Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (Urdu: تنظیم حقوق انسانی پاکستان‎), or HRCP, is an independent, non-profit organisation, founded in 1987, which is not associated or affiliated with the government or any political party. It is committed to act with impartiality and objectivity in all matters. Among its main aims are spreading awareness of human rights among the people, mobilising public opinion, collecting information and disseminating knowledge about human rights abuses, and to monitor and defend human rights in Pakistan.

Criticism of the organisation

The organization is named as a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan while it's a non-governmental organization. The name thus creates confusion about its status and mandate. The organisation has also been criticised at times for being highly politicised. The HRCP issued a report saying that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI's) sit-in was "distracting" attention from human rights abuse, while the PTI fired back saying that the HRCP should be defending the fundamental democratic right to free assembly. The head of the HRCP, Asma Jehangir, is renowned for an intense political disagreement with PTI's Imran Khan and frequently appears on pro-government TV outlets such as Geo criticising Imran for being part of a conspiracy to "derail democracy" by organising sit-ins against electoral rigging. The PTI has subsequently accused the HRCP of criticising its peaceful sit-ins due to political bias.