Protection Desk
The Pakistan Peoples Party’s Human Rights Cell on Saturday called for a broad review of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), saying the law should be brought in line with constitutional protections and international human rights standards instead of being used to curb dissent.
In a statement issued on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, former senator and PPP Human Rights Cell president Farhatullah Babar said the day was being marked in Pakistan in an atmosphere of what he described as the growing use of Peca against journalists and human rights defenders. "Silencing those who speak for rights, justice and the marginalized is silencing the conscience of the society itself. The strength of a democracy lies not in suppressing dissent, but in engaging with it," he said.
He added that World Press Freedom Day was being observed in the country amid what he termed an unprecedented weaponisation of the law against those who speak about injustices, enforced disappearances or challenge official narratives with alternative accounts, in a country he said was becoming increasingly security-driven rather than rights- or welfare-driven.
He also called for legislation to protect human rights defenders from victimisation and from what he described as the misuse of judicial processes. According to Mr Babar, recent amendments to Peca should be revisited.
He said legal procedures were also being misused, citing prolonged detention without trial, delayed hearings, excessive charges and midnight arrests as coercive methods. He referred to the cases of journalists Matiullah Jan, Asad Toor and, more recently, Fakharur Rehman, and said such practices violated constitutional guarantees under Articles 10-A and 19. The PPP Human Rights Cell also raised concern over the sentences awarded to Imaan and Hadi, saying both the severity of the punishment and the surrounding circumstances were troubling and raised questions about proportionality, due process and the use of coercive legal tools.
Mr Babar further expressed concern over the delay in the Islamabad High Court hearing their applications seeking suspension of sentence. "Justice delayed is justice denied," he said, adding that the right to a timely hearing formed part of fair trial and due process protections. He said the prolonged pendency of the applications was undermining confidence in the judicial process. The cell urged the Islamabad High Court to fix and hear the applications at the earliest and asked the Supreme Court to take notice of the matter.
Referring to the position of journalists and rights defenders, Mr Babar said Pakistan had supported the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998, but later voted against a UN resolution seeking protection for human rights defenders.