Pakistan faces global scrutiny over domestic abuses, transnational repression at UNHRC: Report

Geneva, March 31 (IANS) Pakistan came under international scrutiny over not only domestic rights abuses but also a widening pattern of targeting critics abroad during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, a report said on Tuesday.

According to a report in European Times, on March 27, activists and observers gathered for discussions that drew connections between internal repression and what they described as its external projection across Pakistan.

The argument was clear -- noting that the same apparatus enabling enforced disappearances and legal opacity at home is being extended to "influence, intimidate, and silence dissent" in exile.

"Within Pakistan, allegations of enforced disappearances remain central. Regions such as Balochistan continue to feature prominently in reports by groups including Human Rights Watch. Families of missing persons have for years staged protests demanding information about relatives who vanished after encounters with security agencies. Legal remedies remain limited and accountability rare," the report detailed.

Referring to the case of Pakistani human rights activist Idris Khattak, the report said that it illustrates the "overlap between detention and restricted due process."

While Khattak's disappearance and subsequent prosecution drew international attention, the speakers stressed that many similar cases receive far less scrutiny in Geneva.

What has changed, according to participants, is the widening geographic scope, with testimony from Pakistani human rights activist in exile, Roshaan Khattak and others citing "threats, surveillance, and indirect coercion" against activists in Europe and North America.

"The methods described are often informal but effective. Family members inside Pakistan are questioned. Travel documents are delayed. Anonymous messages reinforce the sense that distance offers limited protection," The European Times report stated.

Citing research by US-based think tank Freedom House, the report said Pakistan has been identified as one of the countries involved in transnational repression, with cases recorded across multiple jurisdictions.

"Unlike high-profile operations associated with other states, the pattern described here relies on persistence rather than visibility. It is difficult to attribute, harder to prosecute, and therefore easier to sustain," it added, highlighting the repression by Pakistani authorities.

The report cited speakers including Italian journalist Francesca Marino and human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who argued that Pakistan's external pressure is closely linked to domestic conditions.

"Where institutions lack transparency and oversight at home, similar tactics can be adapted abroad with little consequence. The result is a continuum of control that extends from local communities in Pakistan to diaspora networks in major Western cities," it noted.

Stressing the lack of effective response, the report said, "The discussions pointed to a gap that remains unresolved. Documentation of abuses inside Pakistan continues to grow. Evidence of intimidation beyond its borders is now accumulating. The policy response, both domestic and international, has yet to match that expansion."

--IANS

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