Amnesty International accuses Pakistan of using administrative detention to silence activists, journalists

In a post on X, Amnesty International said Zubair Shah Agha, a core committee member of the PTM, was arbitrarily detained on June 28 after attending a press conference in Quetta organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). The event focused on the sentencing of Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch.

According to Amnesty, Zubair Agha has since been held under Section 3 of Pakistan's Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, a legal provision that allows authorities to place individuals in administrative detention.

The rights organisation described his detention as part of a broader pattern in which Pakistani authorities are allegedly using the MPO to deprive activists, journalists and human rights defenders of their liberty without due process.

Amnesty also highlighted the detention of Syed Bibi Baloch, who was taken into custody under the same law on July 1 in Turbat, Balochistan. The organisation said the detention came after a peaceful protest was announced against the sentencing of Mahrang Baloch.

The statement further referred to the case of journalist Ahmad Farhad, who was detained under the MPO on June 20 in Bagh, Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Amnesty said Farhad remains in custody.

Expressing concern over what it described as the growing misuse of administrative detention powers, Amnesty International urged Pakistani authorities to immediately release all three detainees.

The organisation further called on Islamabad to end the use of administrative detention laws against individuals exercising their fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and liberty. Amnesty maintained that detaining activists and journalists for participating in peaceful activities undermines Pakistan's human rights obligations and restricts civic space. (ANI)