ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Cell of the Pakistan People’s Party has demanded a comprehensive review of the PECA, particularly its amendments, to bring it in line with fundamental rights and international human rights standards, and to end the abuse of judicial processes as instruments of intimidation against citizens.
“World Press Freedom Day is being observed in Pakistan today amid the unprecedented weaponisation of the PECA law against journalists and rights defenders who dare to raise their voices against injustices, enforced disappearances, or challenge official narratives with alternative perspectives, in a country that is increasingly becoming security-driven instead of rights- or welfare-driven,” said President of the PPP Human Rights Cell, former Senator Farhatullah Babar, in a statement issued on the eve of Press Freedom Day.
Deploring the vulnerability of journalists and human rights defenders, Farhatullah Babar said that in 1998 Pakistan supported the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, but to its lasting national embarrassment, it later voted against the UN resolution seeking the protection of human rights defenders. “On this day, we also urge the adoption of legislation to protect human rights defenders from victimisation and the abuse of judicial processes,” he said.
Babar stated, “Silencing those who speak for rights, justice, and the marginalised is silencing the conscience of society itself. The strength of a democracy lies not in suppressing dissent, but in engaging with it.” “Apart from amending PECA last year for weaponisation, legal processes are also being abused. Prolonged detentions without trial, delayed hearings, excessive charges, and midnight knocks are new tools of coercion, as seen in the cases of journalists Matiullah Jan, Asad Toor, and, more recently, Fakharur Rehman, among many others. Such practices violate constitutional guarantees under Articles 10-A and 19 of the Constitution,” he said.
He also reminded that today also marks the 100th day in jail of Imaan Mazari and Hadi, victims of the law’s weaponisation, and called it “an occasion for introspection for the state and society.” The severity of their sentences and the circumstances surrounding them, are deeply troubling and raise serious questions about proportionality, due process, and the misuse of coercive legal instruments.
Babar also expressed concern over the delay in hearing their applications before the Islamabad High Court for suspension of their sentences. “Justice delayed is justice denied. The right to a timely hearing is part of a fair trial, due process, and a fundamental right.” “The long pendency of their application undermines confidence in the judicial process,” he said. It urged the Islamabad High Court to fix and hear their applications at the earliest, and called on the Supreme Court to take cognisance. “Justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done,” he said.
