UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
Forty-ninth Session 4 - 29 August 1997
Agenda Item 4: Realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.
(Statement by Dr. Munawar A. Halepota Chairman World Sindhi Congress and Human Rights Alliance International made on 12th August 1997 at 17.00 hrs)
Mr. President,
Human Rights, as we perceive them, are closely linked with the economic situations, socio-cultural problems including religious polarisation, illiteracy and other aspects of everyday life of individuals. Hence, the arbitrary division of the Civil and Political rights from Socio-Cultural-Economic rights and economic aid is misleading and has proved to be detrimental. Socio-economic deprivation always leads to civil and political unrest as witnessed in Albania. Territorial integrity and Civil & Political stability of the member states can not be guaranteed, unless we guarantee the Socio-economic rights, including employment with dignity, housing, education health. We fully agree with the Honourable expert Mr. El-Hadji Guisse, about is observation in the report E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/8, that the " realisation of Economic Social and Cultural rights is of crucial importance for the effective exercise of Civil and Political Rights" as per Tehran Proclamation of 1968.
We hear more and more about the right to development, but the question arises the right to development for whom? Is it the multi-national companies and syndicates who are making huge profits or the individual ordinary human beings who are being displaced from their land to explore the natural resources and made redundant to beef up the profits for few, at the cost of many, as in the case of Liverpool Dockers. About 320 dockers employed by the partly government owned Mersey Docks and Harbour Company were locked out in September 1995 for striking in support of 80 sacked workers at a satellite firm Torside, in a casualisation dispute. Inspite of strong international support, about 400 families are still suffering after almost two years.
I was rather surprised to learn that IMF does not concern itself with the internal policies of the country, specially with regard to the Human Rights situation before giving loans, which are mostly used to buy guns and other military equipment to subjugate the people, as in the case of Burma, China, Nigeria, Serbia, and not to mention Pakistan.
The recent Pakistan Budget makes very interesting reading, specially the lack of resources for education 0.1%, health 0.5%, environment, science & technology 0.04%, rural development, and women’s development receiving 0.01% only, at the expense of increased military expenditure to almost 25% of the total outlay. Sindh contributes more than 60% of the federal revenues and has been allocated only 5.85% of the total budget, hence the demand for right to self determination as per the international law.
Mr. President, There is widespread violation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Sindh, as highlighted in the UN document E/CN.4/1994/NGO/56, and Human Rights International Alliance Report Ref: HRIA/SR/04/97.
a) More than eight million acres of land has been forcibly taken from local Sindhis and allocated to Military Generals and other outside settlers, forcing native Sindhis to abandon their centuries old ancestral homes and villages. Recently more than 200 miles of coastal land has been taken over by the defense forces, evicting local fishermen and depriving more than 2000 families of their livelihood.
b) The natural resources of Sindh, including oil, gas and coal are being indiscriminately exploited and taken away without due compensation to the local people.
c) Sindh is being deprived of its share of water from Indus River vital for agriculture, by construction of dams upstream, severely affecting the agrarian rural economy and resulting in the ecological disaster.
d) Large scale deforestation has further worsened the situation, as evidenced by the recurrent flooding, extinction of many endangered species and damage to the wild life. The land claimed from deforestation is used to build military camps e.g. Sakrand Cantonment, and settling outsiders to consolidate the process of neo-colonisation.
e) Sindhi medium schools are being closed down, so much so that their is not a single Sindhi medium government school in Karachi, the capitol of Sindh.
f) The continuos settlement of outsiders has resulted in the disproportionate imbalance of the population resulting in the increasing tension between the native Sindhi people and the immigrants. The immigrants have further destroyed the native culture by bringing heroin and illegal weapons.
Large number of Sindhi employees in Government, semi-government and autonomous departments are being laid off, without prior notice and compensation, on the pretext of improving the efficiency prior to privatisation. Although some of the dismissed employees filed petitions in the High Court of Sindh, but the National assembly passed a bill in June 1997, preventing the courts from proceeding with the hearings and providing relief to the victims.
In the absence of any constitutional protection and in view of the continuing violation of human rights in Sindh, an impartial United Nations fact-finding mission is essential and will be welcomed by the indigenous people of Sindh.
Immediate measures must be taken to ensure that Sindh & Sindhis continue to participate in the peace, progress and stability of the region. Anything less puts one of the world’s oldest surviving civilisation at risk of extinction. We appeal to the international community for their support in our peaceful struggle against the neo-colonisation and occupation of our land and massacre of our people.
Thank you again, Mr. President.