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Amnesty International has condemned the controversial 'Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill' to which the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari has given his assent and was passed by both houses of the Pakistan Parliament to 'regulate' public gatherings in Islamabad.
A statement released by Amnesty International said that this Act was a continuation of a crackdown on peaceful protests in Pakistan. The law was finalised last week in Pakistan and the process of being presented to the Senate to approval by the President came in less than a week. Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said, "The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024 is yet another attack on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in Pakistan which has a long history of enacting draconian legislation to criminalize peaceful protest and suppress the expression of dissent". "Rather than attempting to bring the existing restrictive legal framework in line with international human rights law and standards, the Government of Pakistan has shown inordinate speed in ensuring the passage of the new bill by both houses of Parliament and in obtaining Presidential assent within a week of it being tabled. The law expands the power of the authorities to restrict or ban assemblies in Islamabad on overbroad grounds, including the 'disruption of daily activities', and significantly increases the maximum penalty for taking part in an 'unlawful assembly' from six months to three years' imprisonment," he added. The statement said that the government of Pakistan must immediately repeal the Act and amend other laws that allow for bans on assemblies and impose restrictive requirements which are in flagrant violation of the country's international human rights obligations. Any restrictions that are imposed must strictly comply with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. (ANI)
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