KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reprimanded the federal government and claimed that it “loves” quoting the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the Kashmir issue but not on the country’s internal human rights abuses.
On a social media website Twitter he wrote, “Human rights watch calls out NAB political victimization of political parties & media. Mentions Saad Rafique, Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, myself & my father. We love to quote @hrw on Kashmir but ignore them on Pakistan.”
Human rights watch calls out NAB political victimisation of political parties & media. Mentions Saad Rafique, Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, myself & my father. We love to quote @hrw on Kashmir but ignore them on Pakistan https://t.co/If0185gUYj
— Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (@BBhuttoZardari) August 7, 2020
The PPP leader’s statement came in light of the recent report of the HRW on human rights abuses allegedly being carried out by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Earlier, the HRW had urged the Pakistani authorities to stop using NAB —referring to it as “a dictatorship-era body, possessing draconian and arbitrary powers” — to harass and intimidate opponents.
In a statement, the rights organization said that the government should follow up on the 87-page judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the Khawaja brother’s case to rein in the anti-graft body.
The HRW also mentioned the illegal arrest and detention of veteran journalist Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman by NAB, who is in the anti-graft body’s custody since March.
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