Faisalabad: December 19, 2013. (PCP) The government must take steps to address the human rights situation by protecting fundamental civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of citizens particularly vulnerable segments of society, and should act following the principles of universality, objectivity, impartiality, indivisibility and non-selectivity to protect and promote human rights. This was demanded by the civil society groups gathered for a candle vigil in front of the Press Club in Faisalabad on December 10, 2013 (International Human Rights Day) to eulogize and pay rich tribute to Nelson Mandela for his services and struggles for equal human rights for people regardless of religion, caste, creed and ethnicity. At this juncture, the participants said, “Nelson Mandela has deeply touched and inspired the human rights defenders all over the world, and people are greatly influenced by his lifelong struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom to make a world better place to live in.” The participants lit the candles, and were carrying in their hands the bouquets and portraits of great leader, Nelson Mandela. They also shouted slogans against abuses and being committed in society. They demanded peace, justice, dignity, equality, freedom and protection in the country, and criticized violence, discrimination, class division, extremism, intolerance, terrorism present in the Pakistani society. They expressed grave concerns on the dismal situation of human rights in the country and demanded the urgent attention of the government, state institutions, political parties and all other state holders to pay attention before the situation goes out of control completely. Speaking on the occasion, the director of the PHD Foundation, Suneel Malik said, “The government must augment efforts to protect vulnerable sections of the society and to provide them with legislative, administrative, institutional and infrastructural support to enable them lead a happy and healthy life.” “The government and civil society must fortify their efforts for raising women vehemently and prominently for a deeper impact, and establishing a just and tolerant society by ensuring respect for human rights and dignity,” he added. A women’s rights activist, Shazia George said, “The criminal justice system must be strengthened through reforming the rules, procedures and police investigation, and sensitizing the legal enforcing agencies on dealing with cases of violence against women and girls.” “A helpline service providing referral facilities of legal aid and medical aid must be established at district police officer level, for women in distress, which must be interconnected to all the existing structures at the tehsil and union council levels for easy access of survivors of violence to effective prevention and response,” she demanded. The director of the AWAM, Nazia Sardar said, “Domestic violence is continuously rising in Pakistan which is an alarming sign. The situation cannot be improved unless legislation is created and enforced to eliminate this menace. Therefore, severe punishment to the culprits involved in offences against women must be clearly mentioned and implemented.” A human rights activist, Naseem Anthony said, “The government must make the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) functional to monitor the situation of human rights especially marginalized groups, and to safeguard the rights of its citizens, which has been a longtime demand of the civil society in conjunction with the international human rights standards.” A social worker, Irshad Parkash said, “The discrimination on different grounds is the root cause of conflicts in Pakistan, which causes violence in the society, therefore, the educational curricula should be purged of all kinds of literature inciting hatred so that it promotes values of peace and respect for human rights.” A political worker, Robin Daniel said, “The government must take exemplary steps to promote diversity and build culture of tolerance, harmony and dialogue among different communities, and prevent violent conflicts on the grounds of ethnicity, sect and religion.” The other among the speakers include; Anjum James Paul (Director-SHADOW), Naveed Walter (President-HRFP), Iftikhar Ahmed (Coordinator-SAP), Mian Zafar Iqbal (AWS), Shafique Sharif (SAP), Farrukh Awan (IWFP) and Rana Yasir Nadeem (BFVP). The event was organized by the Peace and Human Development (PHD Foundation) and Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) in collaboration with Adara Samaji Behbood (ASB), National Minorities Alliance of Pakistan (NMAP), SERVE NGO and Human Rights Defenders Network.