Protection of Pakistan Bill: HRCP condemns government for following 'police state model'

Describing the Protection of Pakistan Bill as a blatant attack on the fundamental rights of the people, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the government for deliberately following the model of a police state.
In a statement issued here on Friday the Commission said, "The HRCP is appalled at the failure of Parliament to block the passage of the Protection of Pakistan Bill. It seems the period of eight months since the first version of this law was promulgated as an ordinance was spent on a fruitless exercise. The law enforcing personnel still have the power to open fire on anyone they declare to be a suspect and they still have authority to detain people, not only for 60 days but for longer periods." "The language of the bill and the power allowed to the government to add new offences to the schedule heighten fears of the enactment's abuse, especially in areas such as Balochistan where political dissent has long been construed as sedition. In its efforts to make a law that directly attacks the people's civil rights the government has done a disservice to justice and democracy both, a decision that will cause more misery to innocent people," statement mentioned.