Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/pakistan.txv

Text File | 1996-01-05 | 14KB | 282 lines

TITLE:  PAKISTAN HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995




Women's organizations operate primarily in urban centers.  Many
concentrate on educating women about existing legal rights.
Other groups concentrate on providing legal aid to poor women
in prison who may not be able to afford an attorney.

The Government began implementation of an internationally
funded program to train and deploy 33,000 female health care
workers in rural areas.  By December, it had hired 1,760
workers.  The Government also produced television documentaries
on women in development and family planning, and promoted
population services in advertisements and by enlisting the
support of religious leaders.  The Prime Minister spoke at the
September 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and
Development.  All these efforts were seen as important for the
reversal of Pakistan's poor record in this area.

     Children

Legal rights for children are theoretically protected by
numerous laws which incorporate elements of the U.N. Convention
on the Rights of the Child.  However, the Government frequently
fails to enforce these laws.  Federal law allows, but does not
require, offenders under the age of 14 to be placed in reform
schools; however, no such facilities exist.  There is only one
jail in each province for convicted prisoners under age 21.  A
United Nations report estimates that there are 250 children
under the age of 14 in Pakistani prisons at any time.  Although
Punjab and Sindh provinces have laws mandating special judicial
procedures for child offenders, in practice, children and
adults are essentially treated equally.  Very young children
accompany their convicted mothers to jail.

Many children begin working at a very early age.  At the age of
five or six, female children are often responsible for younger
siblings.  Children are sometimes kidnaped to be used as forced
labor, for ransom, or to seek revenge against an enemy.  The
HRCP reported an average of 400 kidnapings of children per
month in Punjab province alone in 1993.  The HRCP also reported
that half of the 4,000 rapes that were registered in Pakistan
in 1993 were of minors or teenagers.

Child prostitution involving boys and girls is widely known to
exist but is rarely discussed.  The Government does little to
deter it.  In Lahore, there are reported to be 2,900 full-time
prostitutes in over 1,200 brothels.  It is estimated that 20
percent of the prostitutes are minors.

In July human rights groups and the press reported that 27 boys
were being kept in chains in an Islamic school in the Punjab.
The boys, who had been turned over to the school by their
parents, often for disciplinary reasons, had been shackled in
groups to wooden blocks.  Some had been chained for several
years.  The school's existence and the chaining was known to
the parents and the community where it had operated for 20
years.  Police raided the facility and cut the chains but no
further action was taken to arrest the school's owner or remove
the children.  There were unconfirmed reports of the existence
of other such institutions.

     Religious Minorities

In addition to the violence and harassment noted in previous
sections of this report, religious minority groups experience
much discrimination in employment and education; Pakistani laws
facilitate discrimination in employment based on religion.  In
Pakistan's early years, minorities were able to rise to the
senior ranks of the military and civil service.  Today, many
are unable to rise above midlevel ranks.  Because of the lack
of educational opportunities for some religious minority
groups, discrimination in employment is believed to be
increasingly prevalent.  Christians, in particular, have
difficulty finding jobs above those of menial labor.  Ahmadis
find that they are prevented from entering management levels in
government service.  Even the rumor that someone may be an
Ahmadi or have Ahmadi relatives can stifle opportunities for
employment or promotion.

Officially designated as non-Muslims, Ahmadis in particular,
suffer from harassment and discrimination and have limited
chances for advancement in the public sector.  Young Ahmadis
and their parents complain of increasing difficulty in gaining
admittance to good colleges, forcing many children to go
overseas for higher education.  Among religious minorities,
there is a well-founded belief that the authorities afford them
less legal protection than they afford Muslim citizens.

Many Christians continue to express the fear of forced
marriages between Muslim males and Christian women, although
the practice is relatively rare.  Christians are also subject
to harassment by the authorities, notably including the
blasphemy laws and difficulty in obtaining permission to build
churches.

     People with Disabilities

Pakistan has no laws requiring equal accessibility to public
buildings for disabled persons.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969 (IRO) enunciates the
right of industrial workers to form trade unions but is subject
to major restrictions in some employment areas.  In practice,
labor laws place significant constraints on the formation of
industrial unions and their ability to function effectively.
For example, the law prohibits workers in export processing
zones (EPZ's) from forming trade unions.  Under the Essential
Services Maintenance Act of 1952 (ESA), workers in sectors
associated with "the administration of the State," which covers
a wide range of government services and state enterprises, such
as education, health care, oil and gas production, and
transport, are allowed to form unions.  However, the ESA
sharply restricts normal union activities, usually prohibiting,
for example, the right to strike in affected industries.

Union members make up only about 13 percent of the industrial
labor force and 10 percent of the total estimated work force.
Contract labor continues to flourish, undercutting the power of
the unions and exploiting workers willing to work on temporary
contracts.  These workers receive fewer benefits and have no
job security.  There is no provision in the law granting the
right of association to agricultural workers.

Legally required conciliation proceedings and cooling-off
periods constrain the right to strike, as does the Government's
authority to ban any strike that may cause "serious hardship to
the community" or prejudice to the national interest.  The
Government may also ban a strike that has continued for 30 days.

Strikes are rare.  When they occur, they are usually illegal
and short.  The Government regards as illegal any strike
conducted by workers who are not members of a legally
registered union.  Police do not hesitate to crack down on
worker demonstrations.  The law prohibits employers from
seeking retribution against leaders of a legal strike and
stipulates criminal penalties for offenders.  The courts may
imprison employers for violating this prohibition but they are
more likely to fine them.  The law does not protect leaders of
illegal strikes.

Unions may belong to federations.  There are seven major
federations which are free to affiliate with international
federations and confederations.  The Government permits trade
unions of all political orientations.  While many unions remain
aloof from party politics, the most powerful are those
associated with political parties.  After the PPP came to power
in 1988, it successfully organized trade unions under the
banner of the People's Labor Bureau (PLB).  The PLB's main
competitors are the Jamaat-i-Islami's National Labor Federation
and the MQM-backed labor unions.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) encourages the
Government to lift prohibitions against union activity in EPZ's
and with respect to radio, television, and hospital employees,
as well as to rescind the existing ban on strikes.  The
Government was also asked to amend any provisions of the
Industrial Relations Ordinance, the Press and Publications
Ordinance, and the Political Parties Act which impose
compulsory prison labor in a manner inconsistent with ILO
Convention 105.  In response to a government request, the ILO
agreed to provide technical assistance to bring the country's
labor laws into conformity with the world body's conventions.

In 1994 a government task force on labor prepared a report
recommending improvements on worker rights problems.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The right of industrial workers to organize and freely elect
representatives to act as collective bargaining agents is
established in law.  The IRO prohibits antiunion discrimination
by employers.  If found guilty of antiunion discrimination,
employers are required to reinstate workers fired for union
activities.

In general, legally constituted unions have the right to
bargain collectively.  However, the many restrictions on
forming unions discussed above preclude collective bargaining
by large sections of the labor force, e.g., agricultural
workers, who are not guaranteed the right to strike, bargain
collectively, or make demands on employers.

The Essential Services Act also restricts collective
bargaining.  For each industry subject to the ESA, the
Government must make a finding, renewable every 6 months, on
the limits of union activity.  In cases in which the Government
prohibits collective bargaining, special wage boards decide
wage levels.

These boards are established at the provincial level and are
comprised of representatives from industry, labor, and the
provincial labor ministry, which provides the chairman.  The
chairman may name additional industry and labor representatives
to the board.  Despite the presence of the labor
representatives, unions are generally dissatisfied with the
boards' findings.  Disputes are adjudicated before the National
Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC).  A worker's right to
quit may also be curtailed under the Essential Services Act.
Dismissed workers have no recourse to the labor courts.  Most
unions call for the abolition of the ESA.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution and the law prohibit forced labor.  However,
critics argue that the ESA's limitation on some worker rights
constitutes a form of compulsory labor.  The Government
informed the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards in
1990 that amendments were under consideration to rectify the
problem.  However, the Government has taken no further action.

Illegal bonded labor is widespread.  Bonded labor is common in
the brick, glass, and fishing industries and is found among
agricultural and construction workers in rural areas.
Conservative estimates put the figure of bonded workers at
several million.

The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, adopted in 1992,
outlawed bonded labor, canceled all existing bonded debts, and
forbade lawsuits for the recovery of existing debts.  However,
the provincial governments, which are responsible for enforcing
the law, have failed to establish enforcement mechanisms.
Hence, the law is largely ineffective.  Lacking employment
alternatives, many workers have voluntarily returned to bonded
labor.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

Child labor is common and results from a combination of severe
poverty, weak laws, and inadequate enforcement of those that do
exist.  A key factor is the absence of any compulsory primary
education.  The Government acknowledges that violations of
existing laws are common.

Unofficial estimates indicate that workers under 18 years old
make up one-third of the total labor force.  While much child
labor is in the traditional framework of family farming or
small business, the employment of children in larger industries
and, according to labor activists, in state-sponsored training
programs, is also widespread.  Child labor is widely employed
in the carpet industry, much of which is family-run.  This
appears to be the only export industry in which child labor is
employed on a significant scale.

In June the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the ILO on cooperation toward elimination of child labor.
The two sides will conduct a nationwide survey to develop an
accurate assessment of the scale of child labor.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

Labor regulations are governed by federal statutes applicable
throughout the country.  The monthly minimum wage is
approximately $50 (1,500 rupees).  Although this wage provides
a meager subsistence living for a small family, minimum wage
benefits affects only a small part of the work force.

The law, applicable nationally, provides for a maximum workweek
of 54 hours, rest periods during the workday, and paid annual
holidays.  These regulations do not apply to agricultural
workers, workers in factories with fewer than 10 employees, and
to the small "contract groups," which are subdivisions within
factories of 10 or fewer workers.  Many workers are unaware of
the regulations protecting their rights because of their lack
of education.

The provinces have been ineffective in enforcing labor
regulations, because of limited resources, corruption, and
inadequate regulatory structures.  In general, health and
safety standards are poor.  Although organized labor presses
for improvements, the Government has done little and weakly
enforces existing legal protections.