WEB DESK: Amnesty International raised serious alarm bells over the latest state-sponsored violence perpetrated against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters in Islamabad between November 26 and 27, calling to the government for an immediate and thorough investigation into the killings and injuries of protesters.
Accountability for any unlawful use of lethal or less-lethal force by security personnel should also be ensured by the authorities, which reportedly left deceased individuals and mass detentions in its wake.
“What we see is a brutal and lethal crackdown reflecting the increasing intolerance towards peaceful assembly in Pakistan,” declared Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
“The most direct way to describe the situation is mass detentions, an escalation of violence, turning off mobile internet services, and inflammatory rhetoric against PTI protesters,” said Pant. He recalled that such repression was also witnessed against the Baloch and Pashtun protests earlier in the year within a similar pattern of systemic suppression.
Emerging testimonies and reports suggest the unlawful use of force, including lethal ammunition, against demonstrators during a government-enforced communication blackout. Such impediments have made independent verification possible but casualties have still occurred as a result.
“The use of lethal ammunition and the suppression of communication during the crackdown raises urgent questions about the accountability for these human rights abuses,” Pant added.
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