Islamabad [Pakistan], July 15 (ANI): Amnesty International has accused Pakistani authorities of increasingly using administrative detention laws to suppress peaceful dissent and has called for the immediate release of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Zubair Shah Agha, Baloch activist Syed Bibi Baloch, and journalist Ahmad Farhad.
In a post on X, Amnesty International said Zubair Shah Agha, a member of the PTM’s core committee, was arbitrarily detained on June 28 after attending a press conference in Quetta organized 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 human rights organization 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 organization said the detention followed the announcement of a peaceful protest against the sentencing of Mahrang Baloch.
The statement also 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 organization also called on Islamabad to end the use of administrative detention laws against individuals exercising their fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and personal liberty.
Amnesty said detaining activists and journalists for participating in peaceful activities undermines Pakistan’s human rights obligations and further restricts civic space. (ANI)
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