Islamabad, June 10 (IANS) Several leading international human rights organisations slammed the Pakistani authorities’ violent crackdown on “peaceful protests” in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including an internet shutdown, mass arbitrary arrests, and the deadly use of force, describing it as an alarming deterioration of human rights in the region.The remarks came amid reports that several people have been killed and hundreds injured following deadly clashes between the law enforcement …
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Islamabad, June 8 (IANS) Tragedy of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) lies in flawed governance and the normalisation of a political charade. Every five years, polls are held in PoGB under a constitutionally undefined framework that changes governments without changing the actual structure of power, a report has detailed. “The process is at its core a ritualistic transfer of authority among federally controlled political actors while fundamental questions of constitutional status, politi…
Islamabad, June 7 (IANS) Three members of the Ahmadiyya community were injured after an unidentified assailant opened fire outside their place of worship in Chenab Nagar city of Pakistan’s Punjab province, local media reported on Sunday. The incident took place when three volunteers were doing security duty outside Al Aqsa worship place, according to the first information report (FIR) registered by the Chenab Nagar police, Pakistan’s daily Dawn reported.Al Aqsa is one of the largest and central …
Beijing, June 6 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation has condemned China for preventing the family members of the victims killed in Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown from visiting their loved ones’ graves during this week’s 37th anniversary, describing the move as a “heartless act”.Amnesty International said that the Chinese authorities must be held accountable for the grave human rights violations committed during the June 4, 1989 crackdown. It further demanded that the fa…
Islamabad, May 30 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province, Syed Murad Ali Shah, expressing grave concern over the enforced disappearance of a 38-year-old Baloch man, Dad Shah from Karachi and the subsequent harassment and intimidation of his family by Pakistani forces. In a letter addressed to Sindh’s CM, Amnesty International said that Dad Shah was taken on April 21 from his residence by personnel reportedly o…
Islamabad, May 27 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Wednesday expressed grave concern over an alarming pattern of enforced disappearance of Pashtun human rights activists in Pakistan amid a wider crackdown by the state authorities.According to Amnesty International, Fareedullah Afridi, a member of the civil rights movement Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was abducted on the evening of May 18 from Peshawar city in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Condemning the inc…
Quetta, May 25 (IANS) Human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) strongly condemned the disturbing pattern of press conferences conducted by Pakistani authorities in recent years in Balochistan. The rights body alleged that detainees– particularly women– are presented as having confessed to criminal activities, warning that such practices raise grave concerns over violations of domestic and international human rights standards.In its thematic report titled “Staged Press Conferen…
Brussels, May 23 (IANS) A group of seven leading international human rights groups wrote to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), urging them to prioritise human rights violations in China during their engagement with Chinese counterparts.In its letter to the MEPs ahead of their upcoming visit to China, the human rights organisations alleged that the Chinese authorities exert unrelenting control over information and public discourse while suppressing dissent and peaceful assembly, surveilli…
Dhaka, May 22 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Friday called on Bangladeshi authorities to drop all charges against journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Haque, alleging that they were targetted for their work as media professionals. Amnesty International urged the authorities to uphold and protect the right to freedom of expression, including media freedom, in line with Bangladesh’s international human rights obligations.The appeal came after the International Crime…
Islamabad, May 21 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Thursday wrote to the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, expressing grave concerns over the structural and persistent discrimination, harassment and violence against the Ahmadiyya community in the province.In its letter to CM Maryam Nawaz, Amnesty International said that these violations routinely intensify in periods preceding and during major religious occasions, such as the upcoming Eid ul-Adha.The righ…