Pakistan’s UPR National Report: Hides more Than it Reveals

Highlights

Months after its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on the human rights condition in the country was approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during its 53rd Session on 30 October 2023, Pakistan continues to violate most of the agreed recommendations to alleviate the concerns of all the stakeholders and improve the rights situation in the country. The report hides more than it reveals. While Pakistan’s national report highlights numerous legislative and administrative measures purportedly taken to advance human rights, significant discrepancies persist between the government’s claims and the actual conditions experienced by various marginalised groups. The optimistic expressions in the report are in stark contrast with the findings of numerous UN agencies and other organisations which show that there are systemic issues that help perpetuate gender violence, religious discrimination and enforced disappearances in Pakistan, among others. These challenges underscore the urgent need of more effective and genuine implementation of human rights protections, as well as closing the existing gap between constitutional promises and the lived realities of Pakistan’s vulnerable populations.

Islamabad submitted its UPR report under the 4th cycle of its review period during the 42nd Session of UNHRC held between 23 January to3 February 2022. In its submission, Pakistanpainted a rosy picture of the human rights situation in the country by suppressing and whitewashing ground-level facts and figures even as it had committed to address any concerns and challenges whatsoever, to improve its rights situation further. However, its tall claims and commitments continue to be debunked on account of a sustained decline in the overall rights situation in Pakistan.

Multiple reports by national and international rights organisations have documented Pakistan’s troubling human rights record as demonstrated by a wider crackdown on dissent, including political opposition, arbitrary arrests, increased instances of enforced disappearances, and failure to protect religious, sectarian, gender and ethnic minorities, among others. These issues, which predominantly affect religious and other marginalised groups, are often justified under the pretext of national security, stability and majoritarian sensibilities, thereby necessitating the urgent need for a thorough investigation. That said, the contrasting narratives presented by these stakeholders highlight the gap between what the Pakistani government claims officially and the experiences of affected groups of people in Pakistan.

What is UPR?

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism that involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all the United Nations (UN) member states. Under the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), it was established by the UN General Assembly through resolution 60/25 in 2006. Based on the rationale to treat each member-state equally, this mechanism provides an opportunity for the member states to self-declare their actions employed to improve their human rights situations and overcome challenges, if any, which take the form of national reports and are scrutinised by the other members. The UPR Working group consists of 47 members of the Human Rights Council, which is responsible for undertaking the review process of states, which are assisted by a group of three states, called ‘troikas’, for each state, which in turn are selected by a draw of lots.¹

The UPR dialogue takes the shape of a participatory dialogue, with the reports of NGOs, national human rights organisations and other multilateral rights bodies submitted under ‘Other Information’ duly utilised for the review process. Additionally, UPR also utilises Special Procedures (SP) in its review process. The SPs “are independent human rights experts with mandates to investigate, report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective” with the mandate to “cover all human rights themes: civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights.²

While the UPR serves as a highly useful mechanism for encouraging states to uphold human rights within their countries, it must be recognised that the jurisdiction of UNHRC in such matters is primarily advisory. As a result, its recommendations are not binding on states, which means there is no mandatory requirement for the states to standardise existing laws and enforcement procedures to protect human rights. States often overlook their commitments to implement recommendations, citing concerns over their sovereignty and the need to prioritise national security. This tension complicates the process of achieving meaningful human rights reforms and highlights the challenges inherent in balancing international human rights obligations with domestic political and security considerations.

Further, the UPR is structured to address the human rights obligations, which are set out in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), other instruments to which the state under review is a party, certain other voluntary pledges made by the member-nations, and the international humanitarian law, if applicable. Each cycle reviews the member nations, with the current one being the fourth and continuing until 2027. Pakistan has undergone four periodic reviews, beginning with May 2008, followed by October 2012, November 2017 and then January 2023.

National Report Submitted by Pakistan for UPR

Ahead of the 42nd Session of the UPR working group, Pakistan submitted its national report on 30 January 2023, showcasing its achievements and advancements in human rights. The report painted an optimistic picture, emphasising the continuity of elections for the fifth consecutive time in 2020 since the establishment of the Human Rights Council. Additionally, in 2020, Pakistan extended invitations for country visits to four Special Procedures, including the Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Special Rapporteurs on Extreme Poverty, Education, and Disabilities.

The report claimed that the country’s Ministry of Human Rights actively collaborated with various stakeholders to implement policy measures and administrative actions that align with Pakistan’s international human rights obligations and voluntary commitments. This included provincial governments, the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), the National Commission for the Rights of the Child (NCRC), and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM).

The report also highlighted Pakistan’s progress towards incorporating provisions of international human rights instruments into domestic law. This includes enacting legislation on family, women, and child rights, aside from bringing in and encouraging civil society for a more proactive role. Notable legislative achievements over the past four years include the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Act, 2018 and the Transgender Persons Act, 2018. Contrary to these claims, the ‘other stakeholders’ and various UN agencies flagged the claims of Pakistan’s actions to be otherwise, claiming that this report was hiding more than what it revealed.

Status of Women and Gender-Diverse People

In the same report, Pakistan claims that ‘the government has emaciated laws to curb all forms of discrimination, in particular those relating to women, transgender and persons with disabilities.’ For instance, Pakistan’s National Assembly enacted Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, which “provides legal recognition to transgender persons and prohibits discrimination and harassment,” obligating the “local governments to provide for the welfare of the community,”³the community continued to be denied basic rights like the issuance of national identity documents by NADRA.⁴

Furthermore, in May 2023, the Pakistan Federal Shariat Court (Islamic Court) overruled its basic provisions, like sections 2(f), 3 and 7, as un-Islamic. These provisions related to “gender identity, the right to self-perceived gender identity and the right of inheritance.”⁵While many saw this legislation positively, the country’s Shariat Court shockingly alleged that this Act could enable men to commit sexual violence by allowing them access to women’s ‘exclusive spaces’ by disguising themselves as transgender people, even as there is no evidence of any such case ever in Pakistan. Amnesty International held that the Shariat court’s order was in direct contravention of Pakistan’s obligation under international human rights law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which it is a state party.

In terms of the efforts to improve the situation of women in the country, the report claims that Pakistan’s government, as mandated by Articles 3 and 25 of the Constitution, has taken pragmatic actions to protect “the rights of vulnerable people, including women, children, elderly, minorities and persons with disabilities.” However, this can be anything but true as has been highlighted by the 2023 World Report of the Human Rights Watch.⁶The report claimed that Pakistan continued to witness a dismal rights situation for women, including a high prevalence of honour killings, which claimed the lives of over 1,000 women each year.⁷The situation for women from religious minority communities such as Hindus and Christians is egregious, with a surge in forced conversions to Islam and forced marriages, which underscores a persistent and systemic nature of gender-based violence and discrimination. Additionally, the government pledged during the fourth UPR review to enact the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2021; however, it has yet to make any concrete efforts to do so.

Even as Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees religious freedom under Article 20, these protections often seem either insufficient or are inconsistently applied. The government’s inability to effectively safeguard these rights raises concerns about the true extent of religious freedom in the country. Or perhaps the term “religious freedom” itself appears to be open to interpretation, leading to disparities in how it is upheld and enforced. This gap between constitutional promises and the ground realities of women, particularly those from minority groups, as such, highlights the urgency in addressing the situation by implementing robust measures to uphold the rights of the people.

Discrimination and Marginalisation

Pakistan’s government emphasises its commitment to create a non-discriminatory and protective environment for all citizens, as enshrined in Articles 3 and 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan. These articles are designed to ensure equality and safeguard the rights of every individual under the law. The government asserts that it has implemented practical measures to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and individuals. However, findings from the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Report indicate a stark contrast between these claims and reality on the ground.⁸The report highlights that basic human rights violations are still routinely experienced by marginalised sections and vulnerable groups of society.

Despite the claims of these professed initiatives, systemic issues persist, undermining the rights and protections that are constitutionally guaranteed. According to a report by Water Aid, nearly 80 per cent of the sanitation workers of Pakistan belong to the Christian community, which forms a mere 2 per cent of the national population.⁹It has been routinely observed that various government departments, when seeking applications for sanitation jobs, make it apparent that only religious minorities are eligible to apply, thereby ensuring that Muslims do not do menial jobs. In a 2022 report by Pakistan’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), various government departments issued nearly 300 advertisements between 2011 and 2021 for recruiting sanitation workers and sweepers at BPS-01/02 levels in major newspapers of the country. These advertisements included a specific stipulation: ‘Only Non-Muslims are eligible’ to apply.¹⁰ This issue was later subjected to a public apology and termed as a ‘clerical mistake in the ad.’ These are not just black-and-white labour rights issues but part of systematically patronised religious discrimination.

In addition, as revealed by the NHRC report, nearly 80 per cent of the non-Muslims who work for federal and provincial governments are employed at the lowest pay band.¹¹ It flagged that while the federal government in 2009, as part of its affirmative action, gave a 5 per cent reservation in jobs to the religious minorities. This reservation provided for jobs that belonged to lower grades in the system.   As such, they are often subjected to discrimination on a number of issues ranging from forced work on holidays to not getting equal pay.

Enforced Disappearances

Pakistan has seen thousands of cases of enforced disappearances over the years across all of its provinces. The practice has continued unabated as scores of cases are revealed every month from the country’s hinterland of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In its UPR submission, Islamabad claimed that it was planning to introduce a bill in the National Assembly and Senate to criminalise enforced disappearances.  The government also claimed that its Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) had achieved a considerable degree of success in dispensing such cases and complaints legally.

However, in reality, since its establishment in 2011, the COIED has not held a single perpetrator accountable for cases of enforced disappearance up until 2022. In its response to a Supreme Court order, the Commission reported a total of 10,078 cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. Among these, 3,485 cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2,752 in Balochistan.¹²

Yet the situation has failed to ebb, with new cases being logged every month. For instance, as of June 2024, the Commission logged 124 new cases of abduction and detention of individuals by state authorities or intelligence agencies. As such, cases of enforced disappearances have been reported in large numbers across all four provinces of Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Not only have Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies and security forces used forced disappearance in the country’s hinterland on the pretext of fighting terrorism, but it has not shied away from engaging in such egregious practice in major cities. For example, prominent journalist Imran Riaz Khan, along with several other government critics, was abducted on 11 May from Sialkot Airport following the anti-military establishment protests of 9 May 2023.¹³ None of the government agencies acknowledged his detention despite repeated Lahore High Court orders to present him before the bench.  

This situation not only underscores a severe law and order problem but also points to systematic violence and discrimination based on ethnic minority status. The lack of accountability and the large number of incidents of disappearances among the Pashtun minority reveal deep-seated issues within the country’s approach to human rights and minority protections.

Besides, there has been an alarming surge in the number of cases involving extrajudicial killings, custodial violence, and rapes over the years, even as piecemeal legislation relevant to these crimes and rights abuses was only enacted in 2022. As such, these evidences fly in the face of Pakistan’s claims of implementing various UPR recommendations.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, while Pakistan’s national report to the 42nd Session of the UPR working group highlights numerous legislative and administrative measures purportedly taken to advance human rights, significant discrepancies persist between the government’s claims and the actual conditions experienced by various marginalised groups. The state apparatus has often demonstrated misplaced priorities and overlooked its domestic and human rights concerns. The optimistic expressions in the report are in stark contrast with the findings of numerous UN agencies and other organisations which show that there are systemic issues that help perpetuate gender violence, religious discrimination and enforced disappearances in Pakistan, among others. These challenges underscore the urgent need of more effective and genuine implementation of human rights protections, as well as closing the existing gap between constitutional promises and the lived realities of Pakistan’s vulnerable populations.

Ms Zaheena Naqvi is a Research  Intern with ICPS at the moment. She has completed her Masters in Conflict Analysis and Peace Building from Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. The views expressed here are her own.

Endnotes