Legal Experts Debate Rights Erosion at Asma Jahangir Conference

News Desk
Lahore: Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani on Friday expressed concern over what he termed the growing politicisation of the bar, saying such trends were absent in the past.
Speaking at the sixth Asma Jahangir Conference, he said there was no need for further constitutional amendments and warned that any proposed 28th amendment could alter the fundamental framework of the 1973 Constitution.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Gina Romero, voiced concern over the arrests of Mahrang Baloch, Imaan Mazari, Hadi Ali Chatha and Idrees Khattak.
Gina Romero said military and anti-terrorism courts were increasingly being used to try human rights activists, describing it as a worrying development.
Romero also cautioned that recent amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act and similar laws enacted in Balochistan and Punjab risk undermining human rights protections, including safeguards against arbitrary detention and cruel and inhuman treatment.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said that according to United Nations data, more than two million Afghans were deported last year.
He stressed that Afghanistan remained unsafe for returnees and said the UN had made its position on the matter clear.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/rights-resistance-to-dominate-asma-jahangir-conference/
The Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell (AGHS), in collaboration with the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and the Pakistan Bar Council, inaugurated the sixth edition of the international Asma Jahangir Conference (AJCONF) at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore.
The two-day conference, scheduled for February 7 and 8, 2026, is being held under the theme “Erosion of Fundamental Rights and Resistance Across Borders.”
The conference has brought together members of the judiciary and legal fraternity, academics, students, civil society representatives, media professionals, United Nations mandate-holders and international human rights observers to deliberate on constitutionalism, democratic governance and the state of fundamental freedoms in Pakistan and the wider region.
The inaugural session was attended by several prominent legal and political figures, including Federal Minister for Law and Justice and Federal Minister for Human Rights Azam Nazeer Tarar, Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council Pir Masood Chishti, former Supreme Court Bar Association presidents Ahsan Bhoon and Yasin Azad, former Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council Akhtar Hussain, and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments, describing them as a necessity of the time.
He also informed participants that mechanisms were being deliberated to prevent the misuse of blasphemy laws. The minister further stated that the government intended to raise the marriageable age of women to 18 years, in line with international best practices.
Following the inaugural session, six panel discussions were held on a wide range of issues, including constitutional amendments, hostilities in South Asia, the repatriation of Afghan refugees, the Kashmir dispute, freedom of expression, the situation of minorities in Pakistan and the existence of parallel legal systems.
Held in memory of renowned human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, the conference aims to provide a platform for dialogue on justice, the rule of law and accountability among policymakers and opinion-makers from across the region and beyond.