The Institute for Social Justice (ISJ) welcomes and appreciates steps taken by the Government of Sindh which had passed the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act on 16th May 2011 and in May 2013, notified establishment of Commission, its Chairperson and six other members under the said law. Please see notification at THE SINDH HUMAN RIGHTS RULES 2013 -1
Sindh is the first province in Pakistan to take this a great step. However, there is a long way to make this commission neutral, independent and autonomous.
The ISJ believes that the Commission will play its role in advancing and promoting human rights and social justice in the province under the Chairperson of Justice (retired) Majida Rizvi and other respectable members. It is good to see that Chairperson of the Commission was the first female judge of the high court in Pakistan.
Besides many other roles, the Sindh Human Rights Commission has to take suo moto actions or on a petition presented to it by a victim or any person on his/her behalf about violation of human rights or abatement and negligence in the prevention of such violation by a public servant.
The ISJ urged government to go ahead in making this commission independent, neutral and autonomous, and also to allocate maximum funds for letting it to play its role of monitoring and responding to human rights violations.