ISLAMABAD: The UN Human Rights Committee on Thursday called on Pakistan to repeal or amend all blasphemy laws, abolish the death penalty, and criminalise enforced disappearances to end the practice of secret detention.

The recommendations came after the conclusion of the review of Pakistan`s commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was held in Geneva earlier this month.

In a 51-point report, the UN panel observed that Pakistan `should adopt all... measures necessary to ensure that the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) is able to carry out its mandate fully and in an effective and independent manner`.

It also called for strengthening the commis-sion to ensure that it was able to investigate all allegations of rights violations committed by any official entity.

The UN body encouraged Islamabad to expedite the adoption of laws relating to violence against women that were under consideration at the federal and provincial levels and called for effective enforcement of anti-honour killing and anti-rape laws, as well as those criminalising domestic violence.

It also stressed that the government should enforce the prohibition of `the application of qisas and diyat laws to so-called honour-related crimes and continue to regulate and supervise jirgas`With regards to capital punishment, the UN panel wanted Pakistan to `reinstate the moratorium and consider abolishing the death penalty` In case the death penalty was retained, the panel warned that `No person who was below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of an offence [should be]subjected to the death penalty` and cautioned against awarding the sentence to those with serious psychosocial or intellectual disabilities.

On enforced disappearances,the panelnoted that the government should ensure that all allegations of enforced disappearances and extraju-dicial killings are promptly and thoroughly investigated and urged the state to provide protection to the families of disappeared persons, their lawyers and witnesses. Empowering the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances was also stressed.

The report also asks the government to `review the Anti-Terrorism Act with a view to aligning the definition of terrorism... in accordance with international standards` and remove the jurisdiction of the anti-terrorism courts over juvenile offenders. It also asks Pakistan to review the legislation regarding military courts for terrorism suspects.

With regards to religious freedoms, the panel urged the government to ensure that all those who incite or engage in violence against others based on allegations of blasphemy, and those who falsely accuse others of blasphemy, are brought to justice. It also asks the country to fully implement the judgement of its Supreme Court, handed down on June 19 2014 in the Peshawar church attack case, which held that `each citizen ofPakistanisfree toexercisetherighttoprofess, practise or propagate his or her religious views, even against the prevailing or dominant views of his or her own religious denomination or sect`.