Uwazi

Shahid Zehri, a reporter for a local TV news channel Metro News 1 was killed on October 10 when a bomb exploded in his car in the Hub area of Balochistan province. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), urge the Pakistan government to ensure those involved in the attack are promptly brought to justice.

Journalist Zehri, 35, and friend, were travelling to Karachi by car when a bomb detonated around midnight on October 10. Both suffered critical injuries. CCTV footage confirms the bomb was attached to the journalist’s car where it exploded. Some reports suggested it was a homemade device.

The injured journalist and friend were initially taken to Hub Civil Hospital then subsequently brought to Karachi for treatment. The journalist, Zehri, was declared dead at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital in Karachi.

Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility of the attack. The group also claimed that the journalist was spying on them. IFJ understands Zehri was a strong voice for the Hub Chowki, often reported on unrest in the region. Pakistan’s Baluchistan province has not enacted any legislation protecting journalists.

According to the IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2020-2021, nine journalists were murdered in Pakistan in 2020-2021.

Pakistan: Police baton-charged students protesting against online entrance exams.

Pakistani activists say police have raided a camp set up by landmine victims in the northwestern tribal district of South Waziristan.

Sherzada Mehsud of the civil rights Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) told RFE/RL that one of its leaders was injured during the raid on September 21.

The protesters later blocked the road between the Makin and Tank areas calling for the head of the local police station be suspended.

South Waziristan police chief Shaukat Ali said he was investigating the case and that he will later share details with the media.

Several landmine victims and civil rights activists have staged a sit-in in the Kotki area of South Waziristan for more than two weeks, calling on the authorities to clear landmines and provide financial assistance and jobs to those wounded by the weapons, as well as compensation to the families of those killed.

Thousands of South Waziristan residents have returned to their homes after a Pakistani military offensive against Islamist militants forced them to abandon them in 2009.

Pakistani security forces say they have begun operations to clear South Waziristan and other tribal areas of landmines that have claimed lives or seriously wounded hundreds of people.

The Pakistani authorities must ensure a thorough, independent, and impartial inquiry into allegations that excessive force was used by the Punjab Police against doctors and medical students protesting a new qualification exam last month, said Amnesty International, after reviewing video footage of the protests.

Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that dozens of police officers baton-charged, used water cannons, and an irritant spray to clear peaceful demonstrators at separate demonstrations in Lahore on 27 and 30 August. At least 20 protestors were reported to have been hospitalized following the incidents. Video footage reviewed by Amnesty International appears to show heavy-handed use of batons by police which may amount to excessive and illegal use of force.

“Attacking peaceful protestors who present no threat of violence with excessive force is grotesque, punitive, and a violation of the right to peaceful assembly,” said Rimmel Mohydin, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International.

“Health workers have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, and at a time when they must be provided with support and resources, they are being attacked and sent to the hospital as patients. The authorities must launch an immediate investigation into these serious allegations.”

“It felt like someone had set us on fire”

According to four protestors interviewed by Amnesty International, at least 20 doctors landed in the Intensive Care Units of two hospitals in Lahore. At least two of them are reported to have sustained bone fractures, while many are said to have suffered burns from an irritant that was sprayed at them by the police. Some reported facing respiratory issues from inhaling the spray. Although Amnesty International has been able to verify that a spray was deployed by police, the organization has not been able to confirm what the spray contained.

Dr Mudassar Malik, 24, one of the protestors who sustained grievous injuries on Friday, 27 August, said that after being sprayed directly on his face, he couldn’t breathe and began vomiting. He was rushed to the hospital by emergency services. “I could not open my eyes, it felt like someone had stuck needles in them,” he said.

Dr Akbar Ranjha, 25, another doctor present on Sunday, 29 August, when the clashes erupted, was also sprayed in the face and has a hairline arm fracture. A fellow protestor tried to douse him with water, which made the burns worse. While the police have been quoted in media reports as saying that they used pepper spray, Dr Malik said, “We are doctors. We know that water can relieve the burns from pepper spray. This was not pepper spray. It felt like someone had set us on fire.”

Dr Mahnoor Lodhi, 23, said that the campaign against the exam had been ongoing for the last four months and had been proceeding peacefully. Present at the protest on Friday, 27 August, she was hit on the arm with a baton, before being hit by a water-cannon. “It was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Even if my physical injuries heal, I don’t know how to fix the mental trauma this has caused,” she said.

“It is worrying that despite so many people sustaining injuries during the protests, no formal enquiry has been launched by the authorities into the incident even after 11 days. Authorities must seriously scrutinize the policing of protests. From the accounts of the victims, it is unclear if the police attempted to de-escalate tensions and use alternatives to force, to manage the situation,” said Rimmel Mohydin.

Amnesty International calls for the use of excessive force by the police to be thoroughly, immediately, and impartially investigated. If excessive force is found to have been used, the perpetrators must be held to account for violating the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, guaranteed by Pakistan’s constitution and international human rights law.

Background

The students and doctors were protesting a new compulsory exam to register with the Pakistan Medical Council, previously reserved for students who received their MBBS degrees from foreign universities.

On 6 April 2020, 53 doctors and other health workers protesting the lack of resources, personal protective equipment (PPE), and security from the government in Quetta were baton-charged, arrested, and then detained in police stations. While the doctors were released within 24 hours, it is unclear if this incident was ever investigated.

Law enforcement authorities have a duty to facilitate peaceful protests, and should not disperse a demonstrations or arrest protestors merely to regulate traffic. Under the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, police may only resort to force for a legitimate law enforcement purpose and may not use more force than what is needed to achieve this objective. If resorting to the use of force, they must minimize harm and injury, and should never cause more harm than they want to prevent. This means that they should never use weapons likely to cause injury against people who are only peacefully resisting.

Pakistan authorities should immediately drop their investigations into journalists Amir Mir and Imran Shafqat, and cease harassing members of the press in retaliation for their coverage of public institutions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On August 7, officers with the Federal Investigation Agency arrested Mir, CEO of the privately owned news agency Googly News TV, and Shafqat, who hosts the YouTube news commentary channel Tellings with Imran Shafqat, according to news reports and both journalists, who spoke with CPJ in phone interviews.

Googly News TV publishes on a website and YouTube channel, which has about 360,000 subscribers; Tellings with Imran Shafqat is a YouTube channel with about 120,000 subscribers. Both outlets feature investigative reporting and political commentary on Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy.

Officers arrested Mir at about 10:30 a.m. while he was on his way to Googly News TV’s office in the city of Lahore, held him for about 10 hours, and then released him on bail pending investigation, he told CPJ. Officers arrested Shafqat at about 12:30 p.m. at his home, also in Lahore, held him for about five hours, and then also released him on bail, he said.

Officers confiscated two phones and a laptop from Mir during his arrest and demanded his passwords, which he refused to divulge; officers also confiscated Shafqat’s phone, the journalists told CPJ. Shafqat said officers returned his SIM card upon his release, and Mir said his phones and laptop were still in official custody.

“Pakistan authorities’ arrests of journalists Amir Mir and Imran Shafqat are emblematic of the government’s ongoing campaign to chill critical reporting,” said Carlos Martinez de La Serna, CPJ’s program director. “The Federal Investigation Agency must immediately drop its investigations into the journalists, return their confiscated devices, and cease harassing members of the press in retaliation for their coverage.”

Authorities are investigating the journalists for alleged electronic forgery; making, obtaining, or supplying a device for an offense; and the transmission of malicious code, all crimes under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, according to a press release issued by the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency.

Authorities are also investigating Mir and Shafqat under articles of the Pakistan penal code pertaining to forgery for the purpose of harming a reputation; defamation; issuing a statement with an intent to cause public mischief; and insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment, that press release said.

Each of those offenses can carry a prison sentence between six months and seven years, and a fine up to five million rupees (US$30,425), according to that law and the penal code.

Mir and Shafqat each issued statements denying the allegations against them, which CPJ reviewed.

Babar Bakht Qureshi, director of the Federal Investigation Agency’s cybercrime wing, said that Mir and Shafqat were arrested after posting “scandalous content” on social media following a complaint by Murad Saeed, the federal minister for communications and minister for postal services, according to reports.

CPJ called Saeed’s office at the Ministry of Communications for comment, but received a message that the line was unavailable; CPJ emailed the ministry but did not receive any reply.

Mir and Shafqat told CPJ that officials questioned them separately about the reasons behind their alleged criticism of Pakistan’s army and judiciary online, but did not cite specific reports during the interrogations. Officials also demanded that Mir and Shafqat issue affidavits stating that they will refrain from criticizing Pakistan’s army and judiciary, but they refused to comply, they said.

Mir told CPJ that he received a partial copy of the police report relating to him and Shafqat, but had not received a full copy. Shafqat told CPJ that he had not received a copy of the police report.

The partial copy of the police report, which CPJ reviewed, cites several videos posted to the YouTube channels of Googly News TV and Tellings with Imran Shafqat, including commentary on the Pakistan army’s role in governance, the judiciary, and the regional impact of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Since July 2020, Mir has received two notices and a questionnaire from the Federal Investigation Agency in relation to Googly News TV’s commentary on YouTube about the army, judiciary, and Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to Mir and copies of the notices, which CPJ reviewed.

CPJ emailed Federal Investigation Agency Director-General Sanaullah Abbasi for comment, but did not receive any reply.

Politicians and journalists on Sunday criticised the summons notice issued to anchorperson Nadeem Malik by the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Counter-Terrorism Wing to appear before it and cooperate in the case regarding the video scandal of former accountability court judge Arshad Malik.

According to the notice dated July 2, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the FIA has summoned the anchorperson under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. "Please refer to your 'Nadeem Malik Live Programme' on Samaa News dated April 28, 2021, [that] revealed that you have important information which can be relevant for the agency to further investigate the above mentioned case and to link some relevant persons with this case," said the notice.

Malik was requested to appear at the FIA's headquarters on July 6 with "all relevant information, documents and evidence."

In the aforementioned programme, Malik said he was informed by two individuals, part of the FIA team investigating Judge Malik, that "the other party" — declining to identify it — had found an old objectionable video of the judge. The unidentified persons had summoned the judge and told him that the video would "come out in public view" if he didn't give a favourable decision in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.

"Judge Arshad Malik then went and announced the decision and Nawaz Sharif was disqualified," the anchorperson had said, adding that he was quoting verbatim what he had been told by the sources. He had also said that he could not divulge on-air the full details that had been shared with him since they involved certain individuals from "very powerful institutions".

Reacting to news of the notice, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal "strongly" condemned it and hailed Malik as "one of the most professional journalists of Pakistan."

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the notice was "highly condemnable and is yet more proof that this fascist regime won’t rest till the little remaining space for freedom of speech is eliminated", calling for the FIA to "immediately withdraw" it.

"FIA’s notice to Nadeem Malik, a reputable journalist, for personal appearance before the agency over his remarks on the notorious Arshad Malik case, is the latest example of unfolding fascism," said journalist Syed Talat Hussain. He claimed that the media was facing a "total assault".

Columnist and journalist Ansar Abbasi also praised Malik as an "honourable journalist" and said he became the "latest victim of [the] FIA’s misadventures against [the] media."

Meanwhile, Murtaza Solangi, executive editor of Nayadaur Media, called on Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah to take suo moto notice of the incident and summon the FIA officials for their "continued and consistent harassment of journalists".

Earlier this week, Justice Minallah, while hearing petitions filed against ongoing inquiries by the FIA’s cybercrime wing against journalists Bilal Ghauri, Asad Toor and others, had warned the investigation agency to exercise its powers judiciously or else the court would impose heavy cost on the officers for misuse of authority.

When the chief justice inquired from the FIA cybercrime wing’s director Babar Bakhat Qureshi about the number of pending complaints, Qureshi informed the court that they were in the thousands. The chief justice then asked him why the FIA was giving the impression that it was proceeding against only journalists.

“You need to dispel this impression, since crushing the dissenting voices is against the Islamic injunctions and norms of civilised society,” he had remarked. What is the Arshad Malik case?

In December 2018, Judge Malik had convicted Nawaz in the Al-Azizia reference, sentencing him to seven years in jail. However, he had acquitted the former prime minister in the Flagship reference.

In July 2020, after a year-long inquiry, the Lahore High Court’s administration committee had removed Malik from service on charges of misconduct relating to a video scandal that broke in 2019, and which sent ripples through political and legal circles.

The scandal was brought to the limelight by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who had at the time come forward with video clips purportedly showing Malik confessing that he had been “pressured and blackmailed” to convict Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference.

The former judge passed away in December 2020 after contracting the coronavirus.

Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in Islamabad summoned journalist Muhammad Bilal Ghauri for questioning for alleged defamatory remarks made through his YouTube channel. The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) urges authorities to cease the intimidation of journalists who have a right to freedom of expression and questioning attacks on their profession.

The summon notice issued on June 22 under the Pakistan Electronic Crime Act (PECA), ordered Ghauri to appear before the Cyber Crime Reporting Centre of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Islamabad at 11 am on June 25. But the notice failed to mention the specific accusation levelled against him.

According to a letter from M. Waseem Sikandar, a sub-inspector at the FIA, the summons was in response to a complaint filed by Syed Abbas Mohiuddin, a politician from Attock district and member of the provincial assembly. The letter warned that failing to adhere the notice’s order would result in further legal action under section 174 of Pakistan Penal Code.

Muhammad Bilal Ghauri, a contributor for the Urdu-language newspaper Daily Jang, has been on indefinite leave from his office since May 5 and he currently runs a show on YouTube about pertinent political and social issues. On June 21, he broadcast a show entitled ‘Major General Manzoor Ahmed's Petition’ which is linked to the FIA.

The Pakistani military is documented as putting increasing pressure on media houses for reporting that is critical to the Pakistani military and a number of journalists have been put on “leave” following such pressure on media companies. The imposition of “indefinite leave” on Ghauri for his reporting and the subsequent summoning by the FIA points to a clear pattern of intimidation by the military.

On May 31, journalist and vlogger Asad Ali Toor was also summoned on accusation of defaming a government institution thorough a social media post. So too, television talk show host, Hamid Mir, was taken off air on May 31 after a speech deemed as critical of the Pakistani military.

A Pakistani lawyer who won acquittal for a Christian couple on blasphemy charges has asked for a security detail after he received death threats by Muslim extremists.

Shafqat Emmanuel Masih and his wife, Shughufta Kausar Masih, had spent eight years on death row while waiting for a court to hear their appeal against an earlier blasphemy conviction.

The trial court had convicted the couple on flimsy evidence linking them to an English-language text message that had been sent to a local Islamic cleric. The couple is illiterate in their own language and does not speak English.

Their attorney, Saiful Mulook, said on June 14 that he and his family have been threatened repeatedly since a court earlier in June overturned the couple's conviction.

Mr Malook shared social media posts with the BBC which called for him to be "executed" for securing the acquittal.

Blasphemy is a deeply emotive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan and is legally punishable by death.

While no one has ever been executed for the offence, dozens of people accused of blaspheming have been killed by vigilantes.

Human rights groups say the country's blasphemy laws often unfairly target religious minorities and can be used in personal feuds.

Earlier this month, the high court in Lahore quashed the convictions of Christian couple Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel, citing a lack of evidence.

The pair were sentenced to death in 2014 for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages insulting the Prophet Muhammad. They insisted they were innocent. Ms Kausar's brother told the BBC last year he doubted the couple were literate enough even to have written the messages.

The couple's lawyer, Mr Malook, previously also represented Asia Bibi, a Christian villager who spent eight years on death row in a case that attracted international condemnation.

Ms Bibi was eventually acquitted by Pakistan's supreme court in 2018 and subsequently flown out of the country. The legal ruling led to large and violent protests by thousands of followers of a hardline cleric.

But Mr Malook, who is the most prominent lawyer defending blasphemy cases in Pakistan, told the BBC that he considered the current threats against him the "most dangerous" he had ever received.

"Even this was not done during Asia Bibi's case," he said. "Now they [the extremists] think I am the only hurdle in their way."

He criticised the government for not providing him with adequate security. "Not even a clerk from the Pakistani government has contacted me," he said. Pakistani officials did not reply to a request for comment.

It is not clear how serious the specific threats are to Mr Malook, but in 2014 a lawyer representing another blasphemy defendant was shot dead. Rashid Rehman was sitting in his office when he was shot and two of his assistants were injured.

Blasphemy convictions in Pakistan by lower courts are often overturned on appeal. Human rights activists say more junior judges are intimidated into convicting suspects despite flaws in their cases.

Hearings at Lahore High Court in the case of Ms Kausar, a caretaker at a Christian school, and her paralysed husband Mr Emmanuel, had been repeatedly delayed.

Mr Malook suggested the judges were concerned at the possibility of being targeted themselves if they acquitted the pair. In April, however, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws, citing concerns over the Kausar-Emmanuel case in particular.

Mr Malook told the BBC that had case had not been highlighted internationally, he feared the appeal would've been delayed indefinitely.

A Pakistani television station Monday took a prominent journalist off air, removing him as host of a popular talk show after he criticized the country’s powerful military, the journalist and rights groups said.

The development comes just days after the journalist, Hamid Mir, made a fiery speech at a rally in support of a fellow reporter, Asad Ali Toor, who was beaten up by three unidentified men in his apartment in Islamabad.

Geo News TV did not comment on the changes regarding its “Capital Talk,” a five-days-a-week program during which Mir would invite guests to debate current events in the country. Journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse Pakistan’s military and its agencies of harassing and attacking journalists. The government insists it supports freedom of speech.

In a statement on Twitter, Amnesty International denounced the ban on Mir and asked Pakistani authorities to protect free speech. “Censorship, harassment, and physical violence must not be the price journalists pay to do their jobs,” it said.

Also on Monday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan denounced Geo News for taking Mir off air. It said the action against him comes after he spoke fervidly against the escalation of curbs on freedom of expression in the country.

Local journalists’ groups, which document attacks or violations against journalists in Pakistan, say the period from May 2020 to April 2021 saw 148 such attacks.

Mir confirmed his removal in a text message to The Associated Press. He later tweeted that it was nothing new for him. “I was banned twice in the past,” said Mir, who had also in the past been fired by Geo News.

Mir was attacked in 2014 in the port city of Karachi, when a gunman critically wounded him. His family at the time blamed the country’s intelligence service for orchestrating the attack. The perpetrator was never publicly known.

Geo News’ move drew swift condemnation by journalists, politicians, and members of civil society groups. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists asked the TV station to explain whether the step was taken under government pressure.

The station’s owner, Mir Shakilur Rehman, was arrested last year in a decades-old case related to allegations of tax evasion in a real estate purchase. He was freed months later on a court order.

Toor, the journalist beaten in his apartment, works for the Aaj News Pakistani TV. He later told police his attackers claimed they were from the Inter-Services Intelligence. However, the spy agency days later distanced itself from the attack.

On Friday, Mir along with dozens of Pakistani journalists attended a rally in Islamabad to condemn the attack on Toor. So far, authorities have not arrested anyone in connection with the attack and police say they are still investigating.

Asad Ali Toor, an Aaj Television journalist and vlogger often critical of the Pakistani military, was attacked by unknown assailants in his apartment in Islamabad on May 25. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), urges the authorities to investigate the case objectively and for justice to be delivered.

According to a statement from Asad Ali Toor, more than three gunmen broke into his house at 11pm (18:00 GMT) on May 25, and savagely assaulted him, “I was threatened by showing the pistol, dragged to my bedroom, beaten up mercilessly. When I shouted for help, they gagged off my mouth, threw to the hard floor and hit on my elbow with buts of pistol”, the statement reads. Toor’s electronic devices, including his mobile phone, were snatched. CCTV footage shows that the journalist’s hand and feet were tied.

Toor’s arms were bruised and his sleeves were coloured red with his blood. Immediately, the journalist was taken to a local hospital for treatment and his health condition is reported to be stable.

According to Toor, the assailants identified themselves as being agents of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and warned him not to cover the ISI. He was told to say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (Long Live Pakistan) to prove his patriotism.

The journalist who is also the host of the YouTube channel, "Asad Toor Uncensored” is known for this critical report about the Pakistan military. In September 2020, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Toor accusing him of defaming the military by spreading propaganda through his facebook posts. However, the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) dismissed the case and described it as ‘infructuous’.

According to the IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2020- 2021, nine journalists and media workers were murdered and 36 media rights violations were committed in Pakistan from May 2020 to April 2021.

A judge in the Pakistani city of Peshawar ordered police on Friday to open an investigation into the organisers of a march marking International Women’s Day over allegations they committed blasphemy.

Police in Islamabad had previously refused to open a case, saying the allegations were based on fake social media posts after doctored images and video from the March 8 event went viral.

The petition, lodged by a group of lawyers in Peshawar, alleges slogans and messages on placards and banners on display during the march in Islamabad were “un-Islamic and obscene” and insulted the Prophet Mohammad and one of his wives.

The organisers of the march said in a statement: “These lies and the outrageous allegations of blasphemous slogans and banners in particular have been definitively debunked many times over.”

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and although no executions have been carried out, suspects are often killed by vigilantes.

Protests calling for vigilante violence against the march organisers followed the social media storm and on March 12 the Pakistan Taliban issued a statement threatening the activists.

The march organisers called on the government to provide protection for the activists in the wake of the court order.

Pakistani police have registered a blasphemy case against organisers of the feminist Aurat Azadi [Women’s Freedom] March in a northwestern city, while a court in the country’s second city dismissed the same charges as having no grounds.

Police in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar registered the First Information Report (FIR) under the country’s strict blasphemy laws, which can carry a mandatory death penalty, on Thursday.

In a statement, organisers of the march, which is held annually to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, condemned the allegations as “baseless and false”.

“Since the March, women marchers have been met with countless death and rape threats including a leading newspaper, Daily Ummat, referring to [feminist] marchers as prostitutes and whores,” said the statement.

“These accusations and threats have now gone as far as falsely accusing us of blasphemy, an accusation that gravely endangers the lives of hundreds of women.”

Blasphemy is a sensitive subject in Pakistan, where the country’s strict laws mandate the death penalty for the crime of insulting Islam’s Prophet, and carry a life sentence for insulting Islam’s holy book, the Quran. The feminist organisers have been accused of the former offence.

In Lahore, a court dismissed a similar petition for being based on questionable video evidence and said the demonstrators’ right to protest was protected under constitutional protections for free speech. “The fact that the petitioner took offence from a vague slogan and labelled it as blasphemy reflects his own state of mind and pattern of thought,” read the order from Judge Hafiz Rizwan Aziz.

“He has alleged a very serious offence without any iota of supporting material.”

Allegations of blasphemy surfaced soon after this year’s march, appearing to be centered on doctored video and images. Organisers shared side-by-side comparisons of the original and doctored videos, the latter of which made it appear as if demonstrators were chanting against Allah.

“We are being incriminated for crimes we never committed, slogans that were never raised, and banners that were never carried,” said organisers in Thursday’s statement.

“Additionally, the incidents which are being falsely framed as blasphemous in these charges are not even from the Islamabad March and the allegations regarding them have been thoroughly debunked by both media outlets and the respective city chapters where they came up.”

Organisers said the blasphemy case was registered in Peshawar “to satisfy the bloodthirst of religious extremist vigilantes”.

This week, the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party has held days of violent protests across Pakistan on the issue of blasphemy, demanding the French ambassador be expelled over comments by French President Emmanuel Macron last year that were perceived to be “blasphemous”.

Pakistan’s government on Thursday declared the TLP a “terrorist organisation” and cracked down on activists across the country, after at least two policemen were killed and more than 500 wounded in those protests.

The French government, meanwhile, has advised all French citizens and companies to temporarily leave Pakistan due to the security situation around the TLP’s protests.

Pakistani police Wednesday opened an investigation into the shooting and wounding of a former prominent journalist and head of the state media regulator, who has been a vocal critic of the military and its alleged meddling in politics.

Absar Alam, who is in his 50s, was shot Tuesday at by an unknown person in a park close to his home in Islamabad, police said in a statement.

He headed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) for two years under former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had fallen out with the military before he was sacked by a court on corruption charges, which he denies.

Alam was shot in the ribs and was hospitalized but out of danger, police said.

"I have not lost my spirit, and I will not lose my spirit," Alam said in a video message he recorded in a car on his way to hospital after the attack.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's relations with the press and broadcasters have become increasingly strained since he took office after the 2018 election.

Opponents say Khan secured office with the help of a crackdown on the media by the military, which has a history of involvement in Pakistani politics, including staging coups to oust civilian governments.

The military denies meddling in politics or involvement in the shooting.

"We vehemently deny this. The military has nothing to do with this," the military's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) wing told Reuters.

Activists say the crackdown on the media since 2018 has left 3,000 journalists and other media workers jobless.

Alam alleged in a tweet over the weekend that the current chief of the military's ISI spy wing called him when he was PEMRA chief to reinstate live coverage by a local TV channel of an Islamist group. The Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) choked Islamabad in 2017 with protests aimed at cartoons published in France depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

The TLP called an end Tuesday to the violent nationwide anti-France protests after the government called a parliamentary vote on whether to expel the French ambassador over the same issue.

Amnesty International and the Community to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on authorities to investigate the shooting and find those responsible.

The shooting "highlights the dangerous climate that all members of the press face in Pakistan if they dare to criticize the country's powerful military," said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan among the five deadliest countries for journalists in 2020, when four journalists were killed.

Police in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province have fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to reach Islamabad to press their demands over the killing of four teenage boys in their region near the border with Afghanistan.

About 3,000 demonstrators from the rural area around the town of Jani Khel launched a protest caravan early on March 28 that was composed of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and the bodies of the four boys.

But the group was stopped by a police blockade on a bridge across the Tochi River, about 15 kilometers south of the town of Bannu.

The standoff is taking place in former tribal regions of Pakistan that were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2018.

Mohsin Dawar, a deputy who represents North Waziristan in Pakistan’s national parliament, was detained by local police in the city of Karak as he tried to travel to the scene of the standoff at the Tochi River bridge.

Dawar had complained on March 26 that "instead of listening to the demands of the protesters, the state has chosen to block roads around the area to stop them from moving out if they choose to take their protest to Islamabad."

Meanwhile, in the city of Domail about 25 kilometers east of Bannu, hundreds of demonstrators threatened on March 28 to block the Indus Highway between Peshawar and the city of Dera Ismail Khan unless the protestors were allowed to proceed to Islamabad.

A government negotiating team has been meeting in recent days with protest leaders and tribal elders from Jani Khel, which is on the border of the former tribal region of North Waziristan.

The angry residents want a government guarantee that the Taliban and other militants would not be allowed to operate in the area any more. They are also demanding an investigation into a military official responsible for security in the area, and for that official to be transferred.

The government team has agreed to a demand for the families of the four slain teenagers to receive compensation funds from the government.

But protest leaders told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on March 28 that the government team was unable to offer the security guarantees they are demanding.

Many of the demonstrators in the blocked protest caravan were part of a sit-in protest that began in Jani Khel on March 21 after the bullet-riddled corpses of four teenagers were discovered in a field.

Relatives said their bodies bore signs of torture when they were dug out of the ground after reportedly being found by a shepherd's dogs.

The boys – aged between 13 and 17 years old -- had disappeared three weeks earlier when they went out to hunt birds.

A local court in Karachi has directed the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against the organizers of the Islamabad Women’s March.

The court’s order comes a day after a local Peshawar court ordered the registration of an FIR against the organizers of the march for allegedly making insulting posters with degrading words.

Karachi Additional District and Sessions Judge South passed the order on an application to the Station House Officer (SHO) City Courts Police Station against Advocate GM Arain under Section 22A of the Pakistan Penal Code against the SHO of the same police station, who allegedly refused to grant application for an FIR against the organizers of the Aurtat march.

Section 22A gives the courts the power to make orders under Justice for Peace and may order the filing of an FIR for failure to register a case.

Petitioner said he and other members of the Karachi Bar Association watched the march on a TV channel that was being broadcast from the federal capital.

He said that during the march, inappropriate words were used against religious saints and their spouses and provocative slogans were chanted.

The petitioner added that obscene and anti-Islamic slogans were raised during the march.

He said that the members of Karachi Bar Association had passed a resolution condemning such measures in the name of women’s emancipation and women’s rights by the organizers and participants.

A local court in Peshawar ordered the registration of a first information report (FIR) on Thursday against organisers of this year's Aurat March in Islamabad for allegedly making "derogatory remarks" against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Hazrat Aisha and displaying "obscene posters".

Judge Syed Shaukatullah Shah passed the order on a petition filed by five lawyers — Ibrar Hussain, Israr Hussain, Kashif Ahmed Tarakai, Siyad Hussain, and Adnan Gohar.

The petition was filed under Section 22-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the court to act as 'Justice of Peace" and order the registration of an FIR against an offence in case of the police's failure to do so.

In their petition, the lawyers alleged that during the Aurat March 2021 which was held on March 8, "derogatory remarks were used in respect of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) and Bibi Aisha beside display of un-Islamic and obscene posters on the instructions of organisers which hurt the feelings and sentiments of all Muslims including [them]."

They claimed they had watched the "derogatory and un-Islamic material" while they were on the court's premises in Peshawar and had later filed an application with the SHO East Cantt but he was "reluctant" to register an FIR.

The judge stated that the petitioner's arguments were heard and the record was examined. He directed the SHO East Cantt to "register FIR of the occurrence as reported by the petitioners under the relevant law".

Doctored videos Earlier this month, a video from the demonstration held in Karachi was doctored to falsely show participants raising blasphemous slogans and widely shared online.

The orga­ni­sers of Aurat March clarified that the participants of the march did not raise such slogans and their video was edited to defame their struggle.

People also mistook flags of the Women Democratic Front (WDF) at the Islamabad March for the French Tricolour after which the organisers issued a clarification.

After protests in the capital calling for registration of FIRs against organisers and participants of the Aurat March, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri had said that "controversial material" shared on social media concerning the march was being investigated.

Aurat March has become an annual feature since 2018 and every year faces backlash from certain religio-political parties, who have been opposing the event.

The marches are organised in major cities to highlight issues facing women and condemning incidents of violence against them as well as gender discrimination, economic exploitation and misogyny.

Following this year's march on International Women’s Day, heated debates were once again seen on social media for and against the march.

Authorities have closed a key road outside a major population center in northwestern Pakistan after residents threatened to take their protest over the violent deaths of four teens to Islamabad.

Angry locals from the rural town of Jani Khel are in negotiations with local authorities to demand greater security guarantees and a thorough and credible investigation into the killings, which are at the center of a weeklong sit-in protest.

The residents said on March 26 that security forces placed heavy shipping containers on a local bridge, closing it to traffic.

The bridge links Jani Khel to the nearby city of Bannu, a major population center in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A lawmaker from a nearby area accused state authorities of blocking the road to keep the protest from spreading.

“Instead of listening to the demands of the protesters, the state has chosen to block roads around the area to stop them from moving out if they choose to take their protest to Islamabad,” lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, who represents North Waziristan, which borders Jani Khel, tweeted on March 26.

Many of those same residents began the sit-in on March 21 after the bullet-riddled corpses of four teenagers were discovered in a field some three weeks after they disappeared while hunting birds.

The bodies of the youngsters -- where were between 13 and 17 years old -- were reportedly dug out of the field after a shepherd's dogs found them.

The protesters' primary demand is a government guarantee that Taliban and other militants won't be allowed to operate in the area.

The protesters also want an official complaint filed against a specific security official posted to the town.

Police have already announced a murder investigation.

Mahmood Khan, the chief minister, the most senior elected official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, assured protesters on March 25 that the government will investigate.

“I want to promise you that we will hunt those criminals responsible for this heinous act,” he tweeted on March 25.

Authorities have also agreed to pay compensation to the families of the slain teens.

Media union leader Rana Muhammad Azeem, secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), received a death threat after exposing a mafia gangster in a television appearance. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Pakistan affiliate to call for an urgent investigation into the threat.

Media union leader Rana Muhammad Azeem, secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), received a death threat after exposing a mafia gangster in a television appearance. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Pakistan affiliate to call for an urgent investigation into the threat.

The PFUJ said on March 26 that its Secretary General Rana Muhammad Azeem received death- threat from a gangster after exposing mafia in a recent TV talk-show broadcastedon 92 News Channel. Earlier ,the Karachi-based Urdu newspaper had published the warrant notice against Rana Muhammad Azeem on February 28 leveling allegations of criminal conduct against the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

The PFUJ said threats to working journalists had become more common in Pakistan despite repeated protests and activism by journalists. It also accused the Pakistan government of failing to provide security to the journalists.

The 31-year-old journalist received bullet injuries to the stomach, arm and knee as he waited in line for a barber shop on March 17 in Saleh Putt Sakhar, a town in interior Sindh province. According to the PFUJ, the assailants came by motorcycle and car and fled from the scene after the attack. The seriously injured journalist was rushed to Civil Hospital Sakhar for the treatment but died the next day on March 18.

According to police, an investigation team under the Deputy Superintendent of Police / Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Rohri, Hazoor Bux Solangi, was formed to investigate the case. Police also informed they were collecting evidence from the scene and recording statements from witnesses as part of the investigation.

Following the brutal murder of Lalwani, the journalist community in Pakistan held protests demanding the Pakistan government launch a probe on the case.

Lalwani was a vocal journalist and frequently raise issues of the Hindu minority in Pakistan. He also wrote critically that Pakistani Government policies were biased against minorities.

PFUJ Secretary General, Rana M Azeem, said: “Sindh government has failed to protect the journalists while the local police are not paying attention despite repeated requests. We demand the government to take action and arrest the killers otherwise a country wide protest will be launched.”

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger, said: “The IFJ urges the Pakistan government to carry out the impartial investigation into the murder of Ajay Lalwani.”

A court notice published in The Daily Jang newspaper on February 28 has levelled allegations of criminal conduct against the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) express concern at attempts to silence the voice of the union leader.

The Karachi-based Urdu newspaper published the warrant notice against Rana Muhammad Azeem, which according to the daily newspaper was a paid notice by the court. The notice also detailed the personal address and telephone number of the leader.

The PFUJ strongly condemned the alleged registration of a case against its secretary general and urged the concerned authorities to look into the “allegedly false case made in an effort to silence the leaders’ voice for the rights of the media workers”. It also said that Rana Azeem had been tagged with some other renowned persons for criticism on the national media channel during a talk show.

The notice with the signature of second Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ashraf Hussain Khawaja, alleges that Rana Azeem committed a crime or is believed to commit a crime ‘punishable’ under Pakistan Penal Code yet fails to detail the alleged crime. The notice also refers to the leader as a guest and analyst of the television show “Kahra Sach”, which he has been a regular commentator on over several years.

Pakistani authorities have expelled the leader‏ of a civil rights movement campaigning for the country's ethnic Pashtun minority from the southwestern province of Balochistan after he attended a condolence ceremony for a slain political leader despite a ban on entering the region.

Activists of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) said Manzoor Pashteen and other PTM leaders traveled to the town of Chaman on March 1 and that security forces escorted them out of the province after he secretly attended the ceremony.

Asad Khan Achakzai, spokesman for the secular Awami National Party (ANP) in Balochistan, was laid to rest in Chaman the previous day amid province-wide protests by party supporters.

Achakzai's body was discovered on February 27 on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Quetta, five months after he went missing.

Police has said a member of the paramilitary forces had confessed to the kidnapping and guided the investigators to the place where the body was found.

In December, Balochistan’s government banned Pashteen from entering the province for a period of 90 days citing security reasons. The ban was later extended for an unspecified period.

The PTM has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the border of Afghanistan where the military has conducted campaigns it says defeated the Pakistani Taliban.

The movement has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.

International rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

In a brazen daylight attack, masked terrorists shot dead four women vocational trainers and injured their driver near Mirali in North Waziristan tribal district on Monday.

Police said a vehicle carrying five women was driving through a village near Mirali when the gunmen opened fire on it, killing four of them on the spot.

The slain trainers were identified as Naheed Bibi, Irshad Bibi, Ayesha Bibi and Javeria Bibi. They belonged to the nearby Bannu district. The driver of the vehicle, Abdul Khaliq, suffered bullet injuries in the attack. He is under treatment at a local hospital.

District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur issued a press release after the killing of the four women trainers, stating that the four were targeted and killed by terrorists in Eppi village near Mirali.

The police statement said that the driver suffered injuries in the attack while one woman trainer, Mariam Bibi, survived as she took shelter in the village. Bodies of the four women were taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Mirali town.

Earlier, police had said that the women were working for an NGO to give vocational training to local women in Eppi village.

Later, the DPO changed his statement and said that the women were working for a technical institute based in Bannu to develop vocational skills of the local women. He said that the NGO had signed a memorandum of understanding with the institute to give vocational training to women of the area.

The NGOs office in Peshawar said that the women killed in the attack were not affiliated with the organisation. An official of the NGO told Dawn that the four women were attached to a technical college in Bannu.

He said that the women trainers had proceeded from Bannu to Eppi village to give vocational training to the local women. He said that his organisation had been working on a project for skill development of the womenfolk of the area.

In September last year, some unidentified gunmen had killed a lady health worker in Khaisur area near Mirali. Mirali was the bastion of local and foreign insurgents before operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched in June 2014.

A police official said that on Sunday night gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in Shewa area near Mirali and killed its driver named Wali Gul. The gunmen also kidnapped 10 people including six non-locals.

Unicef condemns attack

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has expressed shock over the killing of the four women.

“UNICEF condemns in the strongest possible terms this senseless attack on women and aid workers and joins the families in mourning this tragic loss of lives. The perpetrators must be brought to justice,” said Unicef Representative in Pakistan, Aida Girma.

“Unicef is saddened and shocked at the reported killing of four women who were reportedly staff members of Bravo College, Bannu, and they were travelling to North Waziristan, one of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s merged districts, earlier on Monday. Their driver was reportedly injured in the attack after unidentified assailants fired on their vehicle,” Unicef said in a statement issued in Islamabad.

On 1 February 2020, the Peshawar High Court dismissed human rights defender Idris Khattak's petition challenging the jurisdiction of the Field General Court-Martial on his case. The verdict means that the human rights defender’s trial, which was paused in the Military Court, will now resume. While Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the military courts have not met their obligations under ICCPR, with the right to a public hearing not guaranteed, the death penalty being handed out after unfair trials and the absence of right to appeal to civilian courts.

The human rights defender was forcibly disappeared on 13 November 2019. His whereabouts were not known until 17 June 2020, when the Joint Investigation Tribunal in Islamabad, tasked with inquiring into cases of enforced disappearance, informed the human rights defender’s family that he was being held by the Pakistan Military Intelligence and was being tried under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

On 2 February 2021, human rights defender Muhammad Ismail was arrested at the Anti-Terrorism Court-III in Peshawar, following the cancellation of his interim pre-arrest bail in a case lodged by the Counter-Terrorism Department. The First Information Report (FIR) brought against the defender charges him under Sections 11-N, 124-A, 120-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relate to sedition and criminal conspiracy, and 7(g)(i) of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997. These charges carry heavy prison sentences. It is believed that Muhammad Ismail is currently in the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department.

Muhammed Ismail is the Secretary-General of the Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF), an umbrella body of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Pakistan. He has been critical of human rights violations in the country, particularly the ill-treatment of his daughter, human rights defender Gulalai Ismail.

Muhammad Ismail has been the target of ongoing police and judicial harassment for over two years. The human rights defender’s prosecution is a reprisal for his work, and the human rights work of his daughter Gulalai Ismail – an outspoken critic of human rights abuses by Pakistani authorities. Gulalai Ismail was forced to flee Pakistan in September 2019 due to threats to her safety. Ever since, her family and colleagues in Pakistan have been targetted. Multiple FIRs have been filed against Muhammad Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail, including on anti-terror charges. In October 2019 Muhammad Ismail was abducted by unidentified men from outside the Peshawar High Court. He was later found in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crimes Unit. Muhammad Ismail and his wife have been placed on an exit control list preventing them from leaving Pakistan.

Despite being released on bail in at least one case, authorities have continued to to target him. The State has consistently objected to bail and sought to file new charges against the defender in an attempt to further harass him, despite his ill health. Muhammad Ismail contracted COVID-19 in late 2020 and has not fully recovered. He requires constant care and medical supervision, neither of which will be available in an overcrowded jail.

Front Line Defenders, along with other human rights organisations, has previously condemned the targetting of Muhammad Ismail. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Pakistan to immediately drop all charges and unconditionally release Muhammad Ismail, as it believes that the human rights defender is being targeted solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. It urges the authorities to remove all restrictions on the free movement of Muhammad Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail, and cease all further forms of harassment against the defender, as it is believed that these measures constitute a direct transgression of his rights.

Pakistani security forces have detained and forcibly expelled a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist, Sanna Ejaz, from the restive province of Balochistan.

Ejaz is a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a civil rights movement that has come under a growing government crackdown.

Video footage uploaded on social media showed security forces ushering Ejaz into a vehicle on January 17.

Moments before she was detained in the district of Zhob, Ejaz told RFE/RL that paramilitary forces notified her that she was barred from entering Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

“They are saying my presence could cause unrest,” she told RFE/RL.

Ejaz, a resident of the neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said she had travelled to Balochistan to launch a library for women.

The library was established by Waak, a movement cofounded by Ejaz and dedicated to promoting women’s rights and education.

Police said the provincial government in November 2020 issued a notice banning PTM leaders, including Ejaz, from traveling to Balochistan for 90 days.

Balochistan is the scene of a separatist insurgency and a brutal state crackdown that has killed thousands of people since 2004.

Activists claim Pakistan’s powerful military has committed widespread abuses in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings of political activists and suspected separatists, arbitrary arrests, and torture. The province is home to a sizeable Pashtun community.

Ejaz was among several PTM leaders charged with making anti-state speeches during an unsanctioned rally in the port city of Karachi, in Sindh Province, on December 6, 2020.

Among them was Ali Wazir, a lawmaker and PTM leader, who was arrested on sedition charges over accusations he made anti-state comments during the rally.

Wazir remains in police custody. He is expected to be presented before an anti-terrorism court.

The PTM has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the border of Afghanistan where the military has conducted campaigns it says defeated the Pakistani Taliban.

The movement has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.

International rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

Pakistani authorities have rearrested a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist who is facing sedition charges almost a week after he was released on bail.

Police and the civil rights group say Said Alam Mahsud, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was taken into custody in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan on January 18.

He was first arrested early this month in the city of Peshawar before being released on bail on January 13.

A PTM leader, Alamzeb Mehsud, said Mahsud had been charged with "sedition, making anti-state comments, and addressing unsanctioned rallies" in two cases registered in 2019.

Mahsud’s arrest comes a day after another PTM leader, Sanna Ejaz, was detained and forcibly expelled from the southwestern province of Balochistan, amid a growing government crackdown on the movement.

The PTM has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the border with Afghanistan where the military has conducted campaigns that it says defeated the Pakistani Taliban.

The movement has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.

International rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country.

Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

Thousands of Pakistani Internet users have called for boycotts of these two Urdu-language services and have threatened their journalists in the course of a two-week-old hate and defamation campaign.

A video posted on 2 January on Siasat.pk, a news and discussion site that supports Pakistan’s ruling party and armed forces, attacks the “personal opinions and political inclinations” of BBC Urdu’s journalists. Shared by thousands of people on Twitter, it also accuses the BBC of pursuing an editorial policy that is “against the army and the government.”

The surnames, first names, jobs and Twitter account details of ten BBC Urdu journalists were posted online at the same time as the video. Analysis of the comments indicates that this campaign is being orchestrated in reprisal for several editorials and op-ed pieces regarded as overly critical of the authorities.

“Surprise”

One of the 10 journalists attacked in the video is Asma Shirazi, who received the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism in 2014. “I’m told to be less critical,” she told RSF. “This is not the first time I’ve received such threats. I’m being bombarded because of my opinions. This online vilification is part of a grand design to silence professional and independent journalists.”

Shirazi said she had received threatening calls. By way of a threat, one caller told her that she could “get surprise” if she did not stop writing critical op-ed pieces for BBC Urdu. “I don’t know what surprise they could give me,” she said. ”One surprise might be the discovery of drugs or explosives in my car during a roadside search.”

Threats were also made against Pakistani journalists working for The Independent in late December after its Urdu website posted a story about the deaths of four Pakistani soldiers in a helicopter crash. They were criticized for not referring to the dead soldiers as “martyrs” – the term that the Pakistani armed forces try to impose in such cases.

When reached by RSF, the editor of The Independent’s Urdu-language news site confirmed that his staff were concerned about this hate campaign. Thousands of Internet users have been calling for the site to be banned using the #BoycottIndyUrdu hashtag.

“Extremely dangerous”

“These online hate campaigns, orchestrated by trolls at the military high command’s behest, not only threaten press freedom but are also extremely dangerous for the journalists who are the targets of the death threats,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“Calling for journalists to be murdered, with the aim of intimidating and silencing anyone critical of the authorities, is completely unacceptable. We urge the federal government to disown such calls, and we ask the prosecutor’s office to initiate proceedings against all those responsible for these threats.”

RSF accused the Pakistani authorities of complicity by failing to take action to stop the online harassment of outspoken women journalists in August 2020, when the harassment was condemned by a women journalists collective.

Pakistan is ranked 145th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Pakistani police have arrested another member of a civil rights movement campaigning for the country's ethnic Pashtun minority amid an apparent crackdown on the group.

A member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) told RFE/RL that Muhammad Sher Mehsud was taken away late on December 20 when officers raided his house in the port city of Karachi.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest but could not provide details about the charges against Mehsud, who was one of the organizers of an unsanctioned rally in Karachi on December 6.

The day after the gathering, police filed a case against as many as 19 PTM members, including a lawmaker and leader of the movement, Ali Wazir, who faces sedition charges over accusations he made anti-state comments during the Karachi rally.

Wazir is to remain in police custody until December 30 when he will be presented before an anti-terrorism court.

His family have said his life is in danger in custody, a claim that the police officials reject.

Police on December 18 arrested another PTM leader, Noorullah Tareen, hours after thousands of supporters of the rights’ group protested in a dozen cities and towns of Pakistan against Wazir’s arrest.

The PTM, which has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups in the country's northwest.

International rights groups say Pakistani authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

Ali Wazir, a lawmaker and leader of a civil rights movement campaigning for Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun minority, has appeared before a judge following his arrest in the northwestern city of Peshawar on anti-state charges.

Another leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), Said Alam Mehsud, told RFE/RL on December 17 that the judge granted a request by Wazir’s lawyers to let their client fly to the port city of Karachi, where he is facing charges.

It was not immediately clear when Wazir would be taken to Karachi.

Earlier, police officials in Karachi told RFE/RL that Wazir, PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen, and two other leaders of the movement, lawmaker Mohsin Dawar and Sanna Ejaz, had been charged with making anti-state speeches during an unsanctioned rally in the city on December 6.

Wazir was arrested in Peshawar on December 16 after he attended a gathering marking the sixth anniversary of the massacre of more than 150 people at a Peshawar school in December 2014.

It was not immediately clear why police had not arrested the other PTM leaders accused in the case.

Under Pakistani law, lawmakers are immune from arrest until the National Assembly speaker or the Senate chairman approves it.

Police officials in Karachi told RFE/RL that Wazir’s arrest was sanctioned by the lower house’s speaker, Asad Qaisar, who has not commented on the matter.

The PTM has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the border of Afghanistan where the military has conducted campaigns it says defeated the Pakistani Taliban.

The movement has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.

International rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

Another prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist, Said Alam Mahsud, has been arrested in Pakistan on charges of making “anti-state” and “anti-military” comments.

Sanna Ejaz, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), told RFE/RL that Mahsud appeared before a court in Peshawar on January 4 where a judge ordered him remanded in custody for four days.

Mahsud was arrested at his home in the northwestern city late on January 3 after he attended a protest earlier in the day demanding the release of other PTM leaders and activists from custody.

In a video widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter, Mahsud is seen greeting the policemen in Pashto and then asking, “Am I being arrested?” After a policeman says “yes,” he responds “no problem” in English and then accompanies them.

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen called Mahsud’s arrest an “extremely oppressive” act while Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker and PTM leader, denounced what he called an “undeclared crackdown" against the group.

PTM activists staged demonstrations on January 3 in several cities and towns in Pakistan, demanding the release of recently arrested leaders and members of the PTM, which has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns.

Ali Wazir, a lawmaker and PTM leader, has been arrested on sedition charges over accusations he made anti-state comments during an unsanctioned rally in Karachi on December 6.

His arrest triggered mass protests in dozens of cities and towns across Pakistan on December 18. After the protests, two other PTM members were arrested in Karachi.

The PTM has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups in the country's northwest.

Activist Ammar Ali Jan on Friday narrowly escaped arrest from Lahore's Charing Cross, where he was attending a student protest.

The activist had left the protest venue along with his friends in a car which was followed by a police van. Jan's vehicle was stopped by law enforcement officials at Gulberg Main Boulevard, from where he was taken to a police check post.

Following negotiations with policemen, Jan and his friends were allowed to leave with the assurance that they would appear before the station house officer of the Civil Lines police station within two hours.

In a statement to Dawn, however, Jan said that his lawyer would appear on his behalf and the activist will approach the court for pre-arrest bail on Monday.

Jan's arrest orders were issued by the Lahore deputy commissioner on Thursday under Section 3 (power to arrest and detain suspected persons) of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. According to the order, Jan was a "potential danger to public peace, law and order situation" and must be detained "in order to keep the law and order situation in the city". Under the charge, the activist would remain under arrest for 30 days.

"There is credible information that [Jan], along with his accomplices, will create law and order situation and cause harassment among the general public," the order read. Jan was the only person whose arrest orders were issued.

The Lahore-based academic was attending a protest, which was being held to highlight the issues being faced by students in Pakistan. Every year, students and activists come together to arrange a Student Solidarity March across the country, however, this year a protest was held due to Covid-19.

On 9 November 2020, transgender rights defender Nayyab Ali was physically assaulted androbbed at her home in Islamabad by two unidentified, armed men. The defender, after a struggle,was able to fend off the attackers but suffered serious injuries. Nayyab Ali had recently been vocalabout the increased targeting of the transgender community in Pakistan through her social mediapages, and had since been receiving death threats. A First Information Report (FIR) was filedregarding the attack at the Golra police station on 10 November. Nayyab Ali is a transgender rights defender and Chairperson of the All Pakistan TransgenderElection Network. She also manages the ‘Khawaja Sira Community Centre’ in Okara, which offersa basic literacy and numeracy programme, vocational training, life skills education and drivingclasses for the transgender community. In 2018, Nayyab was one of four transgender candidateswho ran for Pakistan's general elections. Nayyab has also been leading the advocacy efforts forthe approval of the Pakistan’s National Transgender Rights Protection Policy. She is a winner of theGalas Award in 2020, for her human rights work. The day prior to her attack, Nayyab wasnominated for the APCOM Hero award for her work on transgender rights. On 9 November 2020, two unidentified men, armed with knives, entered Nayyab Ali’s home inIslamabad. The defender was bound and beaten for nearly three hours. The attackers forced her tosign her cheque book and took her identity card, bank cards, jewellery, and devices, includingphone and laptop. The men threatened to kill the defender if she continued to raise her voice forvictims of violence in the transgender community. An FIR was lodged by the Golra police only thefollowing day (10 November), after much pressure from civil society.Over the past several months, there have been increasing physical attacks on transgender personsand defenders in Pakistan, including in the national capital Islamabad. Nayyab Ali has been vocalabout an attack on another transgender rights defender in Islamabad on 31 October 2020. Shelaunched a campaign on social media demanding justice for this case, and denounced the lack ofpolice action and impunity afforded to those responsible for such attacks. The human rightsdefender believes that the attack against her is due to her vocal campaign for justice. So far, theattacks against transgender community members has gone unpunished due to entrenchedstereotypes and a lack of will to protect those most vulnerable. Front Line Defenders condemns the attack, intimidation and death threats against transgenderrights defender Nayyab Ali, and the transgender community in Pakistan, as it believes she is beingtargeted for her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights, specifically on the issueof transgender rights, in Pakistan.

Unidentified gunmen have killed a local union leader in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan.

Police said on November 10 that Allah Dad Tarin was shot dead while on his way home after offering evening prayers in a mosque in Pashin district.

The assailants fled the scene after the attack, police added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility.

As general-secretary of the Balochistan Traders Association, Tarin was known for his struggle to protect the rights of traders and shop owners in Balochistan.

He was also a member of a Pashtun nationalist party, the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. The union said shops and markets would remain closed in the provincial capital, Quetta, on November 10 in protest of Tarin’s slaying.

Balochistan government spokesman Liaquat Shahwani pledged that Tarin’s killers would be brought to justice.

Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

Authorities in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan have arrested a local social-media activist and newspaper columnist on charges of interfering in the work of police.

Bayazid Kharoti appeared before a court in the provincial capital, Quetta, on November 5 that ordered him remanded in custody for five days, his lawyer, Enayat Kasi, told RFE/RL.

Kasi said he had filed a bail application and that the request would be heard the next day.

The Pakistani media watchdog Freedom Network denounced what it called Kharoti's "unlawful arrest."

Kharoti's friends and family sources have said he went missing in Quetta at noon on November 4.

A spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government announced Kharoti's arrest on Twitter after news of his disappearance spread on social media.

The spokesman, Liaquat Shahwani, said that Kharoti is accused of illegally entering the headquarters of the paramilitary Levies forces in Quetta and of using inappropriate language after being ordered to leave.

"My brother is Kidnapped by unknown people I would like to request all the social activist and journalist to raise your voice," his younger brother, Basit Khan Kharoti, earlier wrote on Twitter.

Kharoti runs a Facebook page and WhatsApp group called "Choti Chiri" (Little Bird) and writes columns in Pakistani newspapers.

He often criticizes the government and security forces in Balochistan and reports on alleged corruption.

Balochistan's government issued a statement on August 5 ordering government employees to stay away from social media pages and WhatsApp groups that allegedly spread "misinformation and propaganda" against the provincial government.

Kharoti at the time told RFE/RL that he was raising issues Balochistan is facing because Pakistan's national media did not pay enough attention to the province's problems.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Front Line Defenders, FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT), and the International Service for Human Rights strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of human rights defender Muhammed Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail, the parents of woman human rights defender Gulalai Ismail. The authorities must halt the ongoing judicial harassment against Gulalai Ismail and her family, which is a direct reprisal due to her human rights work. Gulalai has multiple criminal complaints filed against her, including under regressive anti-terror laws. Since she was forced to leave Pakistan due to concerns for her safety, her parents have been targeted under the Penal Code, anti-terrorism laws and cyber security legislation. In the most recent incident, Pakistan authorities approached the Anti Terrorism Court in Peshawar, and filed a new case with charges that include sedition and terrorism. On 30 September 2020, the court charged the three defenders.

Muhammed Ismail is the Secretary-General of the Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF), an umbrella body of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Pakistan. He has been critical of human rights violations in the country, particularly the treatment of his daughter, human rights defender Gulalai Ismail. The woman human rights defender and her family have been targeted by Pakistani authorities in response to a speech she made in 2019, criticising the state/military response to the rape and murder of a minor girl. Since then, several First Information Reports have been subsequently filed against them, forcing Gulalai Ismail to leave Pakistan for her safety.

On 2 July 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Peshawar had acquitted Gulalai Ismail and her parents, Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, of charges related to financial terrorism. Two months since, the authorities moved the court and filed the same case with additional charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy against the State.

On 30 September 2020, the Anti-terrorism court in Peshawar heard the case and charged Muhammad Ismail, Uzlifat Ismail and Gulalai Ismail under Sections 11-N, 124-A, 120-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relate to sedition and criminal conspiracy, and 7(g)(i) of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997. These charges carry heavy prison sentences. The defenders pleaded not guilty and are to appear for their next hearing on 26 October 2020.

Further to the court case, the Federal Bureau of Revenue has sent over ten letters to Muhammad Ismail and his wife, Uzlifat Ismail, asking them to file taxes for the past six years. However, Muhammad Ismail has not been running any business and does not have a regular monthly income and his wife is a home maker. The last date to file the tax was mentioned as 31 August 2020, however, the letters were only received on 1 September 2020. The family believe that this delay was intentional to further target them with additional legal proceedings.

Less than a year ago, on 24 October 2019, Muhammed Ismail was forcibly abducted from outside the Peshawar High Court by unidentified men. He was later found in the custody of Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crimes Unit. He was charged under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act for “hate speech” and “spreading false information against government institutions”. The defender was granted conditional bail after spending a month in detention. However, on 20 April 2020, the defender was summoned for a court hearing after the Federal Investigation agency filed an appeal at the Peshawar High Court to revoke the conditional bail that was granted to the defender on 25 November 2019.

Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail have also been placed on a government Exit Control List (ECL), preventing them from leaving Pakistan. Uzlifat Ismail has been unable to renew her passport as a result of her being placed on an ECL. Both, Muhammad and Uzlifat Ismail, suffer from serious medical conditions including hypertension, diabetes and kidney issues.

The actions of the Pakistani authorities in its targeting of the family are an attempt to silence Gulalai Ismail and punish her for advocating on human rights in Pakistan. Front Line Defenders, CIVICUS, FIDH, the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) and the International Service for Human Rights urge the authorities in Pakistan to immediately drop all charges against Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, as we believe that the human rights defenders are being targeted solely as a result of their legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. We urge the authorities to remove all restrictions on the free movement of Muhammad Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, and cease all further forms of harassment against the defenders, as it is believed that these measures constitute a direct violation of their rights.

Shaheena Shaheen Baloch, a Baloch woman journalist, was shot and killed in Kech, Balochistan on Saturday. Shaheen was a morning host at at PTV and was the Editor of Balochi magazine Dazgohar.

She had been getting death threats and warnings by the Baloch militants to leave her job. However, she did not submit to the threats.

The police has started an investigation in the matter. Turbat police has now claimed that Shaheen was killed by her own husband in what appears to be a case of ‘honor killing’. The suspect has not been arrested yet. A case has been registered and the area has been sealed for further investogations.

As per the local reports, the incident took place at a housing quarter in Turbat and unidentified men left her body at a private hospital. However, these reports have not been confirmed by the local police yet.

The body was dropped off to a a government hospital for medical formalities by an unknown person.

A supporter of gender equality, Shaheen was known to campaign for women’s empowerment in Balochistan.

Before Shaheen, another Pakistan's journalist Sajid Gondal, too, went missing from Islamabad who was being questioned on social media for his rumoured ties with Ahmed Noorani.

Marvi Sirmed, Pakistani journalist and the human right defender has once again got into controversy for making sarcastic comments about the state’s practice of enforced disappearance in Balochistan.

She referred the Balochis with Hazrat Isa (A.S) that people have started to take her comment in blasphemy context.

Netizens started a trend on Twitter asking the government to arrest Sirmed for violating Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Section 295-C applicable use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and other prophets. It is a crime to violate section 295-C and the only punishment is “death”.

After netizens started a trend on Twitter of #ArrestMarviSirmed_295C for making fun of prophet Hazrat Isa (A.S).

After the trend sparked on social media, Marvi Sirmed tried to clarify her statement and asked people how her tweet is referred to as blasphemy?

“The tweet which is generating a lot of abuse, blasphemy allegations, and threats. For those who don’t read Urdu: Mullah told Jesus Christ didn’t die, he was picked up by God. A simpleton asked: Was Jesus a Baloch? For Pete’s sake, how it is blasphemous? How????”

A social media activist in Barkhan district of restless Balochistan province was shot and dead on 23 July 2020 (Thursday evening) and a provincial government minister and his bodyguards were booked in the citizen journalist�s murder case.

�We are shocked at this brutal murder of citizen journalist Anwar Kethran,� Islamabad-based media watchdog organization Freedom Network said in a statement on 27 July 2020.

�The provincial government in Quetta must condemn this murder and make sure the accused minister and his bodyguards did not influence their positions to deny the bereaved family justice in the court of law,� the statement urged Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal.

Anwar Jan Kethran, who highlighted social injustices and challenged powerful landlords on his Facebook and Twitter handles, was on his way home on his motorcycle when unidentified gunmen opened fire at him, his family confirmed to Freedom Network, Islamabad-based media watchdog.

Akbar Khan, late Kethran�s brother, accused Balochistan government�s minister for food and population Abdur Rehman Kethran and his bodyguards were nominated in the police�s First Information Report (FIR).

The minister denies the allegation and says the late Kethran was �using social media platform to blackmail� him.

In his 12 July 2020 tweet (see screenshot below), late Kethran accused Abdur Rehman of �ruining� all government departments in his Barkhan district.

It is the first such murder of citizen journalist in Balochistan where citizens are taking to social media platforms as mainstream media of the country is not reporting Balochistan because of �self-censorship.�

�Both the accused in the FIR are bodyguards of the provincial minister, Abdur Rehman,� said the late Kethran�s brother. �The minister is also among the accused.�

The brother said: �The cause of my brother�s murder is journalism. The minister warned my brother to stay away from journalism.�

Late Kethran was a social media activist, younger brother Ghulam Sarwar told online news portal Urdu News. �He (Kethran) was working with Daily �Naveed-e-Pakistan� newspaper in Punjab province. He was very active on social media highlighting social issues and challenged strong feudals openly through his writings, the younger brother was quoted as saying.

Akbar said: �I am sure Kethran was killed at the minister�s instigation. My brother received threats over telephone for writing on social media platforms.� He said his family was told to �stay quiet� otherwise would face �consequences.�

Dozens of protesters have staged a demonstration in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar to condemn an assassination attempt on Fazal Khan, an ethnic Pashtun rights activist.

Khan has been a vocal critic of both the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group and Pakistani authorities, which he accuses of turning a blind eye to militants.

Khan, a lawyer, told police that he was on his way home from the Peshawar High Court on July 21 when two motorcyclists opened fire on him. Khan said he got away unharmed.

Protesters on July 22 urged the government to protect citizens from militant groups.

Khan lost his son in a Peshawar school massacre carried out by TTP militants in 2014 and has campaigned for justice for the nearly 150 students and teachers who were killed.

Khan is a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), which defends the rights of Pashtuns, Pakistan�s largest ethnic minority.

The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for ethnic Pashtuns since 2018.

The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed operations in tribal regions impacted by militant operations and the military's alleged connection with Islamist militants.

International rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges for alleged sedition and cybercrimes.

A prominent Pakistani journalist known for his harsh criticism of the military and the ruling party was seized from the heart of the capital, Islamabad, and held for 12 hours Tuesday, according to his family.

A brother of the journalist, Matiullah Jan, confirmed to VOA shortly after midnight that Jan had been released. Details of his detention were not immediately available.

CCTV footage shows a group of men, some in plain clothes, others in black uniforms used by elite counter terrorism units of the police, forcing Matiullah Jan into a car as he resisted. During the scuffle, Jan, who was parked outside a school where his wife taught, threw his mobile phone inside the compound. One of the men in uniform walked over to the closed gate and asked people standing inside to hand the phone back. �The teacher standing with me handed the mobile to him. We thought a thief was running with the phone and the police were following him, so he threw the phone inside. We heard loud noises, but our gate was high and we couldn�t see anything,� said Kaniz Sughra, Jan�s wife, who happened to be standing in the building�s garage at the very moment that her husband was being forcibly picked up from the other side of the gate.

The men left in several vehicles, including at least one double cabin white truck with police lights on its roof. An ambulance followed the convoy.

Jan has been attacked twice before. In one incident, he was driving with his son when someone hurled a brick at the windscreen of his car.

�We reported that to the police. It was investigated. In the end police said they knew who was behind it, but they could not tell us,� Sughra said.

She said her husband had received threats recently but told her not to worry about them.

Jan�s brother, Shahid Akbar Abbasi, also received a call from someone claiming to be a fan of his brother and asking for his phone number.

�My hunch is that they confirmed that I was not with my brother and that the number I gave them was still being used by my brother,� Abbasi said.

The reaction to Jan�s alleged abduction was swift. Pakistan�s opposition parties walked out of a session of parliament in protest, as did the journalists covering the proceedings.

The leader of the opposition in parliament, Shehbaz Sharif, condemned Jan�s disappearance on Twitter, adding: �The government's campaign to muzzle the media & critical voices is simply shameful. If something happens to Matiullah, PM will be held responsible.�

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and leader of one of the main opposition parties, Pakistan People�s Party, tweeted: �Extremely concerned at news that @Matiullahjan919 has been abducted from Islamabad. The selected government must immediately insure his safe return. This is not only an attack on media freedoms & democracy but on all of us. Today it is Matiuallah, tomorrow it could be you or I.�

Within hours of the news breaking, #BringBackMatiullah racked up more than 100,000 tweets and started trending on Twitter in Pakistan.

Journalists and human rights bodies issued statements condemning the alleged abduction.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists issued a statement threatening countrywide protests if Jan was not �released� within 24 hours.

�This has become a norm in the country to suppress voices of dissent for controlling media, imposing censorship and denying freedom of speech and expression in the country,� the statement said.

The press association representing journalists covering the nation�s Supreme Court urged the chief justice to take note of the incident.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent body, also demanded Jan�s �release.�

�We are deeply concerned at increasing attempts to control the media, suppress independent voices, and curb political dissent, thereby creating an environment of constant fear,� the HRCP statement read.

Amnesty International for South Asia tweeted: �We are extremely concerned for the fate and wellbeing of @matiullahjan919. He has been the subject of physical attacks and harassment for his journalism. The authorities must establish his whereabouts immediately. #ReleaseMatiullah�

Pakistan�s information minister, Shibli Faraz, said the government had taken note of the abduction and was investigating.

�Unacceptable abduction of @Matiullahjan919 from Islamabad today, have spoken with IG @ICT_Police and instructed for immediate action for retrieval and registration of FIR,� tweeted Shahzad Akbar, a special assistant to the prime minister, Imran Khan.

Cases of enforced disappearance are widely documented in Pakistan. Journalists and human rights bodies have repeatedly investigated such incidents and often found the country�s intelligence agencies involved, especially when it comes to critics of the military or members of nationalist groups.

�The scourge of enforced disappearances continued unchecked across the country in 2018. Political activists, students, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, members of religious groups, and various ethnic minorities have all fallen victim in recent years,� HRCP wrote in its latest annual State of Human Rights report.

The human rights committee of the country�s Senate took up the issue several years ago and issued seven recommendations that were endorsed unanimously by the entire chamber in 2016. None of those recommendations was ever implemented.

Farhatullah Babar, who was part of the Senate committee, said they had no doubt institutions of the state were involved in these disappearances.

Babar also said that regardless of which party was in power, political governments were �totally helpless in this issue. They cannot do anything,� he added.

The country�s official Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances claims to have recovered thousands of victims but has so far not filed cases against any responsible party.

In 2018, the chairman of the commission, Justice Javed Iqbal, told the Senate human rights committee that they have identified more than 150 security officials involved in the forced disappearance of people. No action, however, was ever reported against any individual or institution.

�The abductors know they�re so powerful and have impunity that they did not even care for the abduction to be in view of a CCTV camera,� tweeted activist Usama Khilji.

Media rights groups are calling for accountability after two Pakistani journalists accused paramilitary forces of torturing them for their reporting on poor conditions at a coronavirus quarantine center on the Afghan border.

Saeed Ali Achakzai, a reporter for the Urdu-language Samaa News TV, and Abdul Mateen Achakzai, a reporter for the Pashtun-language Khyber News TV, said they were beaten while under detention for three days in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

Photos released on June 23 by the men, who are not related, show red marks on their backs.

Saeed Ali told RFE/RL�s Radio Mashaal that the two were reporting on the lack of food, water, and other basic facilities at a coronavirus quarantine center near the border city of Chaman.

They were then allegedly called to the paramilitary Frontier Corps command center on June 20 and handed over to an anti-terrorism force that took them to a jail and beat them.

Bashir Barechi, deputy commissioner of Qala-e-Abdullah district in Chaman, accused the journalists of spreading fake news and insulting him on social media. He said the journalists were detained for disrupting public order.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists called on the Balochistan government to conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident and demanded the arrest of any government official involved.

In a statement, press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said: �It is absolutely unacceptable that representatives of the security forces should commit acts of torture simply because they didn�t like what these two journalists reported.�

RSF says that journalists working in the Chaman area are constantly harassed for their work covering corruption and �every kind of trafficking� between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

RSF ranks Pakistan 145th out of 180 countries in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the smear campaign against Dr. Arfana Mallah, a professor of chemistry at the University of Sindh Jamshoro, a prominent women�s rights activist, and a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), based in Hyderabad, Sindh Province.

According to the information received, on June 10, 2020, Dr. Arfana Mallah expressed her dismay on Twitter when a colleague at Shah Abdul Latif University in Khairpur, Sindh Province, was arrested on charges of blasphemy and sedition. Within hours, Dr. Mallah was subjected to a vicious campaign led by clerics with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party and, subsequently, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, who sought to have Dr. Mallah charged with blasphemy.

A hashtag #ArrestArfanaMallah, which trended for over a week, from June 11 to 19, appeared in some particularly disturbing tweets, including one that compared her to �the female version of Sulman Taseer� referring to the former governor of Punjab Province, who was assassinated by his own bodyguard in 2011 for having spoken up in defence of a Christian woman charged with blasphemy.

Under pressure from radical religious groups and the police, Dr Mallah subsequently issued a written apology, explaining that her social media posts meant no disrespect to Islam or the Prophet. Meanwhile, radical religious groups have further insisted she video-record her apology.

The Observatory firmly condemns the smear campaign against Dr. Arfana Mallah and considers the attacks against her amount to incitement to violence and pose a serious risk to her safety. The Observatory calls on Sindh and Pakistani authorities to provide Dr. Mallah with immediate protection and to guarantee, in all circumstances, her physical integrity and psychological well-being.

Arif Wazir, a leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), died in Islamabad on Saturday after being attacked a day ago by unidentified assailants outside his home in Wana, South Waziristan.

Wana Station House Officer Usman Khan confirmed Wazir had passed away after being shifted to Islamabad for treatment.

The police official said a first-information report (FIR) of the incident had been lodged at the Wana police station.

According to another official, on Friday Arif Wazir was strolling outside his residence in Ghwa Khwa, near Wana, when armed persons opened fire from a moving vehicle. The official had told Dawn that Arif Wazir received life-threatening injuries.

He was initially admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana, but later shifted to an Islamabad hospital.

Arif Wazir is the first cousin of MNA Ali Wazir. Seven members of Arif Wazir�s family were killed in a clash with militants near Wana in 2007. His father, Saadullah Jan, and uncle, Mirza Alam, were among the dead.

Arif Wazir was released from jail on bail about one month ago.

Rights group Amnesty International in a statement on Saturday said authorities must carry out an independent and effective investigation into the attack on Arif Wazir, and that the suspected perpetrators must be held accountable. PTM movement

PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

The party has been critical of the state's policies in the country's tribal belt, where a massive operation against terrorists was conducted in recent times leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances.

PTM's leaders, in particular its elected members to the National Assembly, have come under fire for pursuing the release of individuals detained by authorities without due process. The army has alleged the party of running an anti-national agenda and for playing into the hands of the state's enemies.

The party while rejecting these allegations, has insisted that theirs is a peaceful struggle for the rights of people from the country's tribal belt.

Last year, MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were arrested by police after a protest gathering in Kharqamar for allegedly using violence and clashing with army personnel.

This year in January, PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen was arrested from Peshawar's Shaheen Town for making a speech in Dera Ismail Khan during which he allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights. The FIR said Pashteen also made derogatory remarks about the state.

A day later, Dawar was arrested briefly from outside the Islamabad press club alongside several other individuals while protesting Pashteen's detention.

Pashteen was later released on bail on January 25.

Mohammed Ismail, a professor of Urdu literature, well-known activist and vocal critic of human rights abuses in Pakistan, is being threatened with prolonged arbitrary detention.

Professor Ismail is the 65-year old father of Gulalai Ismail, a board member of Humanists International and herself a prominent activist. At 16 years old, Gulalai founded the charity Aware Girls, which works to eliminate violence and discrimination against young girls in Pakistan. Gulalai was forced to flee her home country in 2019 after being persecuted for speaking out against sexual assaults and disappearances carried out by the Pakistani military.

Ever since Gulalai successfully relocated to the United States, her family in Pakistan have been punished by association. The family have been subjected to increasing threats, harassment and intimidation from local security forces, including multiple raids on their home by armed men and constant military surveillance of their phones and private messages. Even the family driver has been brutally tortured and interrogated by officials seeking information on Gulalai.

Efforts to silence and punish Professor Ismail began in July 2019, when he was falsely accused of �funding terrorism�. On 24 October 2019, while attending court to defend himself against these charges, Professor Ismail was abducted and forced into a vehicle by the Cyber Crime Wing of Pakistan�s Federal Investigation Agency. He was then charged with new accusations of �hate speech� and �spreading false information against Government institutions� under Section 10 and 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, on the basis of his social media posts. If found guilty, he could face up to 7 years imprisonment. After a summary hearing on 25 October, he was taken into pre-trial detention for over a month. A small relief came when he was granted bail at the end of November 2019.

Amidst the confusion caused by the Covid-19 crisis, Pakistani authorities are now redoubling their efforts to imprison Professor Ismail by seeking to revoke his bail. On 20 April, he was summoned without warning to attend court for a hearing to revoke his bail. Only after attending court was he told the hearing was to be postponed to an unknown date in the future.

Forcing Professor Ismail to attend court and potentially detain him in one of Pakistan�s notoriously overcrowded prisons during this time poses an extreme and unnecessary risk to his health, and arguably violates his right to life. At 65 years of age and with multiple pre-existing health conditions, including hypertension, heart and kidney problems, he clearly falls within the category of people who are extremely vulnerable to Covid-19. Even the Supreme Court of Pakistan has recognised as much by approving an order allowing concessions to be granted to prisoners in vulnerable groups including those �who are 55 years and older�.

Pakistani police have arrested an ethnic Pashtun rights activist and charged him with hate speech after he spoke during a visit to neighboring Afghanistan.

Police official Usman Wazir said Sardar Arif Wazir, a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was arrested on April 17 in South Waziristan, a tribal region located along the border with Afghanistan.

The police official said Wazir was accused of delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech during his visit to Afghanistan. He did not provide any further details.

Jamal Malyar, a local leader of the PTM, said the charge against Wazir was "baseless."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities "an expedient label for human rights defenders, particularly those associated with the PTM."

The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority, since 2018.

The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed operations in the militancy-hit tribal regions and the military's alleged connection with Islamist militants.

The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to "enforced disappearances," in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process.

Pakistan's government rejects allegations that its security forces and intelligence agents are responsible for forced disappearances.

Since the movement was formed in January 2018, international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

Authorities in January arrested PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen on charges including sedition, hate speech, incitement against the state, and criminal conspiracy.

Pashteen was later released on bail.

Pakistan authorities should take swift action to launch a thorough and credible investigation into the murder of journalist Aziz Memon, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Memon, who worked for the privately-owned Sindhi TV channel KTN News and the Sindhi-language Daily Kawish newspaper, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch yesterday near the town of Mehrabpur in the Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh province, according to news reports.

“The tragic murder of Aziz Memon deserves swift justice, which is something Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to deliver for journalists,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. “Given the victim’s previous allegations of threats from local officials, it is essential that the investigation be free from political meddling.”

Months earlier, Memon released a video, now circulating on Twitter, in which he said officials of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party and local police had threatened him over his reporting. His reporting included allegations that individuals were paid to attend a widely publicized 2019 “train march,” in which PPP Chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stopped at train stations to give speeches. The PPP is the dominant political party of Sindh province.

Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s federal minister for science and technology and the former information minister, called in a Twitter post for the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the case, and for the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate the murder.

PPP Chair Bhutto Zardari issued a statement condemning the murder and called for a swift and impartial investigation. An email sent to the PPP asking for comment about the allegations against the party was not immediately answered.

Naushahro Feroze Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Farooq told CPJ that police were interrogating three individuals in connection with the murder. He added that while Memon had complained about police threats a year ago, Memon did not report any threat to police in the last six months.

Journalists in Sindh have been protesting for months against what they have called abuse by police, as CPJ reported in December. Pakistan ranked 8th on CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index, with 16 unsolved killings of journalists in the past 10 years. Of the 34 journalists who were murdered for their work since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records, partial justice has been achieved in only three cases, according to CPJ research.

Javedullah Khan, the bureau chief for Urdu language newspaper Ausaf, was gunned down on February 25 in Matta, 40-kilometres northwest of Pakistan's Swat Valley. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) condemn the brutal killing.

According to senior police official Muhammad Ijaz Khan, the 36-year-old journalist was killed when two gunmen opened fire on his vehicle. He died at the scene. A police guard accompanying him was unhurt in the attack. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. A local peace committee member Fatehullah Khan called this a "targeted attack."

PFUJ said the remote Swat Valley made efforts to gather information challenging, but investigations revealed Khan was also a member of the local peace committee and had received threats from terrorists prior to his death.

Khan was a former correspondent for Dawn in Mingora, also in Swat Valley and the younger brother of prominent Al-Jazeera journalist Hameedullah Khan. PFUJ said as many as 14 members of Khan’s family have been killed since 2008. According to reports, Khan's relatives were targeted for their involvement in anti-Taliban peace committees formed to help defend villages from militant atrocities. Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai was shot as a teenager by a Taliban gunman in the area in 2012.

Khan was laid to rest at an ancestral graveyard in Shakardarrah village on February 26. Large crowds gathered to attend the funeral, including many journalists.PFUJ president GM Jamali and secretary general, Rana Muhammad Azeem, consoled Khan’s family and demanded the Pakistan government provide justice.

PFUJ said: "The journalists working in far flung areas are facing problems to perform their duties in a dangerous atmosphere and they have to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty. The Government should pay compensation to the family of Javid Khan.”

Khan is the second journalist to be murdered in Pakistan this year, following the recent murder of Aziz Memon ten days ago. Memon was found dead in an irrigation channel in Southern Sindh with a wire wrapped around his neck.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said:“The IFJ mourns the tragic death of Javedullah Khan. The dangers of reporting in remote and complex regions such as the Swat Valley jeopardises the free flow of information when journalists are forced to live in fear. The IFJ condemns the brutal murder and urges authorities to conduct a review and reform the mechanisms in place to protect journalists.”

Lawyer and human rights activist Jalila Haider was released on Monday after being detained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for seven hours at the Lahore airport.

Haider, while talking to Dawn, said she was stopped by airport authorities when she was boarding a flight to the United Kingdom, where she had to attend a conference on feminism arranged by the University of Sussex. When she asked why she was being stopped from boarding the flight, she was told that her name was on the no-fly list because of her "anti-state activities".

Haider said she was made to wait for seven hours but no one came to see her, after which authorities returned her passport and told her that she can book another flight to the UK.

The activist said she will not leave until she meets her mother, who was worried since news of her detention spread on social media. She added that she had not been involved in any "anti-state activity".

Haider hails from Balochistan and belongs to the minority Hazara community. She is an advocate and the founder of We The Humans — a non-profit organisation which works to lift local communities by strengthening opportunities for vulnerable women and children.

She is also vocal about the persecution of the Hazaras in the country. In 2018, she went on a hunger strike, demanding the state to address the violence against the people of the Hazara community, who she said faced persecution due to ethnicity and sectarianism. Haider had demanded Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to visit Balochistan and console the thousands of widows and orphaned children left by the killing of Hazaras in Pakistan over the past two decades.

Last year, she was listed as one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women across the world by the BBC.

News of her detention spread on social media after the activist posted on her Facebook page that she had been stopped at the Lahore airport. Her sister — who had come to see her off — and social media activists gathered at the airport, demanding Haider's release and holding placards.

"[I was] not told the reasons behind it (placement of her name on the no-fly list), but they said that it was because of my anti-state activities. I said 'I haven't been involved in any anti-state activity'," Haider told BBC Urdu. "Anyway, they [...] impounded my passport and CNIC and told me to sit down and that they'll hold further investigation and try to find out who placed my name on the list and why."

The activist said that only names of people who are suspected in a case and are named in a first information report can be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL). She further said that people whose names are placed on the ECL should be served with a show-cause notice, adding that she was not issued one.

Haider's lawyer Asad Jamal, who said he was not allowed to meet her while she was being detained, called it "an act of harassment", AFP reported.

Pakistan's interior ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment by AFP.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly condemns the arrest of at least 23 civil society activists and political workers in Islamabad, during a peaceful protest held yesterday to demand the release of civil rights activist Manzoor Pashteen. There is no indication that the protestors resorted to violence at any point, although video footage shows several of them being manhandled by the police.

HRCP believes that these actions were unconstitutional and have violated citizens’ right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The arbitrary use of the charge of sedition under an archaic law to curb political dissent – that has in no way incited hatred or violence – indicates how little regard the state has for its citizens’ civil and political liberties. This is cause for concern: the measure of a state is the treatment it metes out to citizens who choose to disagree peacefully with its actions.

HRCP demands the immediate and unconditional release of all those still detained, including Ammar Rashid, Nawfil Saleemi and Saifullah Nasar, among others. We also urge the authorities to refrain from such high-handedness when dealing with peaceful protests.

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen was sent to Peshawar's Central Jail on a 14-day judicial remand by a magistrate hours after he was arrested from the city's Shaheen Town on Monday.

The PTM leader was produced before a magistrate in Judicial Complex, Peshawar, where strict security arrangements were made prior to his arrival.

The court will hold a hearing tomorrow to decide whether a transitory remand can be granted in order to move Pashteen to Dera Ismail Khan, where a first information report (FIR) has been registered against him.

According to police, a case was registered against the PTM chief at the City Police Station in DI Khan on Jan 18 under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Pashteen and other PTM leaders had attended a gathering on Jan 18 in DI Khan where the PTM chief had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights.

The FIR added that Pashteen also made derogatory remarks about the state.

Police had also arrested nine other PTM workers who were identified as Muhammad Salam, Abdul Hameed, Idrees, Bilal, Mohib, Sajjadul Hassan, Aimal, Farooq and Muhammad Salman.

Tahkal police station official Shiraz Khan had confirmed the arrests.

Taking to Twitter, senior PTM leader and MNA Mohsin Dawar said: "This is our punishment for demanding our rights in a peaceful and democratic manner. Manzoor's arrest will only strengthen our resolve. We demand the immediate release of Manzoor Pashteen."

He urged PTM workers and supporters to remain calm in the wake of the arrest. "We will devise a strategy after consultations. We are up against those who are most troubled by demands for constitutional rights, and we will continue doing that."

He announced that PTM will hold an emergency press conference at the Islamabad Press Club at 3pm and urged party workers to show their support. PPP, senators call for immediate release

The PPP, in a statement today, demanded that Pashteen be released immediately and that a dialogue be initiated between the government and the youth of tribal areas. The statement said that PTM's demands were "legitimate" and "will not be swept aside by arresting Manzoor Pashteen".

The statement, issued by General Secretary of PPP's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter Faisal Kundi, said that "political arrests only aggravate the situation and [do] not help resolve political issues"

"It is most foolish and highly condemnable that the voice of tribal youth is being silenced through brute state force at a time when there is urgent need for a dialogue," the statement read. Kundi further said that Pashteen was arrested just days after Defence Minister Pervez Khattak offered to hold dialogue with the activists.

Senators Usman Kakar and Hasil Bizenjo, during the Senate session today, demanded the release of Pashteen.

"Manzoor Pashteen is an internationally popular leader," Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party's Kakar said. "His arrest will garner a major reaction."

Kakar said that for the past two years, Pashteen had carried out a "democratic struggle" for "democratic demands".

Following Pashteen's arrest, #ReleaseManzoorPashteen started trending on Twitter with various politicians and human rights activists calling for his release.

Human rights group Amnesty International also called for Pashteen's "immediate and unconditional" release.

Taking to Twitter, the group said: "Manzoor Pashteen has been arbitrarily detained for exercising his human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. He must be released immediately and unconditionally." PTM movement

PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

The party has been critical of the state's policies in the country's tribal belt, where a massive operation against terrorists was conducted in recent times leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances.

PTM's leaders, in particular its elected members to the National Assembly, have come under fire for pursuing the release of individuals detained by authorities without due process. The army alleges the party of running an anti-national agenda and for playing into the hands of the state's enemies.

Last year, two of PTM's MNAs — Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir — were arrested by police after a protest gathering in Kharqamar for allegedly using violence and clashing with army personnel. The party while rejecting these allegations, insisted that theirs is a peaceful struggle for the rights of people from the country's tribal belt.

A reporter for the Urdu-language newspaper Nai Baat, Nasrullah Chaudhry received the jail sentence from an anti-terrorism court in the southern city of Karachi on 26 December. He was also fined 15,000 rupees.

After his arrest in the night of 9 and 10 November 2018 in alleged possession of documents “inciting religious hatred and Jihad,” Chaudry was accused of links with the terrorist organization Al Qaeda. He has always denied any connection with terrorist activists or possessing documents inciting hate crimes.

“After an investigation lasting more than a year, the prosecution was unable to produce any evidence of Nasrullah Chaudhry’s guilt,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“We call on Karachi’s courts to quash this grossly unfair conviction and, in the absence of any additional supporting evidence, to dismiss all further proceedings against him. The best way to prevent any acts of terrorism is to allow journalists to do their investigative reporting.”

Ever since his arrest, he has accused the authorities of fabricating the case against him. He has worked as a journalist for 20 years and has the unanimous support of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the Karachi press club.

Pakistan is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

Police have registered cases against the organisers and participants of the recently held Student Solidarity March on sedition charges and arrested Alamgir Wazir, one of the participants.

The Civil Lines police on behalf of the state registered a case on sedition charges against the march’s organisers, including Ammar Ali Jan, Farooq Tariq, Iqbal Lala (father of Mashal Khan who was lynched over allegation of blasphemy in Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan), Alamgir Wazir (nephew of MNA and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leader Ali Wazir), Mohammad Shabbir and Kamil Khan, besides 250-300 unidentified participants.

Interestingly, the action flies in the face of the recent statements by several ministers and government representatives who supported the students.

The students took to the streets in 50 cities of the country to voice their demands, including restoration of student unions.

According to the FIR, complainant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Nawaz said he was on patrol when he received information that a rally of 250-300 people led by Ammar Ali Jan, Farooq Tariq, Iqbal Lala, Alamgir Wazir, Mohammad Shabbir and Kamil Khan was being taken out. He said he had reached Faisal Chowk on The Mall where the protesters were forcibly blocking the road to set up a stage to deliver speeches.

“The speakers incited the students against the state and its institutions and speeches and slogans were recorded on mobile phones and can also be checked through PPIC3 cameras,” he claimed.

Capital City Police Officer Zulfiqar Hameed told Dawn that one of the suspects, Alamgir Wazir, was arrested two days ago in the case. He said the case was registered on behalf of the state because the students were delivering provocative speeches and chanting slogans against the state and its institutions. He said police would arrest the other people involved in the case as well.

Alamgir Wazir, a former Punjab Uni­versity student who went on to become chairperson of the Pakhtun Council, had gone missing from the campus two days ago. He had completed his BS Gender Studies from the university last year and was there to get his degree. He was staying at hostel No 19 with his cousin Mohammad Riaz.

The Pukhtun Council students protested against the arrest of Alamgir Wazir outside the Punjab University vice chancellor’s house. The protesters condemned the arrest and demanded his immediate release. Social media is abuzz with the news of his disappearance and demand for his recovery.

This is not the first case registered against students and activists on sedition charges. In February, an FIR was lodged in Multan where police arrested Progressive Youth Alliance activist Rawal Asad and kept him in jail for a month.

Ammar Ali Jan tweeted: “We have been nominated in an FIR. We met Governor who assured us of support. Ministers tweeted in our support. Protesters gathered & dispersed peacefully. Do we even have a govt in our country? Can we trust anybody’s words? We are peaceful citizens & will remain undeterred.”

Talking to Dawn, he said thousands of students were protesting in the country for restoration of student unions and their other rights, but sedition case had been registered against them. The government, he said, was using the colonial-era law to penalise them just as the British would book natives for chanting slogans against their King.

“Are we living in democracy or under any kingship? Its inhuman law in a democracy and it’s a message of the state that they can use draconian laws against its people but can’t give them their rights,” he deplored.

Student organisations in Pakistan had organised a countrywide student march on Friday to demand the revocation of a 35-year ban on student unions in colleges and university campuses.A day after the Students Solidarity March in Pakistan on Saturday, student activist Alamgir Wazir from the Punjab University in Punjab Province’s Lahore has gone missing.

A gender studies’ student, Wazir came into the limelight due to his “fierce” speech at the march. A video of his speech has gone viral on social media. He says in the video: “We are asking for education, justice, and roads but they are giving us guns".

​Students from Punjab University have been protesting outside the vice chancellor’s office since Wazir went missing, demanding his release. They are saying he has been arrested for chanting slogans against the authorities.

​Wazir has reportedly been vocal about racial discrimination against Pashtuns.

Netizens are condemning the “abduction” of the student leader for voicing his opinion against the Pakistani government. #ReleaseAlamgirWazir is also trending on Twitter, demanding the student’s release.

"This is extremely condemnable & sharamnak we demand immediate release of Alamgir and the perpetrators must be charged for this unlawful act," tweeted MNA Mohsin Dawar. His fellow colleague from the former federally administered tribal areas, Ali Wazir, is related to Alamgir Wazir. The missing Wazir is the MNA's nephew.

Wazir was last seen outside a hostel on the Punjab University campus, when unidentified men in a vehicle took him away at 5 PM on Saturday.

Rights activist Idris Khattak was allegedly kidnapped by unidentified men while on his way from Akora Khattak village to Swabi, his driver Shahsawar told police, DawnNewsTV reported on Monday.

In a complaint filed in Anbar police station, Shahsawar said that he was driving Khattak to Swabi when about four unidentified men stopped the activist's car at Swabi Motorway Interchange and kidnapped him. The incident took place on November 13, according to the complaint. Though complaints have been lodged by Khattak's driver and family, police are yet to register a first information report (FIR).

Officials did confirm that Khattak was missing but said an FIR will be lodged after an initial investigation.

Politician Jibran Nasir claimed that the activist was "abducted by intel agencies six days ago on Islamabad Peshawar highway near Swabi Interchange". Nasir said that the driver was abducted along with Khattak but was released after three days. However, the application filed by Shahsawar did not mention any such occurrence.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded Khattak's "immediate recovery", saying that he had "remained associated with progressive politics since his student days".

"HRCP condemns arbitrary detentions and urges the Pakistani state to fulfill its constitutional obligations towards its citizens," the organisation said in a tweet.

Rights activist Gulalai Ismail's father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, was sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand on Friday, a day after his daughter alleged that he had been picked up from outside the Peshawar High Court (PHC) by "men wearing Malitia (sic) dress".

Professor Ismail's lawyer, Fazal Khan, told DawnNewsTV that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Peshawar had arrested his client after registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.

Khan said that his client was produced before judicial magistrate Naveedullah today, where the court rejected FIA's request for physical remand and instead sent him on a 14-day judicial remand. He added that they would soon file a bail application.

The lawyer said that on Thursday his client was at the PHC for another case.

"At around 4:30pm he left the high court building and was picked up by some unknown men and shifted to [an] unknown location," Khan claimed. Case registered

The FIR, a copy of which was seen by Dawn.com, was registered against Professor Ismail under Sections 10 and 11 of Peca 2016 read with Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code at FIA Cyber Crime Circle in Peshawar.

The case was registered after a complaint was received against Ismail by persons namely Sajid Iqbal, Ali Ahmad, Riazur Rehman and Walid Mir on October 8.

“The complaint is regarding ... hate speech and fake information against government institutions of Pakistan on Facebook and Twitter,” according to the FIR.

It said the professor's Facebook and Twitter IDs, passwords and a mobile phone were seized by the FIA. US 'concerned'

Earlier on Friday, Gulalai via Twitter said she had received information that her father had been brought to the court premises.

On Friday morning, US Assistant Secretary of State Alice G. Wells, who is also the in-charge of South Asia affairs at the US State Department, had expressed concern over "reports of the continued harassment" of Gulalai's family and her father's detention.

"We encourage Pakistan to uphold citizens’ rights to peaceful assembly, expression, and due process," Wells said in a post shared on Twitter.

In September, the New York Times reported, Gulalai escaped Pakistani authorities the previous month and had reached the United States, where she applied for political asylum.

Read: Activist Gulalai Ismail 'escapes' to New York, applies for political asylum

Gulalai is an international award-winning activist and a prominent member of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) group who had been campaigning for the rights of women and the ethnic Pashtun minority.

She had not disclosed how she managed to leave the country. All she revealed was: "I didn’t fly out of any airport."

"I can’t tell you any more," NYT quoted her as saying during an interview. "My exit story will put many lives at risk."

According to NYT, no government officials were willing to make a public comment on the matter. Security officials had said that they had suspected Gulalai had left the country.

Pakistan’s immigration authorities barred entry of Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, saying that his name had been placed on a 'stop list', a press statement issued by the body said on Thursday.

"Last [Wednesday] night, Pakistani immigration authorities denied entry to CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, citing a blacklist managed by the Ministry of Interior," the CPJ statement said.

"A border officer at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore told Butler that his journalist visa was valid, but it was voided because his name was 'on a stop list of the Interior Ministry'," it quoted Butler as saying.

According to the statement, Butler's passport was "confiscated" by airport authorities and he was forced to board a flight bound for Doha. When he arrived in Doha, authorities there placed him on a flight to Washington, DC, the statement read further.

While on the flight, Butler told the CPJ that the flight crew had seized his passport and boarding pass and that he was in "a kind of restrictive custody".

"Pakistani authorities’ move to block Steven Butler from entering the country is baffling and is a slap in the face to those concerned about press freedom in the country," the statement quoted CPJ’s executive director Joel Simon as saying.

"Pakistani authorities should give a full explanation of their decision to bar Butler from entering and correct this error. If the government is interested in demonstrating its commitment to a free press, it should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this case."

Butler had landed in Lahore to participate in the Asma Jahangir Conference — Roadmap for Human Rights in Pakistan, said the statement.

In September, CPJ had expressed concern about a plan to form "media courts" in the country.

Last year, the organisation released a special report after recording testimonies of journalists in various cities of Pakistan. They said that the climate for press freedom in the country had been deteriorating, even as overall violence against and murder of journalists declined.

CPJ said that journalists, including freelancers, had "painted a picture of a media under siege". 'Alarming sign'

Rights organisations Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Amnesty International expressed alarm over Butler's deportation and said that the decision should be "reevaluated" and "reversed".

In a tweet, HRCP said that it was "disappointed by the government's decision" to deport Butler, adding that the decision "must be reevaluated".

"On one hand, the government claims to be building a softer image of Pakistan. On the other, it refuses entry to a reputed international journalist with a valid visa," HRCP said in a tweet.

Amnesty International also criticised the move, saying that the deportation of the CPJ official was "an alarming sign that freedom of expression continues to be under attack in Pakistan".

"The decision must be reversed immediately," the rights group demanded in a tweet.

Police blocked a march Sunday by thousands of protesters in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir who wanted to move toward the highly militarized Line of Control that divides the territory between Pakistan and India. The marchers are protesting the lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Police placed shipping containers on the road and deployed a large contingent of officers near Jaskool, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the frontier to stop the supporters of the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front, which announced it intended to cross the frontier to help Kashmiris under Indian oppression.

India imposed a strict curfew on Aug. 5 after stripping Indian-controlled Kashmir of its statehood.

JKLF wants Kashmir to be independent from from both India and Pakistan. The group has a history of attempts to cross the de facto frontier in the last three decades, including once in 1992 that ended in violence.

Abdul Hameed Butt, a leader of the JKLF, said the protesters would stage a sit-in until the blockade was removed.

The JKLF march, termed the "Freedom March" began Friday and reached the blockade after two overnight stops.

Police officer Arshad Naqvi said protesters won't be allowed to continue because of the threat of "unprovoked enemy fire" from the Indian side.

"We want to go and [the Pakistani administration] should let us go to help our people," said Tahir Hussain, a college student.

Also on Sunday, the main religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, held a protest march in the eastern city of Lahore with thousands protesting against the situation in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Maggie Hassan, along with Ambassador Paul Jones, charge d' affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, visited Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the purpose of the visit was to see the ground situation and gauge public sentiment following Aug. 5 ``illegal Indian actions'' in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Hollen and Hassan met with President Masood Khan and Prime Minister Farooq Haider of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, who both urged the senators to play a role in saving the people of Kashmir from India's repressive measures and pressing India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions.

A Pakistani lawyer and activist who had complained about receiving death threats after he took on a controversial blasphemy case, has been shot dead by gunmen who stormed into his office. Rashid Rehman was shot and killed by two men who entered his office at 8.30pm on Wednesday in the city of Multan and opened fire. Two others in the office were seriously injured by the gunmen, who then fled. Mr Rehman, a well-known lawyer and a regional coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said he had been threatened after taking on the case of a university lecturer accused of blasphemy. At the first hearing of the case in March, held inside a prison for security reasons, Mr Rehman was apparently threatened by lawyers representing the complainant. "He was a dedicated activist from the very beginning. All his life he was helping the downtrodden," senior HRCP official Zamal Khan told The Independent. "He was fearless and never gave any time to the threats. He said he would live for the struggle and die for the struggle." Pakistan's blasphemy laws, introduced under British rule and then tightened during the years of military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, have become increasingly controversial. Campaigners say that the laws, which carry the death penalty, are routinely used to settle personal scores and grudges that have nothing to do with Islam. While no one has ever been executed for blasphemy, several accused have been attacked and killed and lawyers and judges have been threatened. A recent report by a US government advisory panel said there were 14 people on death row in Pakistan and 19 others serving life sentences for insulting Islam. Among those on death row is a 70-year-old British citizen, Muhammad Asghar, who was sentenced in January after being convicted of claiming he was a prophet. His lawyers and family said he has been suffering from mental health issues for several years. Efforts to reform the laws by Pakistan's previous government were scrapped in the aftermath of the murder in January 2011 of Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, where Multan is located, who had spoken about the misuse of the laws and the need to reform them. Mr Rehman, who had a family, took on the case of Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Multan's Bahauddin Zakariya University who was accused of defaming the prophet Mohammed on social media last year. Reports said the accusations were levelled by hardline students who pushed for him to be charged. Apparently no one was wiling to take on Mr Hafeez's defence until Mr Rehman stepped forward. After the hearing in March, when he was allegedly threatened, the HRCP issued a statement which said: "During the hearing the lawyers of the complainant told Rehman that he wouldn't be present at the next hearing as he would not be alive." The HRCP said that Mr Rehman was threatened in the presence of the judge but that the court took no action. After the incident, Mr Rehman complained to the District Bar Association. Mr Rehman's colleague, Mr Khan, said the lawyer had also complained to the police but that they had taken no action. "They were totally indifferent." Mr Rehman's funeral service is due to be held in Multan on Thursday afternoon.

On 13 August 2013, Ghulam Fatima, owner of a small grocery shop in Sahimal, Punjab, was severely beaten and almost killed by a group of men attempting to force her to sell her property. According to the allegations received, Ms. Fatima was previously allegedly threatened and harassed a number of times by this same group of persons. Human rights defenders and journalists, some of whom are members of the Press Club of Kamir - learned that the police refused to file a FIR because they claimed they needed to investigate the incident first. Soon after, what happened to Ms. Fatima was widely reported in the print and electronic media, including live broadcasting in local TV channels. According to reports, on 14 August 2013, journalists and human rights defenders visited the police station to inquire about the status of the FIR. A police officer allegedly threatened them indicating that a "fake encounter" could be conducted against them for interfering in the official work of police. A day later, a case was reportedly filed against persons to interfering with police business, although the identities of these persons are unknown. In this connection, Mr. Barkat Ali Gulzar, President of the Press Club, and Mr. Sabir Shehzad, Director of the International Human Rights Commission were reportedly informed that should they continue reporting the case, they would be "booked in the open FIR". On 4 September 2013, a Joint Urgent Appeal was issued by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - In the latest blasphemy case to highlight growing intolerance in Pakistan, the police in Punjab Province said Tuesday that they had filed blasphemy charges against a group of 68 lawyers at the instigation of a Sunni extremist leader. The mass charging was an unusually wide application of Pakistan's colonial-era blasphemy law, which carries a potential death sentence. But it was consistent with what human rights groups call an increasingly frequent abuse of the law to settle scores, silence opponents or persecute minorities, and comes at a time when freedom of expression in Pakistan is under concerted assault from extremists. "Blasphemy has become a political battle," said I. A. Rehman, a veteran human rights activist. "It's no longer just a criminal or religious problem - it's become a political issue that is used to silence voices and create a climate of fear." Mr. Rehman's family suffered directly from the blasphemy laws last week. His nephew, a prominent defense lawyer and rights activist named Rashid Rehman, was shot dead in the southern city of Multan, weeks after he received death threats for defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy. The case against the 68 lawyers occurred in Jhang, a district in central Punjab that has a history of sectarian upheaval and is the birthplace of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, one of the country's most virulent Sunni extremist groups, which has since been renamed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and was banned in 2012. On May 7, dozens of lawyers, mostly from the country's Shiite minority, staged a street protest against a senior police official, Umar Daraz, according to the police and lawyers. The lawyers said Mr. Daraz had detained and beaten a lawyer after arguing with him. The police removed Mr. Daraz from his position in response to the complaints. But the lawyers continued their protest for several days, urging the police to arrest Mr. Daraz and several of his subordinates. The lawyers shouted insults at Mr. Daraz, sometimes calling him a dog, a frequent occurrence in Pakistani protests. They also referred to him by his first name - one that is common in Pakistan but is also shared by Umar Farooq, a revered historical figure in Islam who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad in seventh-century Arabia. The leader of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, was at the police station during one of the protests. He claimed the lawyers were shouting and insulting the name of the religious figure, not the police officer, said the town police chief, Zeeshan Asghar, in a phone interview. Mr. Ludhianvi recently entered electoral politics, and though he has said he renounced violence, critics of his group say he has continued to whip up anti-Shiite sentiment. A few days later, one of his associates lodged a formal blasphemy complaint against the 68 lawyers. Eight of the lawyers were named in the police report, but the other 60 were unidentified, a common practice in Pakistan aimed at giving leverage to the complainants. "Call it our bad luck," said Mr. Asghar, referring to the presence of Mr. Ludhianvi during the protest. Muhammad Afzal Sial, president of the local bar association, insisted the lawyers had not intended any offense to Islam. "Our lawyers only named only the police officer, but certain elements tried to exploit the situation," he said in a phone interview. Blasphemy cases have become more frequent in Pakistan, often in absurd circumstances, underscoring how a law intended to protect against religious intolerance has become a tool of bigotry. That also makes it a minefield for judges, journalists, police officers and lawyers, for whom one wrong step can have life-threatening consequences. In 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minorities, were shot dead in separate attacks after advocating changes to the law. Such killings have created a tinderbox atmosphere in parts of the country with a history of sectarian problems. The Jhang police chief, Mr. Asghar, said the lawyers' protests had stirred up wider tensions in the community and at one point led to an altercation between Sunni and Shiite lawyers. He had been forced to bring the blasphemy case, he said, to restore public order. "Armed clashes could have erupted in the city otherwise," he said. The police hope to end the standoff by persuading Mr. Ludhianvi to withdraw his complaint. In Multan, police officials reported no progress in the case of Mr. Rehman, who was shot several times by unidentified gunmen who broke into his office on May 7. At the time, Mr. Rehman was the lead defense lawyer in a blasphemy case that others had rejected, fearing for their lives. Weeks before his death, Mr. Rehman publicly complained of receiving a death threat in open court from lawyers for the prosecution, but the police and judiciary did not follow up. "He did not fail anyone, everybody who mattered failed him," his uncle, I. A. Rehman, wrote in the newspaper Dawn. "What matters more now is the sight of a society that seems to have lost all sense of shame or responsibility."

On 4 June 2013, at approximately 4 p.m., Ms. X was brutally attacked in her own residence in Hyderabad. It is reported that the alleged perpetrators cut off her hands, ears and fingers, gouged both of her eyes and robbed valuable jewelry. She was later found in her apartment by a family member, Mr. Z, who brought her to a civil hospital where she soon died as a result of her injuries. Ms. X was a human rights defender working for women's rights with a local non-governmental organization, named Social Welfare Organization, which provided social services in Tando Jam. It is reported that Ms. X recently conducted activities to raise awareness on the case of the murder of a Hindu man in the Gulashan Hali police station, who allegedly died as a result of severe injuries sustained while he was being tortured by the local police. According to reports, Ms. Y, the younger sister of Ms. X, and a family member, Mr. Z, held a protest in front of the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police of Hyderabad. They allegedly placed the body of Ms. X on the ground and urged authorities to identify and detain those responsible for her killing. It is reported that a Station House Officer threatened them with arrest should they continue with the protest and urged them to remove the body from the road. Ms. Y's intention was for the police to file a First Information Report (FIR). She carried evidence materials, including pictures and video clips that she recorded at the scene of the alleged murder of her sister. On 5 June 2013, it is reported that a police officer received 3,300 Rupees from Ms. Akhter's family to lodge a FIR against two accused men, including a police officer. The FIR, which received a code number 44/2013, was registered under sections 302, 380 and 34 of the Penal Code. It is alleged that an internal inquiry was launched which exonerated the accused based on fabricated grounds, as prosecution witnesses denied the murder. As a result, Hyderabad police refrained from launching an investigation into the killing of Ms. X. According to reports received, both Ms. Y and Mr. Z received death threats for pursuing the case of Ms. X. Mr. Z allegedly challenged the police inquiry denying the murder. His case is currently being considered by a civil judge and judicial Magistrate in Hyderabad (number 8). Moreover, on 29 June 2013, at around 11:30 a.m., Ms.Y was fatally killed by three armed men. She was shot as she and Mr. Z returned from a court hearing for the petition to demand an inquiry into the murder of Ms. X. Allegedly, Ms. Y was dragged out of her rickshaw as they approached the vegetable market at Sabzi Mandi, and was shot at close range. While the assailants left the area, Ms. Y managed to stand up despite her injuries. One of the men, who allegedly had been involved in the murder of her sister,reportedly went back to the scene and shot eight bullets into the body of Ms. Y. Ms. Y died immediately. Mr. Z reportedly managed to survive the attack despite being shot at by the assailants. It is also reported that another family member, Mr. Q, took the body of Ms. Y and placed it in front of the Office of the Senior Superintendent of Police in Hyderabad . He held a protest demanding justice and the arrest of those responsible for the murder of Ms.Y. Mr. R managed to make the police file a FIR and received a permission to carry out anautopsy. It is reported that Mr. R is also receiving death threats for pursuing the case of Ms. Y.

On 25 February 2013, the Home Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, upon reception of a letter from the Home Department of Gilgit-Baltistan, issued an order to deputy commissioners and police officers of various districts to put a halt to all activities of AGHE-Pakistan. In this letter, the Home Department informed that AGHE-Pakistan was no longer a registered NGO, and that a "No Objection Certificate' was required from both the economic division and the Government of Gilgit in order for the NGO to continue its activities. AGHE-Pakistan was reportedly never informed of this decision, which is believed to have been taken due to pressure from religious extremist groups, who previously made threats to members of the NGO to compel them to stop working on women's rights and girls' education. AGHE-Pakistan has reportedly been the target of a defamation campaign by sectarian and fundamentalist groups which publicly labeled the NGO as a foreign organization which "implements the agenda of Western countries". Furthermore, it is reported that a number of governmental agencies exerted pressure on the organization to stop its project called "Citizens' Voice for Effective Legislative Governance", funded by USAID, as well as some other activities partially funded by USAID and the Aurat Foundation's Gender Equity Program.

Classified documents given to the Post by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden reveal that "US spy agencies for years reported that senior Pakistani military and intelligence leaders were orchestrating a wave of extrajudicial killings of terrorism suspects and other militants". Other US intelligence documents indicate that Pakistani officials weren't targeting just suspected insurgents, the daily said. "In May 2012, US intelligence agencies discovered evidence of Pakistani officers plotting to 'eliminate' a prominent human rights activist, Asma Jahangir," the Post said citing the summary of a top secret Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) report. The DIA report did not identify which officers were plotting to kill Jahangir, who had been a leading critic of the ISI for years, the Post said. But it said the plan "included either tasking militants to kill her in India or tasking militants or criminals to kill her in Pakistan". The US agency said it did not know whether the ISI had given approval for the plot to proceed. Although the report speculated that the ISI was motivated to kill Jahangir, "to quiet public criticism of the military", the DIA, according to the Post, noted that such a plot "would result in international and domestic backlash as ISI is already under significant criticism for intimidation and extra-judicial killings". "News of the alleged plot became public a few weeks later when Jahangir gave a round of interviews to journalists, revealing that she had learned that Pakistani intelligence officials had marked her for death. The plot was never carried out," the Post said.

The central character who exposed the 2012 Kohistan video scandal, first to the media and then the court, was killed in Abbottabad on Wednesday evening, police said. Afzal Kohistani, was shot dead in the densely populated area of Sarban Chowk at around 8:10pm by unidentified gunmen who managed to flee afterwards. According to witnesses, Afzal was shot multiple times and died on the spot. Three passers-by were also injured and were taken to the Ayub Medical Complex Hospital. They were identified as Kaleemullah, Said Karam, and Sabir. Afzal's body, meanwhile, was taken to DHQ Hospital where an autopsy was conducted. Abbottabad District Police Officer Abbas Majeed Marwat and Superintendent of Police Investigation Aziz Afridi reached the spot with a heavy contingent of police and started an investigation into the killing. According to Station House Officer Ghafoor, of the Cantt police station, Afzal was accompanied by his nephew at the time of the incident. The nephew shot back at the gunmen and remained unhurt. The scandal The Kohistan video scandal made headlines in 2012 when eight boys and girls were killed by members of their tribe after a mobile phone video of them at a wedding in a remote village in Kohistan emerged on social media. The video showed five females singing and clapping along as the male family members danced. The mixed gathering had taken place in a village located in an extremely conservative part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the eyes of the locals, the youngsters had violated tribal norms and brought dishonour upon them. After the video was leaked, a jirga was held by the girls' tribe which decreed the killing of the boys and girls under "riwaj' (a tribal custom). Afzal, the brother of one of the boys in the video, was the one who made the news public, alleging that the girls had been killed on May 30, 2012, on the orders of a cleric who led a 40-50 member tribal jirga. Officials in the area, however, had claimed that the murders did not take place and the girls were alive. Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary had taken a suo motu notice of the case on June 7, 2012, and constituted a fact-finding mission on July 17 the same year to investigate the case. The commission went to Kohistan and investigated the matter, producing a report on July 20, 2017, which stated that the girls were alive. Rights activist Farzana Bari, also part of the commission, had expressed doubts at the time that the girls produced before the commission were not the same and some other burqa-clad and veiled girls were, in fact, presented. Three of Afzal's brothers named Shah Faisal, Sher Wali, and Rafiuddin were also killed inside their home on January 3, 2013, by the girls' tribesmen and a year earlier, a child was also killed due to the burning of Afzal's home. On July 31, 2018, a new case was registered at Palas police station on the Supreme Court's orders. Four suspects namely Umar Khan, Saber, Mohammad Sarfraz and Saeed were arrested. Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to killing three of the girls - Begum Jan, Sireen Jan and Bazgha - by firing, saying they had disposed of the bodies in Nala Chorh. Afzal had been of the firm view that the suspects were lying. "They killed all five girls by severe torture and are not identifying graves as it will reveal their brutality," he had said at the time. Constant threats Afzal had been receiving constant death threats, prompting the Supreme Court to direct the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to provide him security, but the orders were reportedly not followed. In January this year, while talking to media representatives in Bisham, Afzal had said that during the last court hearing he was scared as his rivals had informed their group about his arrival at the civil court in Kolai-Palas Kohistan. "After the court convicted the accused for killing the five women seen in the video on the order of a jirga, my life is under threat and I am seeking security," he had said. He had alleged that a jirga held in Palas had planned to kill him wherever he was spotted. "They think that I have defamed the honour of the people of Kohistan, and killing me is their target, but I will continue the fight against the so-called culture in which animals are more valuable than human beings," he had vowed. "I have submitted several applications to the Hazara division's regional police officer for my security, especially when I visit Kohistan and Bisham for court hearings because my family and I are receiving threats by those angered by the court decision." Afzal had warned that if anything were to happen to him, the onus would be on the Hazara police.

On March 8, International Women's Day, thousands of women in Pakistan came out and marched to show solidarity with their fellow women to push for accountability and restorative justice against violence, harassment, and injustice. The rally was called Aurat (Women) March. it was open to all and no organization or society tried to own it. The women gathered for the march under the banner of "hum Auratain" (we women), which is not an organization or group but a label which they have given to all women of Pakistan. Aurat March started last year in Karachi and spread to the whole country this year. It has emerged as a new wave of feminism in Pakistan - and with that, the march organizers have been receiving rape and death threats online. Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, is one of the organizers in Lahore. She received rape threats on Twitter in reply to one of her posts on the Aurat March. Five other women reached out to her nonprofit organization, which works for digital rights in Pakistan and runs a cyber-harassment helpline, to complain of receiving rape and death threats. Dad took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that complaints had been filed against dozens of social media accounts that were inciting violence against women marchers and organizers of Aurat March. Complaint has been filed against more than dozens of fb, Twitter and YouTube accounts who incited violence against women marchers and organisers of @AuratMarch. DG FIA has ordered Inquiry immediately. We have already identified few people behind some accounts. U know who you are. - Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) March 18, 2019 A number of established politicians, religious scholars, and actors also attacked the Aurat March, calling it against Pakistani cultural values. Minister of the National Assembly Aamir Liaquat Hussain requested that Prime Minister Imran Khan run an inquiry to discover the actual actors behind the march and their agenda. Sindh Assembly lawmaker Abdul Rashid registered a complaint with the police against the organizers of the Aurat March for promoting vulgarity. He also protested in the assembly against placards displayed at the march, demanding that the provincial government take action. A video of a well-known Islamic cleric is making the rounds on social media, in which he is visibly furious over a placard at the Aurat March. The sign read, "Mera jism meri marzi" (my body, my choice). He threatened women with rape, saying that if they claim to right to their bodies, men can also claim that right to rape women. This video has more than 67,000 views on YouTube. What Is the Aurat March? Last year, more than eight NGOs working for the rights of women in Karachi came together with a plan to organize a march on International Women's Day open to all women and transgender and non-binary people. They decided to keep their role anonymous and to not take over the march's agenda. When contacted, they said simply that the women of Karachi arranged it. This year, similar marches were held in other cities too - mainly Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi. Thousands of young girls and women came out and marched with many others to smash the patriarchal norms and demand a balanced society for all. Lawyer and women's rights activist Shumaila Hussain Shahani is one of the brains behind the Aurat March. She said that last year, when they opened the call for the march, women who had not been out in politics were very skeptical about the idea. "Many of my friends who hadn't been to a march before were skeptical about the idea of a march. But after its success, we saw excitement and an acceptance towards the women. Many women who otherwise are not seen actively taking part in political activities also joined the march this year," she said. Aurat March released a manifesto a day before Women's Day, in which they demanded economic justice, implementation of labor rights and the Sexual Harassment Against Women in the Workplace Act 2010, recognition of women's unpaid labor, and the provision of maternity leave and daycare centers to ensure women's inclusion in the labor force. The World Economic Forum ranked Pakistan as second worst in its 2018 Global Gender Gap Report, which gauges economic opportunity, education, health, and political empowerment. The manifesto also focused on climate change and how it affects women. Gender rights activists demanded access to clean drinking water and air, protection of animals and wildlife. Other demands covered nearly every aspect of social justice: recognition of women's participation in the production of food and cash crops, access to a fair justice system, equal representation of women with disabilities and transgender people, reproductive justice, access to the public, the rights of religious minorities, promotion of an anti-war agenda, and an end to police brutality and enforced disappearances. The Controversy Though the manifesto addressed very important issues women face in Pakistan, anti-march critics slammed the organizers for not focusing on the "real issues" of women and using their platform to promote nudity, vulgarity, and anti-Islamic norms in the country. The Aurat March had been making more headlines in local media for the backlash and criticism it received than for its actual purpose. Last year, two placards from the Aurat March Karachi chapter particularly attracted the ire of people on the internet. One placard read "khud khana garam kar lo!" (Heat up your own food) and other "Mera Jism, Meri Marzi" (My body, my choice). Both placards were badly criticized on every forum - mainstream media, social media, and religious gatherings. Pictures of both women with their placards were widely shared on the internet. Some social media pages also made memes on them. One of the women contacted DRF after her picture went viral and someone tracked down her identity. She had not told her family that she was going to the march. DRF reached out to Facebook and requested that the social media giant remove some of the most liked pictures on their website. While struggling with the conservative structure of Pakistani society, women seemed more prepared for the Aurat March this year. Most of the criticisms were again leveled at the placards the women brought to the march, which some found provocative. Renowned feminist poetess Kishwar Naheed also criticized some of the slogans used at a Women's Day celebration event. Naheed had written a provocative poem "Hum Gunahgar Aurtein" (We Sinful Women) that earned her fame both as a feminist and poetess. Her comments on the Aurat March left the entire feminist circle in shock. Some doctored images of Aurat March placards also went viral on social media, which the organizers consider an attempt to harass women. Shahani counts the backlash as a dent in the patriarchal structure, indicating that it is resisting. "We have gained support from the ruling party of Sindh. I do not think such petty right-wing tactics will deter the marchers. Marches will continue, our struggle for a gender-just world will continue," she said. Aurat March organizers are asking lawmakers with a pro-women approach to come and support their cause. Chairman the Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Zardari Bhutto has assured his support to them. This March, the female humor depicted through the placards has exposed the fragility of the patriarchy and kicked off a new feminist movement in Pakistan. Farida Shaheed, executive director of the non-profit organization Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Center, pointed out that the feminist movement had received the same sort of criticism in the past too. Even Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, wife of Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, was not spared from a vilification campaign by the bigoted clerics. They called her a prostitute for supporting the women's movement. "It is just the start of a new era. We need to be proactive, not reactive," she said. Tehreem Azeem is a digital media journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She reports on women rights, minority issues, blasphemy, and media censorship. She tweets @tehreemazeem

Jan was protesting against the death of Arman Loni from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan. An academician in Pakistan was arrested on Saturday after police raided his house for protesting against the death of ethnic Pashtun leader earlier this month, according to a media report. Ammar Ali Jan was arrested from his residence and taken to the Gulberg police station, the Dawn News reported. Mr. Jan was protesting against the death of Arman Loni from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan. Loni died on February 2 after baton charge by the police to disperse protesters of PTM while holding a peaceful protest against the terrorist attacks on security forces in Loralai in country's Balochistan province. In the FIR, Mr. Jan has been accused of leading a group of 100-150 people which was blocking the roads. "The gathering was blocking roads and Jan along with some others were chanting slogans against state institutions and intelligence agencies," the paper reported, quoting the FIR. Mr. Jan said that his house was raided prior to the arrest. "There is an FIR against me for participating at the protest in Liberty against the killing of Professor Arman Loni. I was taken into custody at 4 am which is when "the police raided my house," he said in a Facebook post. In April 2018, Jan was removed from the visiting faculty post at the Punjab University, for what the administration says, "failing to meet contract requirements", according to the report. It was however alleged that Mr. Jan was sacked over his political views and activism.

Loni died on February 2 after baton charge by the police to disperse protesters of PTM while holding a peaceful protest against the terrorist attacks on security forces in Loralai in country's Balochistan province. Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that a police officer struck the college teacher on the neck with a gun after stopping him as he returned from a sit-in protest in the Loralai district of Balochistan on February 2. Yet the police claim that a postmortem revealed no signs of injury. Balochistan's interior minister told RFE/RL that an "initial investigation suggests Arman Luni died of a cardiac arrest." Loni was a leader in the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), which has been holding rallies across Pakistan since the beginning of 2018 to protest against what it says are human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings by security forces in the tribal regions. Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker and a PTM founding member, said that the police singled Loni out and deliberately beat him to death because of his "association with PTM." "It was a targeted attack on him by police," he told the Reuters news agency. Context is key. Against a backdrop in which several high-profile extrajudicial killings have cast a sustained spotlight on excessive force by state authorities, the risk of tensions spiralling out of control is high. Monday's strike in several areas across Balochistan - with its widespread support from political parties across ethnic lines and sections of society including traders and lawyers - is indicative of Loni's popular standing in civil society as well as how widespread the public disaffection is. The provincial chief minister took notice of Loni's death the very next day, perhaps in recognition of these delicate sociopolitical implications. Concurrently, in the wake of a brutal attack on the DIG police complex in Loralai last week, vigilance on the part of law enforcement and the provincial government is understandably necessary. However, in question here is not only the issue of whether or not Arman Loni was indeed a victim of police brutality, but the very nature of "vigilance' being distorted by public servants to evade accountability and justify curtailing people's rights. Paranoid, overreaching measures taken in the interest of "maintaining public order' are counterproductive. Thus, statements by the provincial home minister seeking to blame those who contest the official version of events (as it currently stands) while in the same breath promising a fair investigation will hardly serve to dispel such perceptions. Loni's death demands an unbiased and transparent probe. But it also requires that the provincial and federal governments be responsive to the public's mood and work to de-escalate a potentially volatile situation.

Rights activist Gulalai Ismail was released by Islamabad police late Wednesday, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told DawnNewsTV. However, according to the senior official, 17 of the 25 Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) workers arrested a day earlier along with Gulalai for holding a protest demonstration outside the National Press Club were sent to Adiala jail after the completion of a verification process by police. The official said that the workers were sent to jail under Section 3 (1) of the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) of 1960. Under the order, the 17 will remain jailed for a period of 15 days. Gulalai, meanwhile, was released by Islamabad police, DC Shafqaat confirmed. Earlier in the day, Gulalai's father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, told Dawn.com that his daughter had been arrested on Tuesday. According to Professor Ismail, the activist was picked up from outside the National Press Club in Islamabad while she took part in a protest against the controversial death of PTM leader Arman Loni in Balochistan on Saturday. Police had initially shifted Gulalai to the G9 Women's Police Station, Ismail told Dawn.com. According to Gulalai's father, she was shifted to an unknown location a few hours after the arrest. "We are trying to trace her whereabouts but the police is not ready to share Gulalai's location," he had said, adding that so far no First Information Report (FIR) of the arrest had been registered at the time. In October last year, Gulalai had been detained by airport officials in Islamabad following her return from London. She was later released on bail but her passport was withheld by airport officials. The detention had been in connection with an FIR that Swabi police had registered on Aug 13, 2018 against 19 PTM leaders, including Gulalai, for their involvement in a public gathering in Swabi where PTM's Manzoor Pashteen and Gulalai both addressed the crowd. PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework. Gulalai, a Pashtun and women's rights activist, was in 2017 awarded the 'Reach all Women in War' Anna Politovskaya Award. She co-founded a non-governmental organisation, Aware Girls, with sister Saba Ismail in 2002. The organisation aims to strengthen the leadership skills of young people, especially women and girls, enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peace building. 'Immediate and unconditional' release In a statement shared on Twitter, Amnesty International South Asia called on Pakistani authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release PTM protesters. The rights group called on Pakistani authorities to "disclose the whereabouts" of Ismail who they said, "may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance". They also called on the authorities to investigate the "killing" of Loni.

A prominent Pashtun rights activist has been presented in a Pakistani court after being arrested on charges of rioting and inciting hatred at a protest demonstration, rights activists say. Alamzeb Mehsud, 26, was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on Monday evening, video footage taken by activists from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) showed. Mehsud's vehicle was intercepted by police on a busy thoroughfare, with armed police officers forcing him to disembark and be taken into custody, the footage showed. An unidentified man, wearing plain clothes, was seen waving a pistol at Mehsud in the footage. "He was presented in court today[Tuesday] and the court has ordered he be kept in police custody for four days," said Mohsin Dawar, a PTM leader and member of parliament. Since early 2018, the PTM has organised dozens of mass protests against rights abuses allegedly committed by the Pakistani military in its war against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its allies. READ MORE Pakistan's Pashtuns get rights, will it lead to peace? The country has been battling the Pakistan Taliban, an umbrella organisation of armed groups targeting the state and aiming to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law, since 2007. A series of military operations since 2014 has seen the group displaced from its erstwhile headquarters in the country's northwest and pushed into neighbouring Afghanistan. Violence has dropped drastically, although sporadic large casualty attacks targeting civilians and security forces still occur. The PTM and other rights groups allege the military has carried out a campaign of thousands of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings as part of its war against the TTP. Mehsud, a founding member of the group, has been instrumental in gathering data on missing persons and victims of landmines in the northwest tribal districts, where the military's fight was focussed. On Tuesday, images from his court appearance showed Mehsud in handcuffs, his face hooded. He has been charged under anti-terrorism laws with inciting a riot, defamation and "promoting enmity between different groups", according to the police report filed on his arrest. On the weekend, Mehsud had addressed a PTM-organised rally of hundreds of protesters in Karachi, repeating the group's calls for justice to be done for victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The police report named him and 15 others, including Ali Wazir, a PTM leader who is also a member of parliament, in the case. Amnesty International, a UK-based rights organisation, said it was "concerned" after news of the arrest broke. We are concerned about reports of the disappearance of PTM activist Alamzeb Mehsud. His whereabouts must be disclosed immediately. Either produce him in court or release him without delay. - Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) January 21, 2019 "Freedom of peaceful assembly must be protected. Activists must never be attacked," the group said in a tweet. The PTM has been subject to widespread repression since it launched its movement last year, with leaders regularly named in treason and rioting cases, and coverage of its rallies all but blacked out on local news media. Dawar, the member of parliament, said the group was undeterred by the government's actions against them. "If they think that[police cases] and arrests will stop the PTM, they are mistaken," he told Al Jazeera. "They can put as much pressure as they want, we will stick to our demands."

Younis Iqbal is the founder and chairman of Anjuman Muzareen Punjab (AMP), a long-standing movement that seeks to protect the land rights and welfare of landless peasants and small farmers in Pakistan's Punjab province. Such disadvantaged communities have been tilling the land for centuries, but recent decades have seen the land being transferred to the military. AMP, which started out in 2000 by lobbying against unfair sharecropping arrangements, has been engaging with the provincial government over land ownership rights. On 16 April 2018, Pakistani land rights defender Younis Iqbal was officially arrested after being in illegal detention for four days.\tOn 12 April 2018, Younis Iqbal was taken away by six plainclothes policemen as he tried to enter the Anti-Terrorism Court for his trial in the city of Sahiwal in Okara. He had been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 in April 2016 for having protested the illegal detention of farmers in Okara district. The human rights defender was taken to an unknown location where he was kept in illegal detention for four days before officially being arrested on 16 April. On the same day, Younis Iqbal's father was threatened when he went to the police station to inquire about his son's whereabouts. The following day, the family filed a petition in the Sessions Court of Okara district against the short-term enforced disappearance of the human rights defender. On 16 April, Younis Iqbal was officially arrested and has been remanded in custody for fifteen days. He was arrested under multiple sections of Pakistan Penal Code, Maintenance of Public Order Punjab (MPO Act, 1960), and Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, which include the trumped-up charges of "attempted murder, obstructing a public servant in carrying out their duties, rioting while in possession of a deadly weapon".

The raid was carried out by dozens of armed plainclothes police who arrived at this prestigious Pakistani press institution at around 10:30 p.m., stormed inside and proceeded to search all the rooms, including meeting rooms, kitchens and the sports room. According to a Karachi Press Club statement, the police harassed the journalists and club officials who were present, and took photos and shot video footage throughout their search without asking permission. "It is absolutely intolerable that police officers should act in a completely illegal manner like this in order to intimidate journalists," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "We urge the Sindh province authorities to investigate this violation of what is a highly symbolic place for press freedom and to punish those responsible. Respect for the rule of law in Pakistan is at stake." Witnesses said the plainclothes gunmen arrived in at least six double-cabin vehicles, a police truck and other vehicles. When the club's president requested an explanation, an officer claimed not to know that it was the press club and said they had come to arrest individuals who were wanted by the authorities. "The police tried to give the appearance of something simple but the story is much bigger," RSF was told by a senior club member on condition of anonymity. "You can't believe that the police officers who carried out this raid did not know where they were. There was a conspiracy." Karachi's journalists met this afternoon to protest against the raid. Founded in 1958 and with around a thousand members, the Karachi Press Club is a place where journalists meet to defend their profession, condemn press freedom violations and violations of human rights in general, and to stage protests. Pakistan is ranked 139th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

A senior journalist was allegedly taken away by law enforcement agencies from his home in Karachi on Saturday, according to media organisations. Nasrullah Khan Chaudhry, a senior journalist associated with Urdu-language daily Nai Baat, was "detained' by security personnel following a raid on his residence on Saturday morning. His whereabouts are not known, said a statement issued by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ-Dastoor). An emergency meeting of PFUJ (Dastoor) was held at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Saturday under the chairmanship of its secretary general, Sohail Afzal Khan, and was attended by KPC office-bearers and senior journalists. The participants expressed their concern over "illegal detention" of Chaudhry and termed it an attack on media freedoms. The participants were of the view that the detention of the senior journalist was aimed at "sabotaging" the ongoing country-wide protest against the "forcible intrusion and harassment" of journalists by law enforcers at the KPC premises on Thursday night. "High-handed tactics are being used to harass the journalists who were protesting against the intrusion by armed personnel and violation of sanctity of the KPC two days ago," the statement said. The PFUJ has urged the Sindh governor, chief minister, Corps Commander Karachi, director general of Sindh Rangers and the inspector general of Sindh Police to take notice of the harassment of journalists and efforts to undermine freedom of the press. It has also demanded that Chaudhry be released immediately. Journalists bodies have announced a protest against Chaudhry's 'detention' on Sunday outside the KPC.

Social network Twitter has warned two Pakistani rights activists against objectionable content, they said on Monday, a move that signals a continuing push by the South Asian nation to rein in free speech online. The warnings come a week after Twitter suspended the account of an ultraright Pakistani cleric who issued threats against the government and judiciary over the acquittal of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. "Warnings sent out by Twitter are an example of how online spaces are being regulated and are shrinking for internet users voicing their opinions," said Pakistani lawyer and internet activist Nighat Dad. In recent e-mails, Twitter told activist Taha Siddiqui it had received complaints that his account was in "violation of Pakistani law", he said, and it added that further action could be taken, but did not specify what. "Pakistani authorities ... are pressuring Twitter to take "legal' steps against me," said Siddiqui, a correspondent for France 24 television, who fled Pakistan in 2018, told Reuters. "Twitter should stop becoming a facilitator of repressive regimes." Twitter's Asia-Pacific representative had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. Pakistan's information minister, Fawwad Chaudhry, said his office was "trying to establish close co-ordination" with Twitter to curb "hate speech and death threats", but did not directly respond to questions on the case of Siddiqui, and another activist who received two warnings, Gul Bukhari. Bukhari, who was briefly abducted in July from a military cantonment in the eastern city of Lahore, said one of her e-mail warnings from Twitter referred to a tweet that criticised the government's lack of action against a prominent cleric. The cleric, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, had his account blocked last week after he threatened the Supreme Court judges who acquitted Asia Bibi and urged their cooks and servants to kill them. In a reply to Twitter, Bukhari said Rizvi's speeches violated the law because he was inciting violence against state officials. "In my tweet I am asking[the] government to take action against him. In which world is that illegal?" she wrote. Siddiqui, who left Pakistan after a failed abduction attempt he blames on the powerful military over his frequent social media criticism, now lives in France and says he believes the complaint to Twitter came from his home country.

Social activist Aadii Roy who is well-known for his bold stance on injustices in society as well as government and military actions on Friday shared that he had been threatened for exercising free speech. He made the revelation on social media website Twitter where he disclosed that someone had tried to intimidate him using the names of his family members. There is nothing important than family for us,i have been threatened again taking my siblings names.May Allah protect us. - (@Aadiiroy) October 17, 2018 Many notable personalities from the journalist community including Gul Bukhari condemned the action. Threats to #AadiRoy & family are despicable - Gul Bukhari (@GulBukhari) October 18, 2018 Stay strong man; the bullying seems to be because of your outspokenness. In solidarity!#AadiRoy #Pakistan https://t.co/BLaSvphsCO - Mohammad Taqi (@mazdaki) October 18, 2018 Social Media Advisor Faisal Ranjha also came out in support of Aadii Roy, mentioning his own story of being in a similar situation. Hi @Aadiiroy we all are with you, once I received a call and my sons name was used to threaten me .. Irony is the guy didn't had clue about me and my credentials yet they threatened me .. They don't care hopefully PMLN take care of their Family! @MaryamNSharif - Faisal Ranjha (@ranjha001) October 19, 2018 Members of the public offered their support too. If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. #AadiRoy - Humaira B. Minhas (@humairabadar) October 18, 2018 Earlier on Wednesday, senior journalist Matiullah Jan, who has been critical of the government and the establishment's interference in the political affairs was asked to tender in his resignation within 24 hours. His social media account was accused of spreading "negative propaganda' against state institutions. Furthermore, Pakistani impressionist and comedian Syed Shafaat Ali, who is known for his impressions of Pakistani public figures, tweeted that an advertisement he had appeared in had been taken off air as part of media censorship by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).

ISLAMABAD: Lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook, who fought the case of Asia Bibi, left the country on Saturday owing to threats to his life. Mulook's latest victory saw the acquittal of Bibi, a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy. The Supreme Court on October 31 ordered Bibi's immediate release stating that blasphemy charges could not be proven against her. Following the apex court's decision, religious parties staged protests in major cities across the country and incited violence against the lawyer as well as the judges. Ahead of boarding a plane to Europe early Saturday morning, Mulook spoke to AFP and said, "In the current scenario, it's not possible for me to live in Pakistan." "I need to stay alive as I still have to fight the legal battle for Asia Bibi," he said. When asked about the protests following the decision, Mulook said it was "unfortunate but not unexpected". Regarding an agreement between the government and the protesters led by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), after which demonstrations across the country ended, Mulook said, "What's painful is the response of the government. They cannot even implement an order of the country's highest court." He added that "the struggle for justice must continue". "Her life would be more or less the same, either inside a prison or in solitary confinement for security fears" until a decision on the appeal, he further said. The agreement signed by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri and Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat and Pir Mohammad Afzal Qadri and Mohammad Waheed Noor from the TLP stated that the government will not object to a review petition over Bibi's acquittal. Due process will be followed immediately to include the name of Asia Bibi in the Exit Control List (ECL), it was further agreed.

Pashtun human rights activist and founder of Seeds of Peace network Gulalai Ismail was arrested at Islamabad Airport on October 12, when she arrived on a flight from London. Upon her arrival, she was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and interrogated for eight hours. She was informed that her name is on the Exit Control List which restricts her to travel abroad. She was released on the same day, following immense social media pressure by progressive parties, feminist collectives and other groups. The Pashtuns are an ethnic minority group who mostly live in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Discrimination and violence are constant threats for Pashtuns, half a million of whom have been internally displaced due to the conflict between the army and the Taliban militant group. In 2016, Pashtuns were given official clearance to return to their home in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, but landmines planted there prevent many from making a safe return. The Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement, known as PTM for short, has become a rallying point for thousands to speak up about these injustices. Gulalai is an active member of the movement. Gulalai was one of 19 people named in a police complaint report for organizing and speaking at a PTM rally in the northwest town of Swabi, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan on 12 August. The charges against PTM activists include "unlawful assembly", "punishment for rioting" and "punishment for wrongful restraint". Rafiullah Kakar, Pashtun public policy consultant tweeted:While Gulalai has been released, 9 activists are still under arrest for helping organise a PTM gathering in Swabi. One of them is Faiz Mohd Kaka. He is 85 years old nd one of the few living members of Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek. Shame! Gulalai issued an audio statement via WhatsApp stating that she was arrested for "raising a voice for civil rights and peace-building" and "participating in PTM Jalsa (gathering) in Swabi (her hometown)". In her statement she said: This is an example of how the state is shrinking space for civil society organizations. Space is shrinking and closing out spaces for civic voices, voices who are raising for peace. We are speaking for peace-building...This is not an attack on Gulalali Ismail, or PTM. This is an attack on civic freedoms. This is an attack on our liberty to speak out. This is an attack on our freedom of speech." The news of Gulalai's arrest spread like wildfire on social media. There were tweets and messages of solidarity with her by progressive groups within the country and abroad. @Gulalai_Ismail released after investigation by FIA for around 8 hours. Aftr her release talking to @24NewsHD. #ReleaseGulalaiIsmail @gabeeno @GulBukhari @marvisirmed @mjdawar pic.twitter.com/a2nZ4EoAtp - Gohar Mehsud (@tribaljournlist) October 12, 2018 Our friends and colleagues from Women Democratic Front, Awami Workers Party and PTM had a campaign for my release on social media. Because it was brutal to confiscate a citizen's passport for raising her voice for rights. But today is the day that shows it's a day of people's power - the youth and workers built pressure...that the (authorities) can't detain their workers... they built it through social media and also by coming to the FIA office. Tooba Syed, lecturer of gender studies and Information Secretary of Women Democratic Front tweeted: Gulalai ismail has been released. Congratulations everyone! pic.twitter.com/c3g3kUKHNc - Tooba Syed (@Tooba_Sd) October 12, 2018 While she was still being held at the airport, Amnesty international issued a statement saying that Pakistan must immediately and unconditionally release Gulalai Ismail. "Instead of trying to silence human rights defenders, the new government must work to create a safe and enabling environment for those who raise their voices for justice," said Rabia Mehmood, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International. @Rabail26 #PTM #Pakistan #ReleaseGulalai - Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) October 12, 2018 Women Democratic Forum, a Pakistani based leftist feminist political collective of women also issued a message of solidarity with Gulalai. We strongly condemn the detention of @Gulalai_Ismail a member of WDF KP & known feminist activist by FIA. We have information that she's being handed over to Swabi police in the Swabi PTM jalsa FIR. We demand immediate release of Gulalai #ReleaseGulalaiIsmail #DaSangaAzadiDa - Women Democratic Front (@wdf_pk) October 12, 2018 Bushra Gohar, former Member of National Assembly and vice president of Awami national party tweeted: Shocked to hear #Gulalai_Ismail has been arrested by the #PuppetGovernment for raising a voice for #Pashtun rights. Strongly condemn the cowardly act & demand an immediate release. #HumanRights activists face serious threats in #Pakistan #ReleaseGulalaeIsmail - Bushra Gohar (@BushraGohar) October 12, 2018 Following Gulalai's release, Amnesty International's South Asia researcher Rabia Mehmood tweeted: Relieved to know that @Gulalai_Ismail is released on her own recognizance in #PTM Swabi Jalsa case. But her name is still on Exit Control List & passport confiscated by FIA. Pak authorities must end this continuous intimidation of #humanrighstdefenders. https://t.co/rrYV8s5cF0 - Rabia Mehmood - ????? (@Rabail26) October 12, 2018 Gulalai says she will petition to the high court to have her name removed from the Exit Control List and to reclaim her travel documents.

Pakistani human rights groups and unions for media workers have denounced a court order for the arrest of a correspondent at Dawn English-language newspaper following an interview critical of the country's powerful military. #IStandWithCyril was trending on Twitter on September 25 with colleagues and politicians criticizing a decision by the Lahore High Court in Punjab Province the previous day to issue an arrest warrant for Cyril Almeida. The court also ordered authorities to bring the journalist before judges on October 8 at the next hearing of a case seeking action against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif faces treason charges for allegedly trying to defame Pakistan's state institutions in the interview published in May during which he alleged the army was backing militants who carried out the deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was "greatly perturbed" by the issuance of the arrest warrants against Almeida, who it described as a "widely read and highly respected journalist." Almeida is being "hounded for nothing more than doing his job -- speaking on the record to a political figure and reporting the facts," a statement said. Placing the journalist on Pakistan's list of individuals who cannot fly out of the country and issuing a nonbailable warrant is an "excessive measure," it also said. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists called the court order another attack on freedom of media and vowed to protest against the move. "This is unacceptable...How can reporting facts be a crime?" the union's head, Afzal Butt, said. The distribution of Dawn, Pakistan's oldest newspaper, was disrupted across most of the country in May, days after Dawn published the interview with Sharif. Almeida was barred from leaving the country in 2016 shortly after he wrote an article about a rift between the government and the military. The government lifted the order weeks later. In a new report published earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the climate for press freedom in Pakistan was deteriorating as the country's army "quietly, but effectively" restricts reporting through "intimidation" and other means. The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan 139th out of the 180 countries in its 2018 Press Freedom index

BADIN: Several growers were injured in police action during their protest in the Peero Lashari area on Tuesday against an acute shortage of irrigation water. The police moved into action during the course of their sit-in, on the nearby section of the National Highway, which had suspended flow of intercity traffic. Talhar police later registered an FIR against 50 people, including leaders of various associations of growers, and arrested two of them, Mir Zeeshan Talpur and Jamal Nizamani. ASI Ali Ahmed Shah registered the FIR under sections 324, 506/2, 147, 148, 341 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of the state. Dada Bagh Ali Talpur, Ghulam Rasool Talpur, Imtiaz Ahmed Talpur and other leaders held a press conference after the protest was quelled. They strongly condemned the police action and noted that it was for the first time that a protest by growers for water was quelled this way and participants were booked and arrested. They claimed that a strong contingent of police suddenly attacked the peaceful protesters and ruthlessly beat them up which was highly condemnable. Pir Fayyaz Shah Rashdi of the Sindh Abadgar Associa�_tion also condemned the police action. The leaders demanded immediate release of the arrested protesters and quashment of the FIR. Speaking to this reporter by phone, some of the leaders said that the purpose of today's demonstration was to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the unfair distribution of water through Mir Wah (canal). They said that paddy/rice cultivation in the area had already been delayed by more than two months and growers of the canal's tail-end areas in Badin district were giving up all hopes for farming in this season. They said small growers of the entire district fear a huge loss in terms of their income from farming due to water shortage. DADU: Abadgars of the tail-end areas of Rice Canal took out a protest rally in Mehar town on Tuesday against alleged theft of water by big and influential landowners. They held a demonstration in front of the office of the Rice Canal executive engineer and raised slogans for fair distribution of water. Their leaders, Mohib Thebo, Wali Moh�_am�_med Bhatti and others alleged that the unscrupulous landowners were stealing their share of water in connivance with the local irrigation employees from the head of the canal. This was ultimately curtailing the flow of water to other areas while the tail-end areas did not receive any. They claimed that an estimated 200 or so watercourses and modules were tampered with along the canal affecting over 3,000 small growers (abadgars) of Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah talukas. SUKKUR: Abadgars belonging to Lakhi taluka of Shikarpur district held a protest demonstration and sit-in outside the office of the Guddu Barrage chief engineer on Tuesday. Their leaders, Abdul Rauf, Mohammed Yousuf, Moham�_med Sualeh, Hizbullah and others spoke to them. They said that water meant for the growers of RD-24, RD-22 and other watercourses in the taluka was being taken away by big landowners, and alleged that the local irrigation officials were selling water to them. They said the paddy crop on more than 3,000 acres had been destroyed owing to unavailability of water to the abadgars, who largely belonged to the Shar community. The abadgars were left to starve, they said, adding that they would not be able to even clear the heavy loans obtained to cultivate their lands.

The family of a rights activist known for her criticism of Pakistan's military says their home in Islamabad was broken into and ransacked, and that two laptops and travel documents were taken. The break-in happened while the family was away on vacation. Activist and journalist Marvi Sirmed's husband says she learned about the incident upon returning home on Thursday. The husband, Sirmed Manzoor, says no other valuables were taken. Manzoor would not speculate who was behind the break-in but Sirmed has been on the radar of the country's intelligence service for promoting friendly ties with neighboring India. She has also been vocal in her criticism of militant groups. The incident raises concerns it's part of heavy handed crackdown by the military and the secret service on rights defenders and journalists.

Islamabad police have rounded up a number of Pashtun activists, mostly belonging to Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), for holding an anti-Taliban protest this week. The protesters were gathered outside the National Press Club on the call of PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai who had called upon party workers to hold protest in solidarity with Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) after it came under attack from pro-government Aman Committee in North Waziristan, which PTM calls "pro-government militia/ good Taliban". According to an activist, who was part of the protest, the police scuttled the demonstration at the outset by detaining three members who reached there before time. After them, two more were detained and that was the end of it, he claimed. The police claim the protesters raised "anti-army" slogans and disrupted the public order by blocking a road and instigating people. As news of arrest started making rounds on social media, would-be protesters dispersed before even reaching the venue, but police raided parks and nearby eateries to detain many more-37 in total, claimed the activist. The arrested demonstrators include students, PhD scholars, and medical doctors, he told Pakistan Today. However, police's version turned out to be different. According to a police official, all protesters were detained from outside the press club for chanting "anti-state slogans" against state institutions. He said the accused were booked on "sedition charges" on the directives of city magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio. He, however, hung up phone, saying he will talk after Iftar. But Pakistan Today couldn't reach him after Iftar despite multiple attempts. The protesters were booked under sections 341, 505A, 505B, 353, 504, 109, 186, 147, 149, 124A, 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code after they refused to comply with police's directives, the FIR, which lists 28 arrests, states. These demonstrators are being held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after they were sent on a judicial remand. However, the activist, who seeks anonymity, claimed that they were not even presented before the magistrate; in fact, the magistrate even didn't bother to attend to them. "The PTM activists were brought to F8 Kacheri in Islamabad. But instead of being presented to the magistrate they were made to sit in a prison van for three hours while the temperature was near 40C. After which they were taken to Adiala jail directly," wrote a Twitter user on June 6. When asked about their treatment at the jail, the activist said they were not allowed to meet the detained activists. "We waited for four hours on Friday to see them, but the police refused us the meeting, saying court has barred them to meet the visitors," he said, adding the police then changed their stance and said "we cannot allow you to meet them as they still have to go through the identification parade[a process in which accused are identified by officials present on the spot]". "The demonstrators were being kept at B-Class; food is unhygienic; they are being tortured psychologically and they are not being provided with medical care either," he further said. When asked how he knew these details, he said police had allowed a few Pashtun businessmen to meet some of the demonstrators after they approached a higher authority, who then told them these details. The police are skipping the court hearing besides barring our lawyers to meet them, he stated. "More delaying tactics in the case of the young PTM activists arrested from Islamabad. Yesterday the police didn't submit its record, and today while the police brought the record the Prosecutor was missing documents," read a Thursday's tweet concerning these arrests. These arrests were conducted despite the fact that the Supreme Court had issued an order, barring police from arresting an accused without completing its investigation first. PTM and PkMAP have given calls for protests in solidarity with the detained activists. In a video message on Friday, Manzoor Pashteen warned that they will be forced to go to the United Nations if they are being "arrested, tortured and killed".

Broadcast journalist Asad Kharal was beaten by masked men in Lahore on Tuesday, police said. SP Bilal Zaffar Cantonment Division confirmed the attack on Bol TV anchor Kharal, whose car was intercepted by masked men who physically assaulted him. Kharal was then taken to Services Hospital to be treated for his injuries. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday took suo motu notice of the incident, asking the inspector general (IG) Punjab to submit a report on the incident within 24 hours. Earlier, journalists from various media outlets all over Pakistan condemned the attack on Kharal. Hamid Mir, a senior journalist, tweeted: "You can differ with the views of a journalist and you can even criticise him, but no one has the right to attack any journalist or peaceful citizen. This attack on Asad Kharal is condemnable. The injuries on the body of Kharal are reflecting the injuries of media freedom in Pakistan." Journalist and news anchor Nasim Zehra was also vocal against the attack and tweeted: "What the hell is happening? Just saw this pretty bloody attack on Asad Kharal. Totally condemnable. Catch attackers and kidnappers fast." In April, a Reporters Without Borders report said the Pakistani media was regarded as among the most vibrant in Asia but due to pressure being exerted by extremist groups and intelligence agencies it was increasingly resorting to self-censorship. In a separate incident, police confirmed that journalist and activist Gul Bukhari was abducted by unknown persons in Lahore on Tuesday night. Early on Wednesday, her family confirmed she was home and "fine".

A Pakistani journalist and rights activist who openly criticised the military and its alleged meddling in politics was freed early on Wednesday, several hours after being abducted. The journalist, Gul Bukhari, who is a dual Pakistani-British national, has been a vocal critic of Pakistan's powerful military on social media and in her articles in the run-up to a July 25 general election. he has also defended ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who clashed with the military before the Supreme Court forced him from office last year over an undeclared source of income. Bukhari was on her way to record a television programme late on Tuesday for the Waqt news programme in the city of Lahore when her vehicle was intercepted and she was taken away by unidentified men, her husband and media colleagues said. After her release, she said in a statement posted on Twitter by a family member that she was well, and she asked for privacy. "I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my friends, family, colleagues & supporters in civil society, journalism and politics across the board, for coming together in solidarity in concern for my wellbeing last night," she said. Rights groups have denounced the kidnappings of several social media activists over the past year as attempts to intimidate and silence critics of Pakistan's security establishment. Last year, five bloggers went missing for several weeks before four of them were released. All four fled abroad and at least two afterwards told media that they were tortured by a state intelligence agency during their disappearance. The military has staunchly denied playing a role in any enforced disappearances, as has the civilian government. The military did not respond to a request for comment on Bukhari's case. The British High Commission in Islamabad said in a message on Twitter it was offering Bukhari consular assistance. "We are very concerned at reports of Gul Bukhari's abduction last night," it said. Earlier, Muhammad Gulsher, a producer for the Waqt news programme where Bukhari appears as a guest, told Reuters that she had been abducted when a group of pick-up trucks stopped her vehicle and men in plain clothes dragged her away while other men in "army uniforms" stood guard. "They put a black mask on her face and took her," he said, adding that he was basing his information on an account from Bukhari's driver. The abduction drew widespread outrage on social media with many activists swiftly pointing the finger at the military, calling it part of efforts to stifle dissent. "If true, this would be a most audacious attempt to silence a known critic. Is this Pakistan or Kim's North Korea or Sisi's Egypt?" tweeted Syed Talat Hussain, a prominent journalist. Media organisations have complained of growing censorship by the military establishment in the run-up to the July election.

Human rights activist and minority leader are just some of the accolades Charanjit Singh received for his exceptional work in minority rights in Pakistan. Singh was gunned down in his shop in Scheme Chowk area, Peshawar on Tuesday. Singh's family hails from the Kurram tribal region but later migrated to Peshawar like most of the Sikhs in the country. Singh owned a store in the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province for a long time. The Superintendent of Police, Saddar Shaukat Khan told the local media that Singh died on spot. He further added, "an attacker shot Singh inside his shop and escaped". The murder has caused a significant amount of anxiety within the minority community in Pakistan. Most Sikhs in the country live in Mohalla Jogan Shah where an old Gurudwara is located. Charanjit Singh was known to be a strong voice for religious harmony. He recently organized an Iftar party for the locals. It was his strong criticism of Taliban and their policies are what might have caused this death according to some. In recent years, the number of targeted killing ok Sikhs has been on the rise, especially from militant groups like Taliban who force minorities to pay jiziya or a form of religious tax. Many members of the minority have also been kidnapped and killed.

KARACHI (Reuters) - As they were about to enter the office of the Commissioner of Karachi for a meeting to discuss a rally planned in Pakistan's largest city, leaders of a Pashtun-led rights movement were intercepted by armed men accompanied by paramilitary Rangers. "A car with men in plainclothes pulled up in front of us and men with guns got out and told us to stand still," Said Alam Mahsud, an organizer with the Pashtun Tahafaz Movement (PTM), told Reuters. He said three PTM activists with him were put in a truck and taken away by the armed men, as uniformed Rangers stood by. They returned two days later saying they had been interrogated, threatened, punched and kicked by the unidentified men, then handed over to the Rangers, who released them. PTM, which drew nearly 10,000 people to its Karachi rally on Sunday, was founded in January in protest against alleged extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and "disappearances" of young Pashtun men. Leaders of the emerging movement have blamed Pakistan's military for these abuses, in an unusually direct challenge to the country's most powerful institution. Now, PTM's activists themselves have started disappearing, according to Mohsin Dawar, one of the movement's leaders. PTM organizers again blame the powerful military, saying the movement's growing popularity in major cities, even amid a local media blackout, has left the security forces feeling threatened. The military's press wing did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations. In the past, the army has said it does not detain individuals without evidence. Officials from the paramilitary Rangers, which are part of the security forces and have broad powers in Karachi, also did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did the office of the Karachi Commissioner, who is the head of the city government. "ANTI-STATE AGENDA" In the past month, PTM says dozens of its activists have been detained across the country, while newspaper columnists have had articles on PTM rejected. Some students and academics say they have been threatened and universities forced to call off talks about Pashtun inequality. In the week leading up to the Karachi protest, PTM's leadership said Rangers and unidentified security officials detained and interrogated more than 100 of its supporters and kept nearly 30 workers in custody. "The amount they are trying to stop us, it shows they are scared," student activist Manzoor Pashteen, who has become the face of the movement, told Reuters. "I don't think they know they are our guardians, their behavior is that of criminals." Despite the apparent crackdown, the protest in Karachi drew nearly 10,000 people. Pashteen himself was stopped from boarding a flight from the capital, Islamabad, to Karachi on Saturday after the airline told him his ticket had been canceled, he said, adding it took him 40 hours to drive to the city after being stopped and detained several times while on the road. While there has been no official action against the PTM, army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa said recently that "no anti-state agenda in the garb of engineered protests" would be allowed to succeed. His comments were widely interpreted as being directed at the group. Many of Pakistan's 30 million ethnic Pashtun's hail originally from the borderlands with Afghanistan, where the Pakistani Taliban controlled swathes of territory until they were pushed out by military operations in 2009 and 2014. PTM leaders say they do not want to challenge the government or undermine security, but complain Pashtuns - many of whom have moved to the cities to escape a near-decade long insurgency by Islamist militants - are unfairly targeted and suffer abuses at the hands of security forces in the name of fighting terrorism. CAMPUS CHALLENGE In April, a week before PTM was due to stage a rally in Lahore, Habib University in Karachi and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) called off talks related to Pashtun rights organized by students and academics. On the morning of the talks, both universities received calls from security officials, including representatives of Pakistan's spy agency the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), telling them to cancel the discussions, faculty members said. "Calls were made to the administration as well as in-person visits from people who identified themselves as ISI," said a LUMS professor. "I received a call and was told to refrain from anti-military activity." Officials from the ISI did not respond to a request for comment. At Habib University, the administration received visits from security officials and a call on the morning the lecture was due to take place, three different faculty members said. Representatives from LUMS and Habib University did not respond to requests for comment. Three students who had expressed support for PTM on social media told Reuters they had received threatening calls from unknown numbers telling them to stop, adding they knew of a dozen others who had received similar calls. The same week, Punjab University professor Ammar Ali Jan said he was removed from his post for encouraging students to be vocal about human rights issues and supporting PTM. Punjab University spokesman Khurram Shahzad said Jan was dismissed because of incomplete paperwork. Pakistan's minister for state and interior affairs, Talal Chaudhry, said such actions "by unnamed forces" were part of a wider clampdown on freedom of thought in Pakistan. "We now have to listen to the people of Pakistan," Chaudhry said. "There have been very few such things in Pakistan's history where people come out on their own, to support a leaderless group," he added, referring to PTM. Relations between the army and civilian government have been increasingly strained since the removal of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the courts last year, with some ruling party insiders accusing elements of the military of trying to destabilize it ahead of a general election expected in July. The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history, denies any interference in civilian politics. CRACKDOWN IN KARACHI Mohsin Dawar arrived in Karachi on May 6 and, along with other PTM leaders, began meeting local Pashtuns to plan the weekend rally. "From the day we arrived they[the Rangers] began arresting our supporters," Dawar said. People who provided PTM with logistical support, such as a place to hold their meetings, were picked up for five to six hours and threatened, he said. "They told them not to support us; that we will leave Karachi but they have to continue living here," Dawar added. Karachi is where the killing of a young Pashtun, Naqeebullah Mehsud, by police in January sparked nationwide peaceful demonstrations about Pashtun rights, from which PTM emerged. Organizers say they attempted to contract vendors to supply chairs, a stage, and a sound system for the rally, but none of the equipment was delivered. One vendor, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters he received a call after meeting PTM members. "They said that if even one candle was delivered to the rally, my body would never be found," he said.

Islamabad police on Thursday reportedly baton-charged journalists who attempted to break a security cordon and take their "peaceful procession" towards the Parliament House through D-Chowk to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day. Police placed barbed wires on the road at the Chandni Chowk intersection in an attempt to keep the journalists' procession from moving to D-Chowk. In the wake of the current law and order situation and terror threats in the federal capital, Section 144 of the CrPc has been enacted in Islamabad, which bans large assemblies and public gatherings in the Red Zone. Police confronted the journalists when they tried to force their way by removing the barriers and make their way to D-Chowk. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar took notice of the incident and ordered that capital administration, police and the advocate general, Islamabad, to present reports explaining the incident. Meanwhile, journalists alleged that police "did not even spare female journalists and resorted to violence against them." "We were taking a peaceful procession to the parliament," Shehryar, a journalist and one of the protest leaders told the court. "Let the report be presented, we will hear this case tomorrow," Justice Nisar concluded.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani leftist youth organization said on Tuesday that nine of its members went missing in Karachi after demonstrating in support of an ethnic rights movement that has worried the country's security establishment. An organizer for the Progressive Youth Alliance said seven members were abducted after staging a pro-Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) rally in Karachi on Sunday, and another four were picked up on Tuesday after another demonstration, also in Karachi. Two of the men picked up on Tuesday have now been released, Anam Khan, organizer of the women's wing of the socialist group, told Reuters. The PTM emerged after the killing by police of Pashtun youth Naqibullah Mehsud in Karachi in January triggered nationwide condemnation and demonstrations attracting thousands. The PTM has since staged a number of protests criticizing the powerful military and its actions in majority ethnic Pashtun areas bordering Afghanistan, often attracting swarms of supporters in Pakistan's larger cities. The PTM's most recent rally on Sunday in the central city of Lahore attracted over 8,000 people despite pressure by security officials to call it off and the mysterious appearance of sewage water onto the protest grounds. Khan said four of the seven men taken on Sunday had boarded a train leaving Karachi when security officials belonging to the paramilitary Rangers arrived and identified them using videos from the protest. Rangers officials did not respond to a request for comment and Karachi police said they were not aware of the incident. On Tuesday the Youth Alliance staged a protest asking for their missing members to be released. "During our protest some men in plainclothes showed up and told us to shut it down," Khan said. "When we were walking away, four of our comrades ... were put in a car." Another activist from the organization also said the abductions had taken place. A witness from a rights advocacy group who was present at Tuesday's protest confirmed seeing the four men being abducted. While not naming PTM, Pakistan's army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa said at an April 12 meeting with dignitaries that "no anti-state agenda in the garb of engineered protests" will be allowed to succeed. A number of prominent Pakistani columnists have complained on Twitter that their articles on PTM were rejected by local newspapers without explanation.

ISLAMABAD: Armed burglars on Thursday night raided the residence of the editor of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent watchdog, which recently published its annual report on human rights in Pakistan. The commission in a statement on Friday said, "At about 8.45 PM last night (Thursday), two armed men broke into the house of Ms. Maryam Hasan, editor of HRCP's annual report, in Lahore and took away her laptop, two hard drives and two mobile phones, as well as some jewelry and cash." The 296-page HRCP report, launched on April 16 in Islamabad, had painted a bleak picture of Pakistan's human rights record, highlighting rising incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. It attributed some of the disappearances to criticism of the establishment and advocacy of better relations with India. Dedicated to HRCP's founder, Asma Jahangir, who passed away in February, the report stated that the controversial blasphemy law continues to be misused, especially against dissidents on mere accusations of blasphemy. This also leads to deadly mob violence in Pakistan, the report said. Citing attacks on Shias, Christians and Ahmedis, the report noted that religious minorities continued to be targeted in Pakistan. "In a year when freedom of thought, conscience and religion continued to be stifled, incitement to hatred and bigotry increased, and tolerance receded even further," the report said. It revealed that more Pakistani died in incidents described as "encounters" than in gun violence or suicide attacks last year. Hasan said that she suspected that the two "suave raiders were no ordinary thieves". She called on the government of Punjab to apprehend the culprits and establish their identity. She said she will hold the provincial authorities responsible for any attempt by state or non-state actors to harass any persons associated with the HRCP. They raiders told Hasan, who lives alone, that they had also come the day before but did not burgle since she was not at home. "They questioned about her professional engagements and intimidated her in a roundabout manner, finally leaving at 10 PM," the statement said.

ISLAMABAD - Television stations in Pakistan are under fire for their continued black out of peaceful rallies by an ethnic Pashtun movement against extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns, particularly those living in the volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. The Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement organized its latest rally this week in the northwestern city of Peshawar, with thousands of people in attendance, including women. The movement is being led by a 26-year-old tribesman, Manzoor Pashteen from South Waziristan, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA. Pashteen said while addressing Sunday's rally his community is calling for their constitutional "right to live without fear". He emphasized again PTM is a peaceful movement and its demands are constitutional. Participants carried portraits of relatives they claimed went missing during years of counterterrorism military operations in FATA, suspecting they were in official custody for alleged links to militants. The protesters reiterated their call for authorities to clear mines planted in their areas during security operations. The tribesmen have also been complaining of harassment of their religiously and culturally conservative families at security checkpoints and imposition of frequent curfews in FATA while hunting militants. They say an entire tribe is being collectively penalized under existing laws. News blackout While some mainstream newspapers, mainly English language dailies, prominently covered the rally in their Monday editions, dozens of news channels, official and privately-owned, gave little to no airtime to the rally. Government officials and the state-run Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority said they had nothing to do with the media blackout of PTM's rally, prompting speculations the powerful military could be behind stifling the coverage. Human rights defender Tahira Abdullah condemned the media blackout for not reporting on the rally "out of fear of the establishment." The term "establishment" is used in Pakistan for military-led security institutions. Private Dawn TV's political talk show host, Mubashir Zaidi, says the media blackout of Sunday's significantly big rally was unprecedented. "Somewhere someone powerful conveyed it to media outlets not to cover the rally or the media directors themselves decided not to air the rally for some unspecified reason," Zaidi lamented. "Whatever happened was unfortunate. It will further strengthen the belief that media is controlled," he added. Military spokespeople were not available to comment on allegations whether the institution is orchestrating the media blackout. Coverage in Afghanistan The movement has generated a lot of sympathy in neighboring Afghanistan where Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group. Active users of social media and social activists supported the PTM on their accounts. The rally received considerable coverage by all mainstream TV and radio channels. In addition to news the coverage in news bulletins, TV and radio channels like Zhwandoon and Shamshad held talk shows and broadcast recorded speeches of the PTM leadership in Peshawar. Army says security first Army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor, at a news conference just days before Sunday's protest rally, was asked to comment on demands Pashteen has been making. He said civilian and military officials in separate meetings with Pashteen have agreed and met his "immediate and genuine demands." The general added the number of security check posts in FATA and elsewhere in Pakistan has fallen, but they cannot be removed altogether. "The soldiers are deployed at these posts to protect the public, not themselves. But they will remain posted there until the threat of terrorism is eliminated," Ghafoor said. The PTM actively emerged on the national scene in January to demand justice for a 27-year-old Pashtun man, Naqeebullah Mehsud, from FATA who was killed in the southern port city of Karachi. A police officer, Rao Anwar, who allegedly ordered Mehsud's killing is currently under investigation for more than 400 extra judicial killings. Anwar denies the charges against him. Pakistan's mainstream political parties have called for engaging the PTM in a political dialogue to help address grievances of trible populations. But they have for unexplained reasons instructed their workers not join Pashteen's rallies. Observers insist that issues PTM has been raising could be tackled effectively only when regular laws of Pakistan are extended to FATA through proposed political reforms and the region's merger with the nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhaw province. FATA became the frontline in the war against terror and militancy since the United States and its allies attacked Afghanistan in 2001. Militants from al Qaida, Taliban and others took refuge there as they fled Afghanistan. Local militants known as the Pakistani Taliban also had established strongholds in the mountainous terrain. Since joining the U.S.-led military alliance, Pakistan has deployed around 200,000 troops in FATA to secure its long, but largely porous Afghan border. But the areas are still governed under British colonial era regulations, leaving the local population without access to many fundamental rights or to the country's judicial or policing systems.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Civil Lines police arrested on Wednesday District Council member Tahir Buzdar on the complaint of the Ghazi University administration. Mr Buzdar was leading a students' movement demanding appointment of a permanent vice chancellor for the university. Mr Buzdar had emerged the representative of youth in recent weeks after he had set up a students' camp to force the government to arrange a full-time vice-chancellor for the university. Police arrested him on the report of the administration of the Ghazi University. Ghazi University Registrar Shoaib Ahmed told Dawn Tahir Buzdar had been rusticated for his misconduct. He said that former student was tarnishing the image of the university and the image of vice-chancellor of the Islamia University, Bahawalpur, who holds the additional charge of Ghazi University. The university has been without a permanent vice-chancellor since its inception in June 2014. Students at a camp said their movement could not be stopped by the arrest of their leader. Civil Lines Station House Officer Shakeel Bokhari said Mr Buzdar had been already booked for disrupting the camp of some students on Oct 24, 2017 while on Wednesday police received a complaint from the administration of the Ghazi University that he was breaching the discipline of the university by forcing the students to boycott classes. HASH SEIZED: Border Military Police in Rakhi Guaj tribal area of Tuman Leghari foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge cache of hashish into Punjab from Balochsitan vthrough a car and arrested the driver on Wednesday. The police intercepted the car during necessary checking and found packets of hashish in the car. Police said they seized 60 kilograms of hashish from the car at Rakhi Guaj check post. The driver was identified as Asghar.

Registered cases against a young ethnic Pashtun rights activist for criticising the country's powerful military during the latest in a series of rallies his organisation has held across the South Asian country. Police registered cases in the western districts of Zhob and Qila Saifullah on Tuesday, accusing Manzoor Pashteen of "wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause[a] riot". If convicted Pashteen, 26, faces a maximum of five years in prison. Pashteen is one of a group of young men leading the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which has organised rallies in solidarity with a Pashtun youth who was killed by the police. The rights group gained prominence while leading a sit-in demanding justice for the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in the southern port city of Karachi in January. Mehsud had been accused by police of being a Pakistan Taliban fighter, but an inquiry after his killing in a police 'encounter' found him innocent of any links to the group. Rao Anwar, the senior police official held responsible for the youth's killing, went into hiding shortly after the inquiry, and remains wanted in the case. "The registering of this case is extremely saddening, and we cannot condemn it strongly enough," said Alam Zeb Mehsud, a PTM leader. "We have stood up for our rights. We have only spoken of what has happened to us - we have not lied, and we have never said anything unconstitutional." Pashteen and Mehsud are among a number of young activists from the northwestern district of South Waziristan who have led a movement calling for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns to be respected. They hold the state and military responsible for what they call the ethnic profiling of Pashtuns as "terrorists", and widespread rights violations in South Waziristan and elsewhere, including the collective punishment of civilians for attacks on security forces. The Pakistani military denies any wrongdoing. In a statement to Al Jazeera issued in January, responding to the PTM's allegations, the military said while it investigated the possibility of locals facilitating attacks, it did so "strictly as per[tribal] traditions". PTM leaders say they have been receiving threats from unidentified callers for years, since they first started organising their grassroots movement to protest alleged rights violations by the military. "As time passed, we lost our fear. Now we are at a stage where if we get a call from the intelligence agencies, we don't care anymore. Because we have gotten used to it. They bother us on an almost daily basis," said Muhammad Idrees, 25, a founding member of the group. Taking on the military Direct criticism of the military, which has ruled the country for roughly half of its 70 years since independence, is rare in Pakistan. Since May last year, the government has led a campaign targeting dissent against the military expressed on social media and on other online platforms. "The PTM is not an engineered movement, it has been created by the situation," said Mehsud. "It has been created by a context of killings ... we have been the victims of terrorism, and then we are accused of being terrorists to boot. We have been facing this injustice for years." PTM rallies held across the country since the Islamabad sit-in have attracted thousands of participants, although they have seen scant coverage in the country's press. At a recent rally, a local religious leader attempted to direct the young participants' anger towards the United States, signaling that armed groups such as the Pakistan Taliban were a US creation. He was met by strident criticism, and forced to step off the stage, after the crowd loudly chanted an oft heard Pakistani leftist Urdu slogan: "This terrorism, it is backed by the military!" PTM leader Mehsud denies his group is demanding "any kind of rebellion or anything against the State". "We just want the protection of our life, our property and our honour. "These three things, nothing else."

A prominent Pakistani journalist has escaped an attempt to abduct him by armed men in the capital Islamabad. Taha Siddiqui says 10-12 unidentified men beat him and threatened to kill him as he took a cab to the airport. He jumped out of the vehicle and fled. The journalist said later he was "safe with police", who are investigating. Mr Siddiqui featured in a recent BBC article about press freedom in Pakistan, one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. Speaking to the BBC in front of an Islamabad police station where he gave a statement, Mr Siddiqui looked still to be in shock, our reporter Secunder Kermani says. The buttons on his shirt had been ripped off in the struggle, and he was caked in dirt from hiding and crawling through a ditch during his escape. But he promised he would not be silenced. Mr Siddiqui was on the main Islamabad expressway to the airport to take a morning flight to London for work when a car overtook his taxi. "The car suddenly stopped right in front of me... and it just braked in the middle of the road," the award winning reporter, who has worked for the New York Times, France 24 and many other international media, told the BBC. "Four guys came out - they were all armed, they had AK-47s. One of them had a pistol." Mr Siddiqui said his would-be kidnappers dragged him from the taxi and roughed him up before taking the cab driver's keys. "I realised I was being abducted... and I started resisting," he said. "I started screaming and shouting and saying 'let me go, let me go'." Mr Siddiqui said he then realised a second car was involved in the kidnap attempt. A man from that vehicle put him in a headlock and he was forced back in the cab. "They were saying 'shoot him if he resists' - in English - and then they said 'shoot him in his leg'." The journalist said he pretended to calm down in the hope he might get a chance to escape and then noticed the door on the other side of the cab was unlocked. He opened it and jumped out, before running to the other side of the road and flagging down a passing taxi. It took him a few hundred metres along the road and then its occupants realised he was the target of the kidnap attempt and demanded he leave the vehicle. "One of them said, 'this guy is the one the military people were trying to take away'. So they pushed me out." Mr Siddiqui hid in a ditch, removed his red jumper to make himself harder to spot and after a few minutes crawled away to catch a lift with another vehicle and go to the police by a different road. His assailants took away all his belongings, including his laptop, phone and passport. He has now asked for police protection because his "life is under threat, my family's life is under threat". Asked who he thought was behind the abduction attempt, he said: "I am somebody who does not exercise self-censorship. I have been talking about them on social media - and this is basically the powerful establishment as it's called, euphemistically, in our country." Mr Siddiqui, who is known for criticising Pakistan's powerful military, is bureau chief for Indian channel World Is One News in Islamabad. He told the BBC last year he often received calls from security agencies wanting to discuss his work. But he said he would not be deterred by the kidnap attempt. "The only way to stop this happening is to continue talking about these tactics to intimidate us. So I will not go silent." Pakistan ranks 139th out of 180 countries listed on the World Press Freedom Index 2017, compiled by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) and threats to journalists are increasing. In October, another journalist, Ahmad Noorani, was severely beaten by six men wielding chains. His investigations into the Panama Papers case had unearthed embarrassing revelations about the role of the military. A year ago a number of social media activists were briefly "kidnapped" by unknown men. Fingers were pointed at the military, but the cases were never investigated by civilian authorities.

Pakistan has ordered almost 30 international non-governmental organisations to leave the country, the latest sign of a wider crackdown on human rights and civil society across south Asia. The interior ministry has in recent days written to 29 organisations, including ActionAid, Plan International and Marie Stopes, to warn them their applications to continue working in the country have been rejected and that they should leave within 60 days. None has been given a reason. The development is the latest example of Islamabad's hostility towards international NGOs, which began in 2011 after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Pakistani intelligence services�_accused Save the Children of being complicit in helping the US Central Intelligence Agency find the al-Qaeda leader - something the charity denies. The move is also part of what many view as deteriorating human rights across the region, which has seen foreign funding for NGOs cut off, activists disappear and journalists killed. "In Pakistan, India and Nepal, space is closing in which NGOs are able to operate," said Binaifer Nowrojee, head of Asia-Pacific for Open Society Foundations, one of the groups banned by Pakistan. "It comes along with a growing national pride and economic confidence in these countries. They feel that the era of being dictated to by the west is coming to an end." A doctor in Pakistan who helped track down bin Laden told investigators he had been introduced to the CIA by a senior Save the Children official. The charity said it had never employed the doctor but the organisation was thrown out of the country in 2012. Pakistan's government two years ago announced a registration regime for all international NGOs and cancelled agreements with 15 of them. However, the latest expulsions are different because many of the organisations affected are not involved in promoting human rights or good governance - activities that frequently irritate authoritarian governments. Officials at Pakistan's home ministry said some of the groups had attracted the government's attention because they operated in parts of the country where militancy was high and where Pakistan suspected western intelligence agencies also operated. One senior government official told the Financial Times that the government had also grown suspicious of the high salaries paid by some organisations, and wondered whether they were being used to fund intelligence work on behalf of foreign governments. All the charities contacted by the FT denied this was the case. The Pakistani move follows a similar push by its neighbour India to restrict NGOs that receive foreign funding. In 2015 New Delhi put the Ford Foundation on a watch list and suspended Greenpeace India's licence. This year it banned foreign funding for the Public Health Foundation of India, a group backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saying it used foreign donations to "lobby" for tobacco-control policy issues. Human rights campaigners say the moves to hamper foreign NGOs are part of a broader move against civil society across the region, which includes what campaigners say are forced disappearances of activists who upset governments. In Pakistan�_hundreds of activists have disappeared over the past few years. But while the disappearances were previously mainly limited to restive areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they now appear to be spreading into the country's big cities.�_ Raza Khan, a peace activist who has advocated a rapprochement with India, went missing from Lahore this month.�_ Similar disappearances have occurred in Bangladesh. The most recent case involves Mubashar Hasan, an assistant professor at a Dhaka university who researched terrorism.�_His friends�_say they suspect he is being held by security forces - a claim authorities deny.

A social activist has gone missing from his residence in Model Colony in the Naseerabad police area. Raza Mahmood, a convener of Aghaz-i-Dosti, a friendship initiative between the youth of India and Pakistan, went to his residence after a meeting with friends on Saturday but was never heard of after that. His mobile phone is switched off since then. Raza is also associated with Lowkey Lokai, another community initiative that brings people together for dialogues and debates on issues critical to building a peaceful society. He attended its meeting on Saturday and its details have been given on Facebook page. Raza's brother Hamid Nasir has submitted an application to Naseerabad police for an FIR but the case has not been registered yet.

Baloch Human Rights Organization's activists during a press conference in Karachi Press Club said that Baloch Human Rights Organization's Information Secretary, Nawaz Atta Baloch's home was raided by rangers and plain clothed personnel and abducted him along with 8 other minors and his relatives from Gulistan-e-Johar Karachi last night. Women were severely tortured and injured. The abductees are Nawaz Atta s/o Atta Muhammad, Abid s/o Ashraf 17, Farhad s/o Anwar 17, Sajjad s/o Yar Jan 18, Ulfat s/o Altaf, Aftab s/o Muhammad Younis, Rawat s/o Taj Muhammad, Muhammad Arif s/o Muhammad Younis and Ilyas s/o Faiz Muhammad. Nawaz Atta is a human rights activist and student of International Relations. Nawaz Baloch itself was active in the safe recovery of enforced disappeared persons but today he was abducted and among the enforced disappeared persons. Baloch Human Rights Organization is a non-political institution and is not involved in any political activity but it is sad to say that the space for human rights defenders is shrinking in Pakistan. Nawaz Atta's abduction and disappearance is not acceptable at all. We request to security forces to produce him in front of court if he has committed any crime and allow him to practice his right of defending himself instead of detaining him illegally to an unknown location. Along with Nawaz Atta, 4 other minors are also abducted which is a condemnable and non-humanitarian act. We demand recovery of all of them safely. Baloch Human Rights Organization's activists said that the aim of this press conference is to highlight this saddening incident and bring it to the knowledge of Government and human rights organizations and activists. We request to all human rights institutions, civil society's organizations and all human loving people including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asian Human Rights Commission to raise their voice against enforced disappearance of Nawaz Atta Baloch. Baloch Human Rights Organization demanded to Sindh and Federal Government to release Nawaz Atta and other abductees immediately and said that if Nawaz Atta will not be released safely than we will consider all the means of protest including demonstrations in front of Sindh Assembly and Governor House.

A sector in-charge of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Dr Naushad, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Hyderabad on Wednesday, DawnNews reported. The MQM leader, a veterinary doctor, was returning home after dropping off his children at school. Unidentified men opened fire on him when he stepped out of his car near his house on Hali Road. Residents of the area called police after spotting his body, which was subsequently shifted to Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad. Several MPAs and supporters of MQM-P reached the hospital as news spread of Dr Naushad's killing. DawnNews quoted a witness, a child, as saying that he saw three masked assailants, who were riding a motorbike, opening fire on the activist. Dr Naushad received three bullets in the chest and one in his face, police said. Dr Naushad was considered to be a close aide of MQM-P deputy convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. He was quite active in Hyderabad and looked after a sector of MQM-P. Police are investigating the incident and the reason behind the killing is yet to be determined. Earlier in September, MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan was the target of an assassination attempt in Karachi's Buffer Zone area. Hassan, who is the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, had escaped unhurt. However, four others were injured in the incident. Eight suspected militants belonging to the newly-formed Ansarul Sharia Pakistan (ASP), who were said to be involved in the attack on Khawaja Izhar, were shot dead in an "encounter' by security forces on Saturday.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and its member Bytes for All, Pakistan (B4A) express grave concern over the recent cases of systematic harassment, arrests and serial abductions of human rights defenders (HRDs) by security forces in Pakistan. HRDs in Pakistan are operating in increasingly precarious conditions. They are combating Government backed pressure tactics and unsafe work environment, fostered by general absence of the rule of law and shrinking space for dissent within the Pakistani socio-political setting. Physical and online harassment together with arbitrary detention over online expression has become a continuous repressive measure against dissenting voices. On 8 August, Partab Shivani, an activist and HRD, writer Naseer Kumbhar and a political leader of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) Mohammad Umer[1] were allegedly abducted by law-enforcement agencies. They were released in the late hours of 9 August[2]. Earlier, on 5 August, family members of the self-exiled separatist leader of the banned Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), Shafi Burfat, were abducted from their residence. On 3 August, about a dozen men in police uniform picked up Punhal Sario, the leader of the recently formed Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh from Hyderabad. These individuals are still missing and none of them were produced in any court of law[3]. Since January 2017, with abduction of four bloggers, a trend of enforced disappearances has emerged with complete impunity. An increasing climate of fear and self-censorship especially online, pervades in Pakistan. Earlier this year, the Interior Ministry ordered the Cybercrime Wing of Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) to take immediate action against any person found maligning the Pakistani Army on social media, resulting in an organised movement by law enforcement agencies to stifle any kind of online expression by way of harassing and arbitrarily detaining numerous HRDs. On 25 June, a journalist of Daily Qudrat, Zafar Achakzai was arrested by armed men from his house in Quetta. On 29 June, he was handed over to the FIA and charged under the Prevention Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) for allegedly posting "illegal material' on Facebook. Earlier, on 18 May, the Pakistan Bureau Chief for WION News, Taha Siddiqui was summoned for interrogation at the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Wing. On 23 May, the Islamabad High Court instructed the FIA not to harass Siddiqui. Despite this court order, the FIA again served a notice demanding Siddiqui's reappearance before the FIA's Counter-terrorism Wing on 26 May.[4] Since 25 May, the PECA, empowered with several censorship and surveillance enabling laws, has undermined political expression on multiple occasions using a variety of tactics. Ever since the FIA has been ordered to carry out this investigation, its cybercrime wing has allegedly been digitally surveilling individuals, scrutinising Facebook accounts, WhatsApp groups, blogs and websites conjectured to be carrying any "objectionable' content, especially that of anti-army material. The FIA publicly shared a list that included journalists and social media activists as "potential suspects'.[5] FORUM-ASIA and B4A fear that they are likely to be interrogated, harassed or detained over unverified suspected anti-army posts on social media. Around 40 people have already been questioned by the FIA, with their laptops, phones and tablets confiscated for forensic assessment.[6] The PECA empowers the authorities to censor any anti-government, anti-military or dissenting religious views on account of vague and broad definitions of offences prescribing disproportionately harsh punishments. It also enables arrests without any judicial supervision thereby spreading a chilling effect on free expression, association and assembly in the country. FORUM ASIA and B4A condemn the arbitrary use of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act to silence dissent in the country and urge the Government of Pakistan to enable an environment wherein intellectual diversity and political discourse can flourish, in keeping with the values of international human rights standard and democracy. FORUM-ASIA and B4A further urge the Government of Pakistan to formulate open, transparent and unambiguous policies regarding conditions and procedures of arrests under the PECA that proscribe any arrests made in attempt to quell dissent and free expression in the country. The Government of Pakistan must also implement the normative human rights standard of freedom of expression in pursuance of Pakistan's International human rights obligations and its own Constitution. Update: Human rights activist and campaigner for missing persons Punhal Sario, who was himself allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance, returned to his home in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Sario was allegedly whisked away by the police and other law enforcement agencies on August 3 from the road outside Sindh Museum. His family filed a petition in the Sindh High Court in Karachi and later an FIR was also registered on September 21 at the GOR police station in Hyderabad on the complaint of Sario's wife Sughra under sections 365 and 34 of Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, around 15 personnel in the uniforms of police commandos stopped the car in which Sario was returning from an event and forced him into a Toyota Vigo.

Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Usama Malik and Shabir Hussain are human rights lawyers. Noor Ejaz Chaudhry is currently a legal associate at AGHS Legal Aid Cell in Lahore, an organisation working to defend the rights of women, children and minorities in Pakistan founded by Asma Jahangir. She has worked as a teacher's assistant for the International Protection of Human Rights course in University College Lahore and was an editor for the University's Human Rights Review. Usama Malik is a junior associate of human rights defender Asma Jahangir, working with the AGHS Legal Aid Cell. Shabir Hussain is a senior lawyer. They are all part of the legal team of Asma Jahangir. On 20 June 2017, in Lahore High Court, a group of about 70 lawyers verbally and physically abused Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Usama Malik and Shabir Hussain and tried to prevent them from representing their client, a woman whose daughter Ayesha and grandchild disappeared on 30 November 2016. The accused in the case is a senior lawyer and member of the Pakistan Bar Council called Maqsood Butter, who was married to Ayesha. According to the victim's family, Maqsood Butter was a violent husband and had already threatened them. The investigation into Ayesha and her child's disappearance is at a stalemate since her family filed a complaint seven months ago. The group of lawyers, who gathered at the courtroom to support Maqsood Butter, also beat the the complainant and her young brother in the courtroom, all in presence of the Judge Abdul Sammi Khan. They shouted insulting slogans against Asma Jahangir, her defence team and the complainant, and threatened to attack them again outside the courtroom. The three human rights lawyers and the victim's family were then escorted outside the court premises under police protection.

Senior journalist Rana Tanvir, who had written about religious minorities and human rights issues in his work, was run over by a car on Friday - June 09, 2017. The incident happened days after a graffiti appeared on his main door, which read the journalist was liable to be killed for his work. "The physical attack on the journalist comes days after Lahore police official expressed reluctance to protect him and Friday's deliberate attempt is encouraged by official apathy journalists in distress face in Punjab province," the Freedom Network (FN), Pakistan's media watchdog organisation said on June 11, 2017, in its press freedom alert. "What has alarmed us is the fact that police did not extend any help or support when Rana Tanvir visited Civil Lines SP Ali for protection and did not help register FIR against perpetrators of the crime. This arrogance or negligence of the official is worth noting by the Punjab government which is taking credit for transparency in services to its people," the press freedom alert went on to say. The FN said the attacks on religious minorities had been haunting Pakistan for a long time and attacks on journalists taking up this issue are on the rise. "We demand both the Punjab government and the journalist's employer - Express Tribune - to do what they can to protect the journalist," the FN said. The journalist survived the attempt on his life but it landed in a hospital bed with an injured left leg. "I just had a surgery for fractured bones in my left leg and shifted to a ward bed," the journalist told FN on Sunday. The death threat was hurled for his writing about religious minorities and human rights violations, he said in an email he sent on June 7, He moved to "safe home" following the graffiti which he noticed on May 30, 2017. "On May 30 at about 11am when I came out of my rented house at Habibullah Road, Garhi Shahu, Lahore, to go to the office, I saw a threatening writing on my house-door with spray paint which declared me deserving death by terming me as non-believer and supporter of Ahmadis. That was shocking for me and my wife," the journalist wrote. "Meanwhile, the house lord and his mother also reached and asked me to leave the house as it was also posing threat to their lives. "I immediately covered the door with a piece of cloth so that other neighbours cannot see it and moved the family to my relatives in the cantonment area of Lahore. I took one of my colleagues and a relative with me visit the Racecourse Police Station and filed an application narrating the whole episode. No FIR so far was registered," the journalist said. He went on add that the next day along with his colleague he visited DIG (Operations) Lahore Dr Haider Ashraf and informed him about the behaviour of the police which was not willing to lodge any FIR or trying to trace out the responsible. "He called the Civil Lines SP and advised us to visit him. We went to him and he said there is no need to register FIR as it would make you more vulnerable and it would enrage the religious fanatics. I requested him to at least try to identify the suspect who visited my house in the broad daylight. The SP said, "police officers and journalists are doing Jihad and in the way of Jihad we should not be afraid of sacrifice. Mashal is a martyr and his killers are still being cursed." Listening to this, we left his office having no other remedy, the journalist narrated. The journalist is working for an English daily newspaper, which is carrying reports on religious minorities in Pakistan more prominently than any other media outlet and the organisation faced a number of attacks for the same reasons. Tanveer said he moved to his current home just under one and a half years ago so his daughter could attend a local school. Three months ago, the journalist said, his landlord began receiving calls from an unknown number advising him to evict Tanveer and his family, saying that he is a "kafir (infidel)" and an "enemy of Islam." Tanveer said he moved to his current home just under one and a half years ago so his daughter could attend a local school. Three months ago, the journalist said, his landlord began receiving calls from an unknown number advising him to evict Tanveer and his family, saying that he is a "kafir (infidel)" and an "enemy of Islam." It is pertinent to mention here that it is not the first threat journalist Tanveer is facing. In 2013, he received a threatening letter at his office address. The "State of Human Rights in 2013", the annual report published by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, mentioned this threat on its 115th page. "The latest threat is unique which made my whole family worried as my wife is asking me to leave journalism, which I cannot at any cost. I am reaching out to you to let you know that this incident has put me and my wife, with two of our kids, under constant stress," the journalist wrote in his mail he shared with many people to foretell the impending dangers. "In such a situation it is very difficult to continue doing my professional duties under constant threat. As the chief reporter and team leader of the daily in Lahore for the last seven years, I know that my credibility and objectivity rests on my ability to be proactive in highlighting issues revolving religion and victimisation of religious minorities."

On 8 May 2017, Mr. Imran Anjum was attacked with gunshot by unidentified masked and armed men when he was arrived his house. A Human Rights Defender Mr. Imran Anjum hails from Sahiwal, district of Punjab province in Pakistan. He is the Founder and the Executive Director of Peaceful & Active Center for Humanity (PEACH), a non-governmental organization working on the social and economic development of some of the most disadvantaged communities in Pakistan. Two motor-bikers unidentified masked and armed men stood at the corner of his house, when Human Right Defender Imran Anjum reached at house and opened the gate, they began firing and fired two gunshots upon him and ran away about 8:00 pm on 8th May 2017. The neighbors of Imran Anjum try to chase the armed suspects but they managed to escape taking advantage of the night. The shooting continues a history of threats and attacks against Imran Anjum. Few days before that incident Imran Anjum and his team held a demonstration for demanding Justice for Mr. Mashal Khan, A 23-year-old Pashtun and Muslim student at Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan was killed by a vigilante mob in the premises of the university on April 13, 2017, over fake allegation of posting blasphemous content online. After the demonstration while leaving for home, Imran Anjum followed by 2 motorbikers until his home. The same day, Human Rights Defender Imran Anjum filed an application with Farid Town Police Station district Sahiwal for registration of First Information Report (FIR) and protection. But the complaint registered on 12th May and up till police have not filed FIR.

On 24 March 2017, three more bloggers were accused of blasphemy in an Islamabad anti-terrorism court, while elsewhere in the city hundreds of security forces prevented a radical cleric from holding a protest to condemn another five bloggers, who were earlier charged with insulting Islam - an offense punishable by death in this Islamic country. Police and government officials said the newest charges were laid against two bloggers from Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi and one from the federal capital. They were arrested earlier this week. One of the three used the alias, Allama Ayaz Nizami, and had over 12,000 followers online, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give details of the cases against the three men. All three were remanded into custody of Pakistan's anti-terrorism cell for seven days while their online activity is investigated, he said. Meanwhile Pakistani police in full riot gear sealed off and surrounded Islamabad's Red Mosque, long seen as a refuge for Islamic militants in the Pakistani capital, and the home of a religious leader, Maulana Abdul Aziz, preventing his followers from staging their gathering to demand the death penalty for another five bloggers, who were charged earlier with blasphemy. The Committee to Protect Journalists as well as Amnesty International has decried the use of Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law against the media in Pakistan. Critics say the blasphemy law is being used to silence Pakistan's media because even the allegation can be enough to incite hardliners to kill. Previously, a provincial governor was shot and killed by his police guard who accused him of blasphemy after he criticized the law and defended a Christian woman sentenced to death under the law. Meanwhile, the clerics vowed to try again next week. Their demonstration was directed at five bloggers, who were held for nearly three weeks in January. The bloggers - who went missing but were later returned unhurt to their families - have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of orchestrating their disappearance because of their criticism of the military and intelligence agencies. Before their release, hard-liners raised accusations of blasphemy. Abdul Aziz' son-in-law and follower, Salman Shahid, went to court earlier to charge all five bloggers with blasphemy. The five have since fled the country after also receiving death threats. Alongside the court cases, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government launched a campaign to rid social media of any content considered insulting to Islam - at least any posted by Pakistanis. The government petitioned Facebook and Twitter to identify Pakistanis worldwide who are found posting material considered offensive to Islam so that Pakistani authorities can prosecute them or pursue their extradition on charges of blasphemy - tantamount to a death sentence. Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Khan said a Facebook delegation was expected in Pakistan within weeks. Meanwhile, the Center for Inquiry, a U.S.-based advocacy group, appealed to Facebook not to consider the censorship demands by Pakistani authorities. As well as writing a letter to Facebook, Michael De Dora, of the advocacy group, said members of his organization are also taking their concerns about Pakistan's online crackdown to the United Nations and Washington. "We have taken to the floor of the U.N. Human Rights Council to raise Pakistan's crackdowns on online expression, and communicated our concerns directly with the State Department and Facebook," De Dora said in an email exchange this week. "But it is difficult to tell if our efforts have achieved anything. " Haroon Baloch, of the Islamabad-based think tank Bytes For All said social media is also widely used by those espousing harsh and exclusive interpretations of Islam. Platforms like Facebook are used to attack Shiite Muslims as well as adherents of minority religions in Pakistan such as Christians and Hindus. While Pakistan has ordered shut more than 900 web addresses linked to banned religious groups, Baloch said many still maintain social media platforms like Facebook, where they spew hate and even raise funds

On 2 April 2017, the Karachi City Courts sent Karachi University professor and human rights defender, Dr. Riaz Ahmed, to the Karachi Central Prison on judicial remand for 14 days. The human rights defender was arrested on 1 April 2017 for the alleged possession of an unlicensed weapon. The incident occurred while he was on his way to a press conference to call for the release of an ailing colleague in police custody. On 1 April 2017, Dr. Riaz Ahmed was arrested by the Pakistan Rangers before he was due to address a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. The purpose of the press conference was to protest against the illegal detention of Dr. Hasan Zafar Arif, an elderly retired professor who is in police custody and has been denied access to a lawyer and medical attention. A case was registered against Dr. Riaz Ahmed at the Artillery Maidan police station based on a complaint from a Rangers officer who claimed that he had found an unlicensed loaded Stoeger Cougar 8000F pistol in Dr. Riaz Ahmed's car. He was charged with "possessing an illegal weapon" under Section 23 (i) A of the Sindh Arms Act 2013 and was sent to the Karachi Central Prison on 2 April 2017. On 3 April 2017, a group of human rights defenders filed a bail application for Dr. Riaz Ahmed which will be heard by the Court on 5 April 2017. This act of judicial harassment takes place within the context of a general crackdown on civil society in Pakistan. Human rights defenders in Pakistan face many threats including killing, arbitrary arrest, detention, abduction, kidnapping, threats and judicial harassment. They have endured considerable judicial persecution in the past year, often facing fabricated charges in reprisal for their work or statements.

Muhammad Jan Gigyani, a well-known human rights defender and senior lawyer who regularly worked on women's rights and labour rights cases in courts, was shot dead on the morning of 4 March 2017 in his hometown Shabqadar in district Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was driving to the local court along with his nephew when two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on him before fleeing. According to the local police, Muhammad Jan Gigyani was critically wounded and died on his way to the hospital. His nephew was also seriously injured. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a banned militant group responsible for many of the recent militant attacks in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement sent to local media.

Protesters threw stones at supporters of five missing Pakistani activists on Thursday and demanded that police charge the missing men under a blasphemy law that carries a mandatory death sentence. The activists, who have posted blogs criticising the political influence of the military and speaking up for the rights of religious minorities, have all gone missing separately since January 4, and it is unclear what happened to them. Shortly after their disappearances, blasphemy allegations against them appeared on social media and in a complaint to police. About 100 members of Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah arrived at Karachi Press Club and started hurling stones at people gathered there to support the missing activists. They chanted slogans asking police to file blasphemy cases against the missing activists and carried banners that read: "Beheading is the punishment of blasphemers." The activists' supporters were forced to withdraw into a nearby building. Civil society activists said that instead of giving satisfactory answers over the recovery of the missing activists, the government and its institutions are trying to "veil their incompetence and wrongdoings by running a malicious campaign against the abductees". The activists present at the demonstrations also expressed concern over forced disappearance of people and said it is making the society more intolerant. "We persuaded the religious activists to withdraw," police officer Aurengzeb Khan said. "Their leader then held prayers for the prosperity of Islam and called on the members to leave." Friends, family and supporters of all five men deny they have blasphemed, and have denounced the campaign to press that charge, which could endanger their lives were they to reappear. The interior ministry said on Thursday that police had not registered a blasphemy case, although police in Islamabad confirmed on Wednesday that a formal complaint had been made by a lawyer. "There is absolutely no truth to reports that cases have been filed against the bloggers," the ministry said. Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was quoted last week as saying the government was not responsible for the disappearances.

ISLAMABAD: Another activist, Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan (CPAP) President Samar Abbas has reportedly gone missing from the federal capital. Mr Abbas is an activist based in Karachi who belongs to various forums that have been raising their voice voicing against atrocities committed against minority groups in the country. He recently participated in the Clean Karachi campaign alongside the late Junaid Jamshed. According to CPAP General Secretary Syed Talib Abbas, Samar Abbas travelled to Islamabad from Karachi on business, as he also ran an IT firm. "He was continuously in touch with his family, but on Saturday (Jan 7), his mobile phone was switched off. The family has not heard from him since," he said. He said Samar, 40, is married and has two children; a boy and a girl. According to Talib Abbas, Samar's family will lodge an FIR against his disappearance on today (Wednesday). Update on 6 March 2018, Samar Abbas contacted his family Tuesday to inform them he would be joining them soon, local media reported. "We received a call from Samar on Tuesday and he informed us that he has been released," Abbas' brother, Azhar Abbas, told the daily newspaper Express Tribune on Thursday. "He told us he is safe and will soon return home." Nonetheless, Blasphemy remains an emotive and highly sensitive topic in Pakistan, and anyone labeled as a blasphemer can face dire consequences. The deliberate insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammad in Pakistan can carry a sentence of life imprisonment or the death penalty

At least four human rights activists known on social media for their leftist views have gone missing this week, relatives and NGO workers told AFP on Sunday, as analysts voiced rights concerns. Two of the men - Waqas Goraya and Asim Saeed - disappeared on January 4, according to a cybersecurity NGO, while Salman Haider vanished on Friday and Ahmed Raza Naseer Saturday, relatives said. The interior ministry has said it will investigate the disappearance of Haider, who is known for his outspoken views on enforced disappearances in Balochistan, but made no reference to the others. All four were active on social media groups. Pakistan is routinely ranked among the world's most dangerous for journalists, and reporting critical of the military is considered a major red flag, with journalists at times detained, beaten and even killed. "The state has controlled TV and now they're focusing on digital spaces," said Raza Rumi, a writer and analyst who left Pakistan in 2014 after he was attacked by gunmen who shot his driver dead. A security source denied intelligence services were involved in the disappearances. Naseer, who suffers from polio, was taken from his family's shop in central Punjab province, his brother Tahir told AFP Sunday. Hours after Haider was due home Friday evening, his wife received a text message from his phone saying he was leaving his car on the Islamabad expressway, his brother Faizan told AFP. Police later found the car and registered a missing persons report. Faizan said his brother had not received any specific threats. Waqas Goraya, who is usually a resident of the Netherlands, was picked up on January 4, as was Aasim Saeed, said Shahzad Ahmed, head of cyber security NGO Bytes for All. "None of these activists have been brought to any court of law or levelled with any charges. Their status disappearance is very worrying not only for the families, but also for citizens and larger social media users in the country," Ahmad said. In 2014, when sectarian killings were rife, Salman Haider had penned a poem titled "Kafir', which quickly went viral on social media. The poem critiqued the intolerance prevailing in the country and quickly garnered critical acclaim. Haider is a lecturer at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) in Rawalpindi, an actor, writer and a human rights activist, police said, adding that investigators have started examining his social media accounts and e-mail address, as well as combing his mobile phone records. A case has been registered under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with "kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person", at the Loi Bher police station. Police were also collecting information regarding his activism, the officer said, adding that "although a kidnapping case has been registered, investigators are still not in any position to pinpoint the motive; whether it is a kidnapping or a forced disappearance". "An investigation is ongoing and we are thoroughly examining all aspects of the case." UPDATE: on 28 January 2017, the four human rights defenders, Ahmed Raza Naseer, Salman Haider, Waqas Goraya and Asim Saeed were released separately. They were disappeared for at least three weeks in January 2017. Salman Haider returned home without commenting on his disappearance. Shortly after his release Waqas Goraya left the country. Waqas Goraya's father declined to comment on who had detained the human rights defender. Asim Saeed has also left the country. Asim Saeed's father reported that the family of the human rights defender had received death threats, with one text message saying "You who have blasphemed deserve death. You are out of Islam and should be ready for a painful punishment, which will be remembered by your generations to come." Ahmed Raza Naseer has also been freed.

A Pakistani rights activist whose politician father was assassinated in 2011 for supposedly insulting Islam says he fears the same fate after a hardline religious group issued a fatwa demanding his execution and the police launched an investigation into allegations he had committed blasphemy. Shaan Taseer said the Sunni Tehreek, a grouping of clerics drawn from the Barelvi movement, was "gunning for my blood and provoking people to take my life" over a Christmas video he posted on social media in which he criticised Pakistan's blasphemy laws. His father, Salmaan Taseer, the former governor of Punjab province, was killed amid similar controversy by one of his own police guards six years ago. The governor had infuriated hardliners with his demand for a government pardon for Asia Bibi, a poor Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy despite weak and contradictory evidence against her. His killer, Mumtaz Qadri, became a hero, and an estimated 100,000 mourners attended his funeral following his execution last year. The ire of the Barelvi sect, which on non-blasphemy issues is generally considered moderate, was rekindled last month after Taseer published a video expressing solidarity with people entangled in blasphemy allegations. He called for the release of both Bibi, who remains on death row, and Nabeel Masih, a Christian teenager arrested last year for "liking" on Facebook a picture of the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site. How to commit blasphemy in Pakistan Read more Taseer also demanded the repeal of what he called the "inhumane" blasphemy laws, a longstanding demand of international human rights groups who say the laws are widely abused by people who level false allegations to settle personal scores. The video prompted Sunni Tehreek to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, saying Taseer was liable for death because he had supposedly committed both blasphemy and apostasy. Police in the city of Lahore also lodged a first investigation report (FIR), a document that formally starts the process of investigating a crime, under the country's blasphemy laws. According to the FIR, police claimed to have found the video on a USB drive left outside a police station. Mujahid Abdul Rasul, a Sunnit Tehreek cleric who demanded the police take action, said Taseer's support for Bibi and Masih meant he "was equally involved in the crime" of blasphemy. "I don't know why the Taseer family do this again and again," he said. "His own father was killed for this so why is he also choosing the same path?" Taseer has not been named in the FIR, with officers at Islampura police station in Lahore claiming they had not been able to confirm if it was really him in the video. Whether or not the police pursue the matter, the mere accusation of blasphemy can be enough to incite vigilante attacks. Taseer, who lives abroad but visits Pakistan regularly, said the Sunni Tehreek was deliberately trying to provoke its supporters in the hope that someone would mimic the killing of his father, which took place in an Islamabad market on 4 January 2011. "On social media there are calls for another Mumtaz Qadri to deal with me and people are offering to be his successor," he said. "What they plan to do is engineer another Qadri-like assassination." Pakistan's supreme court is due to rule on Bibi's final appeal, which was postponed in October after one of the judges recused himself from the case.

SHABQADAR: Peshawar district administration has arrested Fata Student Organisation's (FSO) central president for "protesting' against the Frontiers Crimes Regulation (FCR). Shaukat Aziz was rounded up under 3 MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) after he chanted slogans against a tribal chief who spoke in favour of the FCR during the grand jirga called by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) last week. Grand Jirga over FATA reforms ends in a brawl The scuffle was so intense that security staff evacuated the chief guest, K-P Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, who is also Fata's chief executive, and the provincial assembly speaker Asad Qaisar. The brawl sparked after provocative comments were made by Khan Marjan, a tribal chief from North Waziristan. Terming the members of the reforms committee traitors, he said tribal areas had been destroyed and Fata's public representatives in the National Assembly were unaware of ground realities. "Whatever you (the committee) have written in the report is nothing short of an insult to the tribesmen," were Marjan's last words, after which the hall reverberated with anti-FCR slogans. "After his arrest Aziz has been sent to Central Jail, Peshawar," said Samreen Wazir, general secretary of FSO's female wing. "We will hold a protest in Peshawar if he's not released by tomorrow." Mohmand, Bajaur jirgas oppose Fata-K-P merger Wazir claimed that the FSO peacefully carried out their protest, saying "It is our political right to chant slogans against the FCR, and the arrest is against the spirit of democracy." Aziz was called by the deputy commissioner and asked to present a surety bond for not protesting in future, FSO president Amir Hamza Kuram told The Express Tribune. However, Aziz was taken into custody and sent to prison before he could submit the bond.

Pakistani police detained dozens of supporters of opposition leader Imran Khan and banned public rallies, triggering clashes with opposition activists in parts of Islamabad. The arrests late October 27 prompted Khan to call for a nationwide protest on October 28 despite the government's move to preemptively ban such demonstrations. The government said the ban imposed on October 27 on all political gatherings applies to Islamabad and the adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi, and will remain in force for two months. The ban appeared to be put in place to preempt a rally Khan's party had planned against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 2. Khan, a popular former cricket star who leads the Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf party, was defiant and threatened to lock down the capital to force Sharif to step down. "No power can stop our rally," Khan said on October 27. "It is our legal, democratic, constitutional right." "Tomorrow I will protest throughout Pakistan, our workers will protest throughout Pakistan -- especially over the way women were mishandled" in the arrests and street clashes, he said. "If the government wants to arrest me, they may go ahead. But for how long they can keep us inside, we will again hit roads after our release." The arrests and government move to preempt demonstrations against Sharif infuriated Khan's supporters. "The government has proved that there is no democracy in Pakistan, it is a monarchy," a lawmaker from Khan's party, Asad Umar, said. But cabinet member Saad Rafique denounced Khan's plan, saying it was aimed at disrupting life in Islamabad. He suggested Khan needs to see a psychiatrist, although he said the government has no plans to arrest him. Sharif, who is serving his third term as prime minister, faces mounting public pressures after his family members were named as holders of offshore bank accounts in leaked financial documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Sharif has defended his family business before parliament and in two televised speeches. Pakistan's Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on the scandal on November 1. Khan's party is one of the five petitioners who have approached the top court requesting an investigation into the scandal. The court has asked the prime minister to file a reply to the allegations made in the petitions. Separately, an Islamabad high court asked Khan's party on October 27 to explain by October 31 what his plans are for the march against the prime minister. The court declared that no road is to be blocked, either by the protesters or the government. Sharif's aides are calling on Khan's party to postpone the street protests and wait for the court decision. One of Sharif's allies, parliamentarian Talal Chaudhry, said that Khan's recent statements suggested his party had plans to paralyze the capital. "We wouldn't allow that," Chaudhry said.

January 7, 2016 PESHAWAR: A transgender person was shot and injured near Pir Zakori Bridge Tuesday night. A police official at Lady Reading Hospital told The Express Tribune on Wednesday, Adnan, a resident of Karkhano, came to the hospital with a gunshot wound. Social activists say doctors at LRH refused to come near Adnan, whose treatment was delayed for hours at the hospital. "The incident took place within the jurisdiction of Chamkani police station," he said. "Adnan and his friends, Sana and Bibi, were travelling in a car to Karkhano Market from Tarnab Farm when two motorcyclists opened fire on their car. Adnan was shot on the side and critically wounded." According to the official, a musical programme had been organised at Tarnab Farm. "The event was cancelled and all three of them were on their way back." The accused have been booked in the case. They have been identified as Rauf, a resident of Dora Road, and Sharif, a resident of Ahmad Khel, Badhaber. "Both men had been threatening Adnan for the past few months," he said. An FIR has been registered and further investigation is under way. Discriminatory conduct Following the incident, Adnan was rushed to LRH. However, he has accused the hospital authorities of failing to provide immediate treatment. Insiders familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune, Adnan was not provided treatment at the facility for three hours. "He remained at the hospital for three hours," Pakhtun Civil Society Network focal person Taimur Kamal, who had taken Adnan to the hospital, told The Express Tribune. "However, doctors would not come close," Eventually, he added, a surgical procedure was conducted to remove the bullet after a protest was held against the doctors. According to Kamal, the hospital administration's attitude towards Adnan was "transphobic and discriminatory". The focal person said both doctors and patients were uncomfortable with the idea of a transgender being provided treatment at the facility. "When we took him to the ward, patients started crying," said Kamal. Fight for rights Farzana, a representative of people who are transgender, told The Express Tribune they urged the head of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Human Rights to direct officials to provide basic health facilities to marginalised groups. "The directorate itself seems to be ready to help, but the government's response is disappointing," Farzana said. She added the hospital is not the only place where people who are transgender are not allowed and they also find it difficult to use public transport. Farzana said they have submitted several applications with the Directorate of Human Rights to direct all departments to provide equal rights

PAKISTAN: Judiciary observes meekly as Rangers produce Saeed Baloch eight days after disappearance January 28, 2016 After keeping prominent Pakistan fisher folk leader and front line activist Saeed Baloch incommunicado in illegal and arbitrary detention for eight days, the Pakistan Rangers dramatically produced him in court on January 26. Earlier, the Rangers had denied that Saeed was in their custody. On 16 January 2016, Saeed Baloch was called by phone to the Rangers' office, after which he disappeared and his phone was not reachable (see here). His wife immediately filed a petition for his recovery in the Sindh High Court single bench on January 17, but Judge Justice Ahmed Shiekh refused to listen to the petition, pointing out that the petition against Sindh Rangers cannot be heard by a single bench. The petition was then referred to the chief justice, who formed a divisional bench consisting of two judges. The bench heard the petition on January 25 and deferred the case to February 1, asking the Sindh Rangers to give comments on the said petition. Suddenly, on the afternoon of January 26, the Rangers produced Baloch in the Anti-Terrorism Court and pleaded that Saeed and three other officials of the Fisherman Cooperative Society (FCS) were arrested from their residence that same day. According to the statement made by the paramilitary force's spokesperson, the four suspects were arrested on January 26 within the jurisdiction of the Kalri police station, where during initial questioning they confessed to having funded outlawed Peoples Amn Committee leader Uzair Jan Baloch, Lyari gangster Noor Mohammad alias Baba Ladla and the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) for a long time. These funds were apparently used to purchase weapons for use in Karachi and Balochistan. The spokesman also said that the suspects gave employment to 150 alleged gangsters in the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) at the behest of Uzair Baloch. Surprisingly, the administrative judge of the Anti-Terrorism court, who is also a High Court judge, granted 90 days physical custody to the Rangers of the four suspects. It is no secret to the Sindh provincial judiciary that Saeed Baloch was illegally kept in Rangers' custody after he was asked to come for an interview at the Rangers' Kemari station on January 16. In fact, after Saeed's disappearance, numerous national and international human rights organisations strongly condemned the paramilitary force's actions, and called for his release. All sections of local media, together with some international media, gave tremendous coverage of his disappearance. Civil society held a huge protest against his disappearance on January 26, which was shown live by all media. Under these circumstances, how can a High Court judge believe the concocted story of the Rangers, without even referring to the petition pending at the Court? Judicial ineptness and long undermining the judicial role of guaranteeing the fundamental rights of individuals has led to an acceptance of the primacy of law enforcement agencies. Keeping persons incommunicado is seen as their legal right, and their investigations and statements are the sole basis upon which judicial decisions are made. Pakistan's judiciary thus plays a silent spectator to the human rights abuse meted out to citizens under the various guises of security, morality and national interest. When the guardians of constitutional rights play the role of a fiddle in the hands of the military, who will question under what law the police and military are acting, and who allowed them to transgress their authority and extra judicially kill citizens? Why has Pakistan's judiciary allowed its powers to be usurped by the security forces? It is high time that the judiciary steps forward and stops the evil nexus of the state and the law enforcement, where the latter helps the former in maintaining its writs and reaps monetary and social benefits thereof.

Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions REFERENCE: UA PAK 5/2016: 24 February 2016 Excellency, We have the honour to address you in our capacity as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 25/18, 26/7, and 26/12. In this connection, we would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency's Government information we have received concerning alleged serious threats to life of lawyer and human rights defender, Ms. Asma Jahangir. Ms. Jahangir is a human rights lawyer and the former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. She is also a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir previously served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief for a combined total of 12 years. She was the subject of previous communications of the Special Procedures sent to your Excellency's Government (see 24 January 2011, A/HRC/19/55/Add.2, case no. PAK 1/2011; 16 November 2007, A/HRC/7/28/Add.1, case no. PAK 16/2007; 30 January 2006, A/HRC/4/37/Add.1, case no. PAK 2/2006; and 18 May 2005, E/CN.4/2006/95/Add.1, case no. PAK 7/2005). The most recent of these communications was sent to your Excellency's Government on 15 June 2012 (A/HRC/22/47/Add.4, case no. PAK 8/2012), by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. We regret that to date no reply has been received from your Excellency's Government. HAUT - COMMISSARIAT AUX DROITS DE L'HOMME __� OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PALAIS DES NATIONS __� 1211 GENEVA 10, SWITZERLAND 2 According to the information received: On 3 February 2015, while in Sri Lanka, Ms. Asma Jahan gir was informed through her office in Lahore, Pakistan, that the former Home Minister and the Chief of Police of Punjab were looking for her and had advised Ms. Jahangir to stay out of Pakistan due to serious threats to her life. They appeared to have credible evidence concerning an alleged plot to kill her. Members of "Daesh" (al- Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham) had apparently been following her movements and planned an attack on her. On 20 February, Ms. Jahangir returned to Pakistan and was reminded by the Chief of Police of the threats. She was promised, including by the office of the Prime Minister, that her security and that of her family would be increased. However, at the time of sending this communication, there has been no increase in such protection. Grave concern is expressed about the security of Ms. Jahangir, as well as the insufficient protection afforded to her and her family. Further serious concern is expressed at the allegations that the plot to assassinate Ms. Jahangir may be directly linked to her legitimate human rights activities. In view of the urgency of the matter, we urge your Excellency's Government to adopt all necessary measures to protect the rights to life, security and physical integrity of Ms. Asma Jahangir and her family. We would like to refer to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Pakistan on 23 June 2010, which provide for the State's duty to protect every individual's right to life and to take all necessary measures to ensure that no individual on its territory or subject to its jurisdiction is arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. In this respect, the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, adopted by the Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/65 (principle 4), explicitly require States to provide "effective protection through judicial or other means to individuals and groups who are in danger of extra-legal, arbitrary or summary executions, including those who receive death threats". We would like to refer your Excellency's Government to the fundamental principles set forth in the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also known as the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and in particular articles 1, 2, and 6 which provides for the right to promote 3 and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms; the right, individually and in association with others as provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms; the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the Declaration. The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers also stipulate that lawyers' security must be adequately ensured by the authorities (see in particular principle 17). The full texts of the human rights instruments and standards recalled above are available on www.ohchr.org or can be provided upon request. As it is our responsibility, under the mandates provided to us by the Human Rights Council, to seek to clarify all cases brought to our attention, we would be grateful for your observations on the following matters: 1.Please provide any additional information and/or comment(s) you may have on the above-mentioned allegations. 2.Please provide the details, and where available the results, of any investigation, and judicial or other inquiries carried out in relation to this case. If no inquiries have taken place, or if they have been inconclusive, please explain why. 3.In the event that the alleged perpetrators are identified, please provide the full details of any prosecutions which may have been undertaken. 4.Please provide detailed information on any protective measures put in place to ensure the security and physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Jahangir and her family. 5.Please indicate what measures have been taken to ensure that human rights defenders and lawyers in Pakistan are able to carry out their legitimate work in a safe and enabling environment without fear of threats or acts of intimidation and harassment of any sort. While awaiting a reply, we urge that all necessary interim measures be taken to halt the alleged violations and prevent their re-occurrence and in the event that the investigations support or suggest the allegations to be correct, to ensure the accountability of any person responsible of the alleged violations. 4. Your Excellency's Government's response will be made available in a report to be presented to the Human Rights Council for its consideration. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration. Michel Forst Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders M�_nica Pinto Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Christof Heyns Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

A prominent Pakistani journalist investigating the alleged murder of a British woman in an "honour killing" says he has received death threats. Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford, was strangled to death while visiting her family in northern Punjab last month. Her husband, Mukhtar Syed Kazam, said he believed his wife was killed because her family disapproved of their marriage. Shahid's first husband, Mohammad Shakeel, her father, Mohammad, and another cousin who are suspected of her murder are all on the run, according to Pakistani police. It is alleged that Shahid, 28, had been tricked into travelling to Pakistan in July and killed for divorcing her first husband and remarrying against the wishes of her family. The stories you need to read, in one handy email Read more The case, which has been highlighted by the Bradford West MP Naz Shah, has become a priority for Pakistan after the country's interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, announced that he had ordered a rapid investigation. The Guardian has learned that a journalist in Pakistan, who has been investigating Shahid's death, has made a formal complaint to police after allegedly receiving death threats from a British man. Raja Waqar said he received five disturbing phone calls in which he was told he would be killed and his children would also be harmed if he continued to pursue information about Shahid's murder. During the phone calls, the longest of which is said to have lasted eight minutes, Waqar said he was told: "If you carry on doing this I'm going to kill you and your children." Waqar, who works for the AAJ TV station in Karachi, says he began receiving calls from a British mobile phone number on 24 July. The calls, from a man who only identified himself as Ali, continued for two days and became increasingly disturbing, he said. Speaking from Pakistan, Waqar said: "When I started covering this story I started receiving threats from a man called Ali. He was ringing on an English mobile number. "He asked me why I was covering the story and I told him that as a journalist in the area for the past 15 years, it was my duty to cover the story and that I had smelled that this was not a natural death. "He told me to drop the story and when I refused he said he was going to kill me and my children." Waqar was told by his bureau chief at the TV station to contact the police and filed a complaint in writing. He said: "This was my assignment and I was not going to allow him to threaten me. But after he kept calling and telling me to stop I had to call the police. He told me to leave it because Samia was not my sister but it was very clear to me that she had been murdered- I have no doubt about it." A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "We are aware of a report of a Pakistan-based journalist who has allegedly been receiving threats. They have reported this matter to the Pakistani police." He added: "West Yorkshire police is currently reviewing all previous contact with Samia Shahid, including any alleged criminal offences and the action taken as a result. Her death remains a matter for the Pakistani authorities and we are continuing to liaise with them and with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office." Shahid returned to Bradford from Dubai, where she had been living with Kazam, her second husband, last September to try to build bridges with her family. She asked a female police officer to chaperone her to the family home in Manningham, Bradford, after allegedly being harassed by one of her relatives who wanted her to return to her first marriage. West Yorkshire police confirmed that a man received a harassment warning following the meeting but the force declined to identify the offender. Shahid's friends in Bradford said the beauty therapist was not frightened for her life but was increasingly stressed about what some relatives were telling her mother and father. "I could tell from her Snapchats that she was really affected by her relatives saying stuff to her family, her parents," one friend said. "She was saying "People can't keep their nose out of things'." She added: "She wasn't a scared person. It would take a lot for her to fear stuff. She felt, "Why are they doing stuff like that?' but I don't think she was scared because she is a strong person in her character. "She was just stressed for her family - she didn't want her parents to be stressed out because of what her relatives were doing. That was her main concern[rather] than being scared for herself." Shahid's family in Bradford claimed she had died from natural causes on 20 July and police initially said there were no visible injuries on her body. However, police last week launched a murder investigation after a forensic examination found she had died from asphyxiation.