ISLAMABAD (Web Desk)- Human Rights Watch has urged the Pakistani government to stop arbitrarily detaining political activists and peaceful protesters in the wake of assaults on army installations after the detention of PTI chairman on May 9, urging the government to exercise restraint and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
In reference to the widespread detention of PTI supporters in connection with the riots, HRW Associate Asia Director Patricia Gossman said that more than 4,000 individuals have been imprisoned, many of whom have been prosecuted “under vague and overbroad laws prohibiting rioting and creating threats to public order.”
The HRW urged Pakistani authorities to free all individuals jailed for participating in peaceful protests or supporting political opposition and to respect the due process rights of everyone detained amid the current crackdown on PTI supporters.
According to Ms. Gossman, anybody who uses violence should be properly prosecuted and have their rights to due process upheld. She also noted that the basic rights to peaceful assembly and to due process shouldn’t be jeopardised by Pakistan’s political unrest.
IF TOLD OF ‘MINUS-ONE’S’ ADVANTAGE, IMRAN SAYS HE IS READY
Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, said on Saturday that he was willing to retire from politics if he were to be informed of the advantages it would bring the nation.
He was questioned through video connection what benefit there was to postponing voting. Holding free and fair elections would enable the country to begin rising up against the mess it has been in, he said.
He made fun of the interim administrations in Punjab and KP, claiming that they were unconstitutional and that they had failed to call elections in the two provinces within 90 days following the dissolution of the parliament. Every directive they provide is unlawful, he said.
He continued by stating that it was the federal government’s prerogative to organise elections for the NA in September. “It is within our rights to demand elections in two provinces,” he said.
What might discussions have gotten us? he questioned. He said, “They want to schedule elections after they are certain that the PTI has been pressured. He lamented that “we are past the point of no return.” He said that they were obliterating the whole nation in order to crush a party.
Mr. Khan said that he made it plain to Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that he vehemently opposed any forms of violence.
The fact that he did not denounce the violence on May 9 was also propaganda, he added, and he informed CJP Bandial that he never let his followers to engage in anything other than peaceful demonstrations. He said, “It was a planned conspiracy to outlaw the PTI.”
The PTI leader said that PTI members, sympathisers, and office holders had been imprisoned. “Whoever is outside has gone underground because authorities are conducting raids on their homes,” the man claimed.
Mr. Khan said that 25 unarmed PTI supporters had been slain and that it was very difficult for the PTI to get information about the situation from the government. He said, “Attacking protesters is illegal.”
He questioned how geofencing could determine someone was participating in the May 9 assaults, claiming it merely revealed whether a person was physically present there. “If they were, the PTI condemns it the most,” he said.
IMRAN HAS A CONCERN ABOUT HR VIOLATIONS AND CALLS WATERS
Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, is heard pleading with US Congresswoman Maxine Moore Waters to express concern about Pakistan’s violations of human rights and the rule of law in yet another recording that has gone viral.
The purported release of the Zoom meeting tape on Saturday comes at a time when Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, and the government are at odds over a number of topics, including the violence that broke out after Mr. Khan’s incarceration in a corruption case. A bench has been established by the PDM-led government to look into audio leaks involving SC judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
In the tape, Mr. Khan is heard pleading with Ms. Waters to speak out against human rights abuses in Pakistan. He informed her about the attempted assassination, the “best economic indicators” of the nation under his leadership, and the “unprecedented” human rights abuses being done by the current administration.
“It makes a lot of waves in our country when some like Maxine gives a statement,” he encouraged Ms. Waters.