Pakistan's violation of its international obligations

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2008 and ratified it with reservations in 2010. In 2011, the Pakistan government, on instructions from Prime Minister Gilani, withdrew almost all of the reservations. Hence, since July 2011, Pakistan has ratified the ICCPR almost completely. This means that Pakistan has committed itself to upholding the civil rights and political rights of its citizens almost entirely. To get a full sense of the legal position, it is instructive to read an article by Qasim Rashid, a young Pakistani-American lawyer, in the Richmond Journal of Global Law and Business (vol.11/1), which lays down in some detail the history of the ICCPR, Pakistan’s ratification and subsequent lapses. 

Mental Health Ordinance 2001

CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION AND REASONS

·        Replaces Lunacy Act 1912

o   A more sensitive law

o   Sensitive treatment of mental illness – omission of words like “idiot” or broad generalizations

o   Larger role for qualified professionals such as psychiatrists to determine mental illness and scope of mental illness

·        The need for regulation

o   Property/Estate Management

o   Management of the patient

·        Health a provincial subject after the 18^th Amendment

·        Mental Health Ordinance creates

o   a Mental Health Authority

o   Board of visitors

o   Court of protection

·        Confusion around the Mental health in terms of jurisdiction

 VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY TREATMENTS

Voluntary treatment: Any person suffering from a mental illness who seeks treatment voluntarily or whose relatives bring him/her for treatment or if a doctor has referred him/her for treatment and the person with mental illness consents to treatment will be examined by a psychiatrist and given appropriate treatment or recommendations. Assessment and/or treatment will be administered only after receiving informed written consent from the person with mental illness, or if it is a minor then by the guardian, or if an adult who by virtue of his mental state is not able to give consent, then by his/her spouse or nearest relative. The person giving consent may withdraw his/her consent for treatment at any time.

Blogging for Minority Rights

Book recommendation: Minority Rights: Between Diversity and Community (Key Concepts)

(Comments at Pakistan's first Social Media Conference - Yasser Latif Hamdani, Advocate High Courts of Pakistan)

The need for social activism for minority rights in Pakistan.

·         A society that marginalizes groups of its citizens ultimately turns in on itself

·         Rising tide of extremism in Pakistan is directly linked to increased discrimination against minorities in Pakistan

·         Discrimination against minorities goes against the basic principle on which Pakistan was demanded: a permanent majority cannot by sheer numbers oppress and dominate a permanent minority.