Islamabad, May 7 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Thursday called on the Pakistani authorities to ban military trials of civilians and overturn all unlawful civilian convictions by these courts. Pakistan Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, on May 7 2025, had overturned a previous Supreme Court ruling from October 2023 that stated that the trial before a military court of civilians involved in the May 9 protest was unconstitutional.On the first anniversary of the ru…
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Islamabad, May 1 (IANS) The 26th and 27th Amendments have “ended” the concept of constitutional supremacy in Pakistan with the creation of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) being seen by many as the formation of a parallel judicial body to end the constitutional jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, local media reckons. After the passage of the 26th and 27th Amendments in 2024 and 2025 respectively, jurists and members of the legal community in Pakistan have discussed how these changes have im…
Islamabad, April 30 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Thursday called on Pakistani authorities to release human rights defenders Hanif Pashteen and Noor Ullah Tareen and to immediately disclose their whereabouts to their families. In a letter addressed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Amnesty International expressed grave concern over the disappearance of activists Hanif Pashteen and Noor Ullah Tareen, members of the civil rights movement Pashtun Taha…
Islamabad, April 27 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Monday called on the Pakistani authorities to immediately release all detained activists of the Awami Action Committee (AAC) from Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) and drop all charges against them related to their “peaceful activism”.Expressing its grave concern, Amnesty International mentioned that seven members of the ACC have been arbitrarily detained for over 45 days under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law…
Quetta, April 27 (IANS) Shalee Baloch, the central organiser of the Baloch Women Forum (BWF), has written to international human rights bodies seeking intervention in the abuse cases across Balochistan by Pakistani forces, including what she described as the “systematic pattern of enforced disappearances”, especially targeting Baloch women. The letter was addressed to the United Nations for Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Working Group on E…
Islamabad, April 24 (IANS) Global rights watchdog Amnesty International has stated that 20-month long detention and ongoing prosecutions against human rights defender and former parliamentarian Ali Wazir in Pakistan highlight a pattern of “arbitrary and unlawful” against him. Amnesty has urged Pakistani authorities to immediately release Ali Wazir. According to the statement released by Amnesty International, Pakistani authorities arrested Ali Wazir in Hyderabad on March 16. He was arrested shor…
Islamabad, April 23 (IANS) Persecution of minorities, misuse of blasphemy laws, violence against women and the forced return of Afghan refugees demonstrate Pakistan’s failure to protect vulnerable groups, local media has highlighted. An editorial in Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn cited Amnesty International’s latest report that has criticised the state of civil liberties in Pakistan. Amendments to Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and anti-terror laws have increased censorship and detent…
Islamabad, April 21 (IANS) Global rights watchdog Amnesty International in its annual report has highlighted a pattern of restrictions on civil liberties in Pakistan, including curbs on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and political participation, local media reported on Tuesday. Amnesty has stated that changes to online speech and anti-terrorism laws in Pakistan have significantly affected freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, resulting in the arrest of journalists, activists and…
London, April 18 (IANS) Pakistan’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) reflects state-led refoulement on an industrial scale, prioritising political expediency over human lives, displacing more than two million Afghan refugees, shattering communities, violating international norms, and deepening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, a report highlighted on Saturday. “Pakistan’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP), launched in October 2023, has evolved into one of the world’s…
Islamabad, April 14 (IANS) Pakistani forces, while conducting counter-terrorism campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, have many times been accused of using lethal force in ways that have repeatedly killed several innocent civilians, including women and children, a report has revealed. “International human-rights organizations and independent reporting point to airstrikes, drone attacks and ground operations that blur the line between lawful targetting of armed groups and unlawful, or at leas…