LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is appalled to learn that blogger and human rights activist Ahmed Waqas Goraya continues to face harassment and intimidation. Ahmed Waqas Goraya, who went missing in early January 2017, alleged that he was abducted, held and tortured by security agencies for three weeks. Although he was later released, it is now his family that is being targeted. Goraya said that, on June 20, his elderly parents were threatened directly with abduction and torture to “teach me a lesson”. In a statement issued on Friday, HRCP has said that it “unequivocally condemns this latest attempt to cow human rights defenders into silence. To use a person’s vulnerable elderly parents as leverage is nothing short of cowardly. That Goraya has reportedly been warned to refrain from Tweeting or writing, in his words ‘at least until the elections, is an ominous sign at such a critical point in Pakistan’s democratic development”. The commission has also expressed its alarm “at the growing frequency with which human rights defenders are being targeted”. HRCP calls for a public and transparent investigation of the incident to make it clear that such callous attempts to intimidate human rights defenders or their families are unacceptable and unconstitutional. This ugly state of affairs simply cannot be allowed to continue. Published in Daily Times, June 23rd 2018.