LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Thursday welcomed removal of 47 individuals` names f rom a list of 4th Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act in Gilgit-Baltistan and called for a fair hearing of those still having names on the list.

In a statement, the Commission said: `It welcomes as a positive development a recent notification by the Gilgit-Baltistan HomeDepartment deleting the names of 47 individuals being monitored under Schedule Four.

`An HRCP f act-finding mission to Gilgit-Baltistan last year had received reports from several activists that government agencies in the region monitored their activities after placing their names on the Schedule Four list over alleged links with groups accused of sabotaging law and order in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

`The HRCP fact-finding mission had learned that individuals classi-fied as posing threats to security by the agencies were forced to report their movements to local police stations and in some instances could not leave their districts of domicile without reporting their intended movements to the authorities. A failure to comply could lead to arrest.

`The HRCP wishes to emphasise the need to respect and facilitate the right to peaceful protest, and fundamental freedoms, particularly the freedoms of association and expression, by all citizens. It also considers it is vital to share specific chargeswith all individuals being monitored under Schedule Four.

According to the latest notification, 92 names have been retained on the Fourth Schedule list. `The HRCP urges the authorities that all those on the list should be given a fair hearing with a view to removing their names. The significance of ensuring adequate measures for accesstojusticeto allsuspectscannot be emphasised enough. Anyone suspected of violating anylaw must be afforded full due process rights.