Deaths Linked To Terrorism Continued To Decline, 34 Laws Made By Parliament In 2017: Human Rights Commission Of Pakistan (HRCP) Report

:The number of deaths linked to terrorism continued to decline while the federal parliament made a total of 34 laws, passed two acts to meet obligations under ratified international conventions besides 44 provincial laws adopted during 2017.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2018 ) :The number of deaths linked to terrorism continued to decline while the Federal parliament made a total of 34 laws, passed two acts to meet obligations under ratified international conventions besides 44 provincial laws adopted during 2017.

For the first time, the national census included a category for transgenders and the government issued a passport with a transgender category, during the year. These facts were revealed in the annual report of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), titled `State of Human Rights in 2017', issued here on Monday.

Addressing the Report launching ceremony, spokesperson HRCP and eminent HR activist I A Rehman shared that Pakistan passed two federal acts to meet obligations under ratified international conventions�the Climate Change Act and the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Act.

- Provincial laws during last year. There were 333,103 cases pending in the courts while more than 5,660 crimes were reported against women in Pakistan's four provinces during the first 10 months of the year.

As at November 2017, Pakistani prisons held 82,591 prisoners (down from 84,315 in 2016), the report said. With Pakistan due to report on the Sustainable Development Goals to the UN in 2018, the country is no nearer to meeting the deadline of 2030 for ensuring that all children receive Primary education.

There has been investment in the health sector over the years, but the rate of progress is lower than most other countries, with the disease pattern heavily dominated by malnutrition and poor dietary practices.

The prevalence of thalassaemia and HIV/AIDs has increased, as many as 35.5 million adults in Pakistan are diabetic, and the country has the high prevalence of hepatitis C. The Pakistan Climate Change Act 2017 was passed to meet Pakistan's obligations under international conventions relating to climate change and its effects.

Pakistan features in the high-risk category of countries considered to be most vulnerable to climate change, the report said. Pakistan still has the world's fourth highest rate of water use and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) recently issued a stark warning that the country was on track to run out of water by 2025.

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, only 36% of the Pakistani population on average, including 41% in urban areas and 32% in rural areas, has access to safe drinking water in the country.

Official estimates put the number of Afghan nationals in Pakistan at over 2.5 million, including 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees. There are at least one million undocumented Afghan nationals residing in the country.