Source: Amnesty International –
The Pakistan government’s ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and the use of anti-terrorism laws to target activists and peaceful protesters from minority groups is an affront on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly in the country, said Amnesty International today.
The PTM is a grassroots movement peacefully advocating for human rights of Pashtuns who have long been subjected to harassment and violence by the Pakistani authorities. On 6 October 2024, in a new government notification, the PTM was designated as a ‘proscribed organization’ by placing it under the First Schedule for ‘List of Proscribed Organizations’ of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
“The listing of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement as a proscribed organization, days ahead of their gathering scheduled on 11 October, is part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups. This latest arbitrary ban under over-broad powers of the terror law is only the tip of the iceberg – for years the Pakistani authorities have suppressed such movements from marginalized regions by resorting to unlawful use of force, enforced disappearances, and media bans on the coverage of protests or rallies,” said Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia.
The Pakistan government must immediately course correct and put an end to the criminalization of peaceful protests and assemblies. It must stop its witch-hunt of dissenting groups on the basis of their ethnicity and reverse their decision designating PTM under the Anti-Terrorism Act
Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia