HRW asks Pakistan to end 'arbitrary' arrests of PTI supporters
Pakistan
Urges govt to display restraint, respect human rights, rule of law
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Urging the government to display restraint and respect human rights and rule of law, the Human Rights Watch has asked the Pakistan government to put an end to arbitrary arrests of political activists and peaceful protesters in the aftermath of attacks on army installations following the arrest of PTI chairman on May 9.
HRW Associate Asia Director Patricia Gossman pointed towards the mass arrest of PTI supporters in connection with riots and said that more than 4,000 people have been detained and many have been charged “under vague and overbroad laws prohibiting rioting and creating threats to public order”
Amid ongoing crackdown on PTI supporters, the HRW said Pakistani authorities should release all those held for peaceful protest or supporting political opposition and respect the due process rights of all those detained.
Ms Gossman said anyone committing violence should be appropriately charged and their due process rights respected, adding, fundamental guarantees of peaceful protest and due process should not become casualties of Pakistan’s political conflict.
IMRAN SAYS READY FOR 'MINUS-ONE' IF TOLD ITS ADVANTAGE
PTI Chief Imran Khan said on Saturday he was ready to be eliminated from politics if he was told what benefit it would incur to the country.
Addressing via video link, he asked what advantage lied in delaying polls. "Hold free and fair elections and then the nation will start fighting back against the quagmire it has been in," he added.
Taking a dig at interim governments in Punjab and KP, he said the caretaker governments were illegal, adding that that they failed to announce elections in two provinces within 90 days of dissolution of assemblies. “Every order issued by them is illegal,” he added.
He went on to say that the federal government wanted to hold NA elections in September, adding that it was their right to do so. “It is our right to demand election in two provinces,” he added.
What could have negotiations got us, he asked. “They want to hold elections after they are sure that the PTI has been pressed,” he added. “We are going beyond the point of no return,” he decried. They were destroying the whole country to crush a party, he said.
Mr Khan said he told Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial in clear words that he strongly condemned every kind of violence.
He continued by saying that it was also a propaganda that he did not condemn the May 9 violence, adding that he apprised CJP Bandial that he never allowed his supporters to do something other than staging a peaceful protest. “It was a planned conspiracy to ban the PTI,” he added.
PTI chief said PTI supporters, members, and office holders had been put behind bars. "Whoever is outside has gone underground because authorities are conducting raids on their homes," he said.
Mr Khan said it was very hard for the PTI to get information from the government about what’s happening, adding that 25 unarmed PTI supporters had been killed. “It’s not lawful to attack protesters,” he added.
He said geofencing showed only if a person was located somewhere, asking how could it tell they were involved in May 9 attacks. “If they were, the PTI condemns it the most,” he added.
IMRAN CALLS WATERS, VOICES CONCERNS OVER HR VIOLATIONS
In yet another audio which has become the talk of the town, PTI chief Imran Khan can be heard urging US Congresswoman Maxine Moore Waters to voice concern over breach of human rights and the rule of law in Pakistan.
The alleged Zoom meeting audio leak on Saturday has appeared at a time when PTI supremo Imran Khan and the government are at loggerheads over multiple issues, especially violence which erupted after the arrest of Mr Khan in a graft case. The PDM-led government has formed a bench to probe audio leaks in the leadership of SC judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
In the audio, Mr Khan can be heard beseeching Ms Waters to speak out for rights violation in Pakistan. He apprised her of the assassination attempt on him, the "best economic indicators" of the country during his tenure, and "unprecedented" human rights violations being committed by the incumbent government.
He urged Ms Waters by saying, "It makes a lot of waves in our country when some like Maxine gives a statement".
