Police release Aurat March activists; probe demanded over alleged mistreatment

ISLAMABAD: Senior members of civil society, including human rights activists and organizers from the Aurat March, took to a press conference on Monday, accusing authorities of improper conduct towards women’s rights advocates who had been held in detention prior to Sunday’s International Women’s Day rally.

Police released all 44 detainees after imposing Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code and denying them a no-objection certificate (NoC) for organizing the event. The activists demanded an official investigation into allegations of harassment and threats during their arrest, which they described as violations of basic rights to protest.

Aurat March’s Dr Farzana Bari insisted that organizers were well-aware of Section 144’s application in Islamabad but argued against its use based on principles of civil liberties. She stated, “You cannot take our right to protest; similar demonstrations have taken place worldwide without such restrictions.”

Harris Khalique, Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), expressed concern that societal functions were jeopardized by laws like the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). “We don’t believe in violating existing laws,” he claimed. However, he went on to suggest that these legal constraints necessitated a reevaluation.

Khalique detailed how the activists had been manhandled and physically assaulted, including being beaten and pulled from their hair at the Women’s Police Station during detention. He also alleged that the authorities used baton charges against the detained individuals and forced them to sign false affidavits as conditions for release of their relatives who came seeking bail.

Aurat March organizer Tariq Mahmood Ghouri, a member of the PPP Human Rights Cell Information Secretariat, asserted that his colleagues’ families too were detained. “They had no choice but to sign an affidavit stating they would not participate in future such activities,” he said, indicating the coercive measures imposed on detainees.

Additionally, Khalique claimed that legal representation was severely restricted, with male personnel conducting unauthorized and invasive body searches of female activists. The press conference served as a platform for further calls for accountability and a review of the authorities’ handling of the detainees’ rights violations.