PAKISTAN - Asma Jahangir (f); Hina Jillani (f)
- Released: Iqbal Haider (m); I. A. Rehman (m); Brigadier (rtd) Rao Abid Hameed (m); Shahtaj Qizilbash (f); Imran Qureshi (m); at least 48 other human rights defenders detained in the state of emergency
At least 53 human rights defenders and civil society activists, including a number of staff and council members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), were released on bail on 6 November. They are facing charges under The Maintenance of Public Order law and under an unlawful assembly provision of the Penal Code.
However, Asma Jahangir, Chairperson of the HRCP, is still under house arrest. She was ordered to be detained for 90 days by the Home Department of the Government of Punjab on 3 November. Asma Jahangir is a leading human rights activist and lawyer in Pakistan and the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
A 90-day detention order also remains in place against Hina Jillani, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights defenders, who is currently visiting London. There is grave concern that she will be detained on her planned return to Pakistan.
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