Amnesty International has demanded the immediate release of PTM core committee member Zubair Shah Agha, Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Syed Bibi Baloch and journalist Ahmad Farhad, saying Pakistani authorities must stop using administrative detention laws to suppress peaceful dissent.
In a statement, Amnesty International South Asia said Zubair Shah Agha was “arbitrarily detained” on June 28 after attending a press conference organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee in Quetta on the sentencing of Dr Mahrang Baloch.
The rights group said Zubair had since been held in administrative detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).
“Zubair Agha’s detention is the latest in a growing pattern of Pakistani authorities using administrative detention powers to arbitrarily deprive activists, journalists and human rights defenders of their liberty,” Amnesty said.
The group said Syed Bibi Baloch was similarly taken into administrative detention under the MPO on July 1 in Turbat after a peaceful protest was announced over Dr Mahrang’s sentencing.
It said journalist Ahmad Farhad was also detained under the MPO on June 20 in Bagh, in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, where he remains in custody.
“Pakistani authorities must immediately release Zubair Shah Agha, Syed Bibi Baloch and Ahmad Farhad, and end the misuse of administrative detention laws to suppress peaceful dissent,” Amnesty said, adding that the authorities must uphold the rights to liberty, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.