Govt Must Stop Attempting To Limit Civil Liberties: HRCP 

News Desk

Lahore: The amended Official Secrets Act 1923 gives intelligence agencies sweeping powers to enter and search any person or place without a warrant if they suspect an offense has been committed under the act which at the very least violates people’s right to privacy under Article 14 of the Constitution, stated Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

The HRCP strongly opposed the recent slew of hastily passed legislation, none of which has undergone critical deliberation even at the parliamentary level, much less public debate.

Moreover, by broadening certain definitions, the act may be used to indiscriminately charge people who have no intent of committing an offense under the act, HRCP further said.

In making it a crime to ‘incite, conspire, attempt, aid, or abet the commission of an offense under the act’, the amendments also broaden the scope for targeting dissidents and political rivals in the future. Previously, the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act 2023, passed by the Senate and National Assembly at breakneck speed in July, criminalised defamation of the armed forces, including online.

It violates the right to freedom of expression of retired military personnel under Article 19 as well as their right to participate in public life under Article 17. Additionally, the bill sanctions the armed forces’ engagement in ‘national development and advancement of national or strategic interest’.

HRCP deplores this attempt to seek legislative approval for military involvement in areas to which it has no moral or political claim. In criminalising criticism of Parliament, the Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill 2023, passed earlier in July, violates people’s constitutional right to freedom of expression under Article 19.

Moreover, it also makes it harder to hold elected representatives accountable while contravening people’s right to participatory governance.

Furthermore, allowing the envisaged contempt committee to award punishment violates the trichotomy of powers because judicial power cannot be exercised by the legislature, nor should legislators be judges in their own cause.

The Personal Data Protection Bill and E-Safety Bill, which were approved by the federal cabinet in July without any sign of deliberation or debate, are cause for great concern.

We support the reservations of digital rights activists who have pointed out that these bills do not meet international standards of data privacy and will curtail rather than protect digital rights, said HRCP.

HRCP opined that the government would do well to remember that its legitimacy and authority spring from the quality of its governance and its ability to respect, protect, and fulfil citizens’ fundamental rights.