Daily Times

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed its ‘grave concern’ over the increasing frequency and ‘sheer impunity’ with which anyone critical of the state is being targeted reportedly by security agencies.

In a statement issued on Thursday, HRCP has said that it is “appalled at the recent abduction of Gul Bukhari, a journalist known for her views on law enforcement organizations. While Bukhari was returned safely home within a few hours, the fact that she was summarily “picked up” from the Lahore Cantonment should make it clear that enforced disappearances are rapidly becoming the norm—an easy and arbitrary means of intimidating those who do not toe the line.”

Taking note of the recent press briefing held by the DG ISPR on June 4, HRCP has also expressed its ‘strong disapproval’ of the slide display of images and names of social media users and of branding them ‘anti-state’.

“With less than two months to the elections, an ominous pattern seems to be emerging: even the slightest expression of political dissent, especially by journalists and social media activists, can be labelled anti-state, often with worrying implications for their physical safety,” it added.

“HRCP feels acutely that this election is critical—more so than before—to preserving the country’s fragile democratic order,” said the statement adding that the right to non-violent dissent is part of this democratic order.

Moreover, the HRCP strongly condemned “any use of extra constitutional means to intimidate and harass citizens, or to put them in a position that might compromise their safety”.