Panels formed to monitor rights situation in districts

Mon, August 31, 2020

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has constituted special committees in all districts to monitor human rights situation with the respective deputy commissioners heading them.

A notification issued by the law and human rights department said the chief minister had formed the district human rights committees under Section 4 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Promotion, Protection and Enforcement of Human Rights Act, 2014.

The committees will be headed by the respective deputy commissioners as their chairpersons and will comprise superintendent of police (investigation), superintendent of prisons, district officer (male/female) of the education department, district health officer, district social welfare officer and two representatives of civil society to be nominated by the chairperson.

The district social welfare officer will also act as the committee’s secretary.

The committees will monitor the overall human rights situation in the respective districts, investigate the cases of human rights violations, visit jails for monitoring human rights of inmates, go to hospitals for assessing provision of facilities to visitors, visit places of detention (police stations) on complaint of torture, inspect schools, colleges and universities for creating rights awareness, visit orphanages and shelter homes, identify and recommend cases for the relief of the human rights violation victims through the relevant organisations, and mobilise local community and encourage their participation for promotion and protection of human rights.

In Oct 2019, the provincial government had made amendments to the KP Promotion, Protection and Enforcement of Human Rights Act, 2014, and inserted new Section 4 in it that declared that the government may in each district establish a regional office to be headed by the deputy commissioner of the district concerned.

The deputy commissioner of the relevant district is also empowered to delegate his or her powers under the law to any officer subordinate to him.

Under that law, the deputy commissioners will submit the annual reports of the committees to the department, which will forward them to the director general (human rights).

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2020

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