MINISTRY OF HUMAN RIGHTS

2019-10-16
MoHR Press Release Dated: 15 th October, 2019 Today on 15 th October, Directorate General of Special Education, Ministry of Human Rights has celebrated the “White Cane Safety day,” in the auditorium of National Institute of Special Education. Federal Minister of Human Rights Mrs. Shireen Mazari graced the occasion in solidarity of visually impaired Children and adults. She pledged in her speech that the Government will do everything for the protection of rights persons with special needs. A bill this regard will be moved in next session of National Assembly. She also informed the audience that she had sent letters of to all Vice Chancellors of Public Universities that they should impart education to persons with disabilities, either free or with subsidized fee so that they should become valuable and active members of society. Dr. Mazari said that her ministry would help every citizen in their lives and rights ensured in state of MADINA. CDA has been directed to make Islamabad accessible to all and at the same time State Bank has made many ATM’s accessible for visually impaired. She further announced that in near future they are going to issue driving license for hearing impaired persons. Government is striving to make better opportunities of employment for persons with special needs with the help of NGOs. She was happy to watch the amazing performance of children of Al- Maktoom Special Education Centre and from other centers who presented beautiful programmes on the ocean of White Cane Safety Day. The Director General Special Education while addressing on the occasion mentioned that the “White Cane Safety Day” reminds us the plight of all persons with special needs and how to cope. These celebrations help make people sensitize the general public to highlight the issues of persons with special needs. People now can recognize the White Cane and its importance for holders. Mrs. Munnaza Gillani of “Sight savers” also spoke on the occasion and insured her cooperation in future for the welfare programmers of visually impaired persons. Mrs. Rabia Javeri Agha, the federal secretary for Human Rights specially attended the occasion and distributed White Cane among children and appreciated the performance of special children who presented beautiful items including tableaus on White Cane Safety Day.

2019-09-25
MoHR Press Release Dated: 23-09-2019 Islamabad: Ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan Willen Wouter Plomp called on the Human Rights Minister Dr. Shireen M Mazari here in Islamabad on Monday. Different issues related to human rights particularly women empowerment including the minorities, women and children rights were discussed. It was also affirmed to work collectively to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights in the country. Minister apprised the Ambassador about different steps which have been taken to protect and promote human rights in Pakistan. Minister for human rights Dr. Shireen Mazari shared that non Muslims living in Pakistan have been provided their own personal laws and government is committed to safeguard their basic rights. Minister shared protection of human rights was the top most priority of incumbent government and also shared that incumbent government and ministry of human rights is equally vigilant about the rights of transgender community. Law to protect rights of transgender are being implemented and they are given free medical and health facilities at PIMS, Islamabad. Separate ward has been established in PIMS hospital to provide them best health facilities. Minister for human rights added that protection of human rights was the key priority of the incumbent government besides implementation of existing laws, new laws are being formulated. Dr. Mazari shared that Ministry for human rights is well aware of this fact that awareness campaigns are inevitable to educate the people. Ministry of Human rights is running various awareness campaigns and different awareness programs are also underway especially related to women inheritance and to prevent child abuse. On this occasion, Dr. Shireen Mazari showed her deep concern over the massive human rights violations and deteriorating human rights situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Ambassador appreciated the different endeavours taken by incumbent government and shared his intention to work collectively for ensuring basic human rights and emphasized on mutual collaboration in the area of human rights. Minister for human rights Dr. Mazari extended her full support and cooperation in this regard. Ambassador told the Minister about the Dutch Human Rights Minister’s plan to come to Pakistan and to collaborate in various sectors of human rights. Minister said we are committed to ensure the basic rights of our citizens in pursuance to our Constitution and International commitments without any kind of discrimination. She stated we are working on several bills including Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Domestic workers including the Christian Divorce Bill. Federal minister expressed that we have very comprehensive agenda and apprised the Ambassador about the steps which have been taken for the protection of human rights.

2019-09-23
MoHR Press Release Islamabad: 20th September 2019:“Being subservient to the Constitution of Pakistan, Judges have a duty to ensure the protection of all fundamental rights for effective administration of justice said Justice (R) Arif Khilji, Director General, Sindh Judicial Academy. The Director General was addressing a first batch of 30 district judges from Sindh gathered for a three-day Training on “Human Rights, Gender and Law.” Conducted at the Sindh Judicial Academy (SJA), the training kicked of the 3-year long MoHR led and European Union (EU) funded Huqooq-e-Pakistan training and capacity building program for federal and provincial HR institutions. The Ministry of Human Rightsthrough the Huqooq-e-Pakistan Programme (HeP) embarked on the joint initiative with the European Union for the Promotion of Human Rights in Pakistan in January this year.In April 2019, an MoU was signed with the aim to train judges in laws pertaining to human rights and build awareness of the national and international human rights framework.Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha signed on behalf of the ministry while the academy’s director general, Justice Arif Hussain Khilji, represented the Sindh Judicial Academy. The training intervention of the Huqooq-e-Pakistan programme aims to acquaint and train judges, police and prosecution departments in laws pertaining to human rights in addition to the performance of their duties effectively within the ambit of the law and factoring in the specific context and human rights challenges faced by the country’s criminal justice system as a whole. Ali Dayan Hasan, Senior Key Expert, Training and Capacity Building, said that the Ministry of Human Rights is cognizant of the importance of fair and speedy administration of justice. “Real justice can be achieved only by a proficient, capable and aware judiciary. Continuing judicial education in human rights has, therefore, to be regarded as an accepted part of judicial life, for independence of judges,’ he added. This is the first of such training courses forSessions Judges. The training programme aims to sensitize and train stakeholders across the criminal justice system from all provinces on human rights standards and safeguards. Supervised by HeP’sSenior Key Expert on human rights, experts from the Legal Aid Society (LAS)imparted this training on human rights law related topics as well as“Principle of policy”, “Precedents on Fundamental Rights”, “Case management”, “Judgement writing” and so on.The Sindh Judicial Academy also aims to integrate the learning from the training and capacity building interventions into all its future training sessions for the junior and senior judges of Sindh. Haya Zahid, Executive Director, LAS added that “Despite the overburdened case dockets Judges had to be reminded about the nature of the day to day justice needs and struggles of the people. The training was designed to ensure grassroots experiences were shared with Judges so that the gap between their understanding of justice challenges of women, children and minorities was reduced.” Adherence to Rule of Law and Human rights lies at the heart of the European Union’s values and consequently we are very happy to support MoHR in this ground breaking work” added Ingeborg Zorn, First Secretary, EUD.

2019-09-02
MoHR Press Release Dated: 30-08-2019 Islamabad: President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Ahmad Khan called on the Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen M Mazari in Islamabad on Friday. They discussed the current human rights situation in IOK especially including the matters related to the human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Talking to him, Shireen Mazari said that innocent people of Indian Occupied Kashmir are denied to the fundamental right to self determination which is guaranteed by the International resolutions. Shireen Mazari further said the situation of human rights in Occupied Kashmir was very deploring in the occupied Kashmir. Dr Mazari condemned the massive human rights violations taking place in IOK and said that Pakistan has and will continue to raise the issue of Kashmir at all international forums. She assured that the people and government of Pakistan will continue their moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people on attaining their right to self-determination.

2019-09-02
MoHR Press Release Dated: 30-08-2019 Islamabad: Country Representative UN Women, Jamshed Qazi called on the Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen M Mazari here in Islamabad on Friday. They discussed the various human rights related issues with special focus on the matters related to the rights of women including gender equality and empowerment of women. The Minister told the Country Representative about the steps undertaken to ensure the rights of citizens particularly the rights of women.