CONSULTATION ON PAKISTAN PROTECTION ORDINANCE (PPO) 2013:IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN, POLITICAL & LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE CITIZEN
Civil society has shown serious concerns over potential abuse of Pakistan Protection Ordinance 2013 and demand annulment during a national level consultation organized by Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) in Islamabad. Civil and human rights defenders consider these ominous laws as a tool to steamroller movements of political and civil rights.
The Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO)2013 recently promulgated by the President of Pakistan and presented in the National Assembly for further enactment was discussed in the consultation of stakeholders on“Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO) 2013: Implications for Human, Political and Legal Rights of the Citizen.’’
The purpose of the consultation was to discuss the PPO at length and further focus on the comparison of the PPO clauses with the other National laws namely the Constitution of Pakistan (CoP), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The diverse group of participants were from government, legal agencies and civil society organisations having direct and indirect role in law enforcement, legal practice and protection of human, political and legal rights. The participants discussed different clauses of the PPO in detail.
Zafar Zeeshan Chief of Programs, SPO welcomed the invitees. Naseer Memon Chief Executive SPO briefed on the purpose of Consultation, Mr.I.A.Rehman from HRCP gave the key note speech. Mr.Mumtaz Khan, DG HR,MoLJ&HR concluded the discourse
A lot of criticism came out of the discussion generated on the comparative analysis of the PPO with reference to C0P and the international covenants of UDHR and ICCPR to which Pakistan is signatory. In total the PPO violates approximately 67 clauses of CoP, UDHR and ICCPR, a couple of examples of the criticism are given below:
- The PPO has given Armed and civil forces the powers of firing even on apprehension of Scheduled offenses. This clause is in contradiction of the Article 9 of CoP, Article 2 of UDHR and Article 6, clause 1 of ICCPR.
- The PPO also provides the Armed and civil forces to arrest any person on reasonable suspicion without having any arrest warrant. This clause is in violation of the Article 10 of COP, Article 2, 9 & 12 of UDHRand Article 9 clause 1 of ICCPR.
Following are the links of Express Tribune , Daily Dawn and Daily jeejal, beside this BBC radio, Sindh TV, VOA, APP , Radio Pakistan and Power 99(FM)have broadcast our news story.
2. http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=29_11_2013_153_002
3.http://dailyjeejal.com/epaper/?attachment_id=64262#.UpgkGMTbT6k