Amnesty berates Pak for rampant enforced disappearances, torture & HR violations

Amnesty International has castigated Pakistan for grave human rights violations in the country and said that enforced disappearances torture crackdowns on peaceful protests attacks against journalists and violence against religious minorities and other marginalized groups continue in a nation that has witnessed political and economic turmoil for the past one year since the ouster of Imran Khan as Prime Minister last AprilThe report said that state officials continued to use enforced disappearances to target human rights defenders journalists and people voicing criticism of the authorities According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances as of October 30 last year at least 2210 cases ndash likely many more ndash remained unresolved Intimidation of families and victims seeking justice frequently continued for years after their loved one was forcibly disappearedAmnesty International documented the frequent use of enforced disappearances in the province of Balochistan These increased following a suicide bombing at the University of Karachi on April 25 claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army which killed four people Baloch activists told the media that the state was using the attacks as an excuse to target Baloch women activists and protesters The media reported that two Baloch women activists had been abducted within a week On 7 June students Doda Ellahi and Gamshad Baloch were forcibly disappeared from their homes in Karachi Following four days of peaceful protests they were released on 14 June3The report said the authorities ldquoseverely curtailedrdquo the right to freedom of peaceful assembly harassing arresting and detaining critics and political rivals as well as forcibly dispersing protests and assaulting journalists and othersldquoSupporters of ousted prime minister Imran Khan launched nationwide protests Some turned violent in Islamabad protesters threw stones at the police set fire to trees and damaged vehicles Some protests were met with excessive force On 25 May police fired tear gas shells into peaceful protests in LahorerdquoAlso read lsquoSalman aur tu Fix Delhi me mil tu ak 47 se uda dungarsquo 23yrold Pune manrsquos threat message to RautActivists and families of people forcibly disappeared held peaceful protests which were largely met with unlawful use of force intimidation or arbitrary detention the report said On June 13 the police used unlawful force to disperse protesters outside the Sindh Assembly in Karachi One video of the incident showed uniformed police officers some holding sticks approaching sitting protesters The police proceeded to violently grab men and women and drag them along the ground before throwing or forcing protesters into police vehiclesIt further said that the authorities tightened control of the media Media workers reported increased coercion censorship and arrests of journalistsIn October Arshad Sharif a journalist was killed in Kenya where he had allegedly taken refuge after facing threats in Pakistan A twomember government committee was tasked with investigating and in December concluded that the killing had been a ldquoplanned assassinationrdquoThe report said that the blasphemy allegations continued to spark violence against both religious minorities and Muslims In January a woman was sentenced to death for allegedly ldquoblasphemousrdquo messages she sent over WhatsApp A man was lynched to death by a group of people after being accused of burning pages of the Holy Qurrsquoan in February in the district of Khanewal In October in Ghotki a man with physical disabilities was forcibly drowned at the shrine where he lived by a visitor after being accused of blasphemyldquoIn September the Supreme Court issued a landmark order calling for ldquoutmost carerdquo by ldquoall concerned that no injustice in the administration of justice takes placerdquo in recognition of the numerous due process violations in the investigation and adjudication of blasphemy casesrdquoThe report further said that in October the senate passed the Torture and Custodial Death Act The Act will for the first time criminalize torture by a ldquopublic official or person working in an official capacityrdquoldquoThe use of torture and other illtreatment remained routine On August 9 Shahbaz Gill a senior PTI politician was arrested in Islamabad after publicly criticizing the military He was released on bail on 16 September Shahbaz Gill and PTI officials alleged that he was tortured while in detention although medical reports and government officials refuted thisldquoSenator Azam Khan Swati was arrested by the FIA and charged with sedition after tweeting criticism of the chief of the military He told reporters that he was stripped and tortured particularly near his genitals He was released on bail before being rearrested in November for the same tweetsrdquo