pledges it made to the Human Rights Council at the time of its election. We also look forward to the establishment of an independent Human Rights Commission, in accordance with the Paris Principles.
We also note the statement by the government of Pakistan that a committee of experts is looking into the question of the restoration of the judges of the higher judiciary and hope that the process will be achieved rapidly. We welcome the fact that, the priorities of your government in the area of women’s rights include to end « honour killings », "the removal of abuses of the Hadood laws that violate women’s rights" and the adoption of legal and administrative measures to attack domestic violence. We will also follow-up the announcement by your government of the restoration of labour unions and the amendment of any laws that undermine the interest of labour, to bring them in line with the ILO legal framework.
However, we would like to express our deepest concern about the statement made by Pakistan that a number of recommendations proposed in the framework of the UPR "neither fall under the framework of universally recognized human rights nor are consistent with the pledges and commitments made by Pakistan". The recommendations in question regard:
– the establishment of a moratorium on the death penalty,
– the decriminalization of non-marital consensual sex and adultery and the recognition of marital rape
– the decriminalization of defamation
– the repeal of the Hadood and Zina Ordinances
– the prohibition of the use of the provisions of the Qisas and Diyat law in cases of honour killings.
The right to life is enshrined in the UDHR as well as in the ICCPR. The Human Rights Committee, in its General Comment on Article 6, states that "the article refers generally to abolition in terms which strongly suggest that abolition is desirable (..). All measures of abolition should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life". It adds that "in any event, [states] are obliged to restrict the application of the death penalty to the "most serious crimes".1 We therefore urge the government of Pakistan to seriously consider the adoption of a moratorium on executions, in line with UNGA resolution of 18 December 2007.
Pakistan is party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW, as well as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, require states to take all necessary measures to address all forms of discrimination and violence against women. States are obliged to adopt effective measures, including penal sanctions, to protect women against all kinds of violence and to end impunity for perpetrators of acts of violence against women.2
In June 2007, at the 38th session of the CEDAW Committee, the Committee emphasised that the Hadood Ordinances, in particular those related to "offences of Zina" contained discriminatory provisions in violation of the Convention and called upon Pakistan to amend these laws. The
Committee also specifically called upon Pakistan to ensure that the Qisas and Diyat laws have no application in cases of violence against women, especially crimes committed in the name of honour, since these laws provide for impunity for perpetrators of violence against women.3
Regarding the criminalization of defamation, the UN Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right of freedom of opinion and expression considers that "sanctioning libel and defamation by prison sentences is not proportionate. Furthermore, he is of the view that criminal law is not appropriate for regulating such offences. […] Criminal defamation is not a justifiable restriction on freedom of expression; all criminal defamation laws should be abolished and replaced, as necessary, with appropriate civil defamation laws."4
We also take the opportunity to urge you to agree on all the recommendations adopted by the Human Rights Council when they will be adopted next month in Geneva.
Sincerely yours,
Ms. Souhayr Belhassen
FIDH President