...a formerly good idea gone bad...
(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
...which often include carefully measured allowances of
freedomat the convenience of the state...
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, Pakistain 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.