‘Pakistan’s among few constitutions that guarantee inviolability of human dignity’

The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) chairperson, Justice (retd) Majida Razvi, on Friday said that the Article 14 of the Constitution mentioned inviolability of dignity of a person and the 1973 Constitution was one of the few constitutions that guaranteed the inviolability of people’s dignity.

She said this while addressing a roundtable discussion with experts organised by the SHRC with the support of the International Human Rights Commission on human dignity. The discussion was held in connection with International Human Rights Day and its purpose was to come up with strategies for the implementation of the Article 14.

“The Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act 2011 defines human rights as life, liberty, dignity and equality,” the SHRC chairperson said. She added that it was for the first time that provisions had been made to safeguard dignity of people and preserve privacy of homes in the constitution.

She explained that Pakistan’s constitution also provided a guarantee that no person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence. Though such provisions existed in our criminal law, this right had been safeguarded constitutionally, she said.

Anis Haroon, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights from Sindh, spoke about the Nazim Jokhio murder case as well as some other cases of human rights violations in the province.

Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani said that people’s minds should be changed and our children should be educated in a manner that they were aware of human rights. A person’s dignity should be respected, he added. Academic Riaz Sheikh, rights activist Zulfiqar Shah, Aurat Foundation’s Mahnaz Rahman, Naghma Iqtidar, Ali Palh and others also participated in the meeting.