{"id":8398,"date":"2023-02-04T09:05:12","date_gmt":"2023-02-04T09:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=8398"},"modified":"2023-02-04T09:05:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-04T09:05:12","slug":"sedition-laws-must-be-abolished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/sedition-laws-must-be-abolished\/","title":{"rendered":"Sedition laws must be abolished"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container hundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_4_5 4_5 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>Press release<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sedition laws must be abolished<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Lahore, 4 February 2023<\/em>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expresses its deep concern over the spate of recent arrests and cases filed against opposition leaders and journalists on charges of sedition, treason, and making statements conducing to \u2018public mischief\u2019 and incitement to violence. The sheer impunity with which such arrests have been made, often without warning in the early hours of the morning, with some of those arrested alleging that their families were harassed and their property damaged, is cause for alarm.<\/p>\n<p>Successive governments have brazenly weaponised archaic, colonial-era laws to stifle dissent. Never has this served any democratic purpose. While we do not condone abusive or threatening language or slander, in light of the recent arrests of leaders such as Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Fawad Chaudhry under Sections 153-A, 505 and 124-A, HRCP urges the government to abolish the sedition law, as it is currently worded, from the Pakistan Penal Code, given its long history as a tool of political victimisation. A political process to do so, which was initiated in the Senate in early 2020 but could not come to fruition, must be revived immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Section 124-A constitutes a constraint on the legitimate exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. Dissent and criticism of the government are essential ingredients of robust public debate in a vibrant democracy and should never be construed as sedition.<\/p>\n<p>Hina Jilani<br \/>\nChairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:80% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 2.4%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 2.4%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}<\/style><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_5 1_5 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-widget-area fusion-widget-area-1 fusion-content-widget-area\"><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-widget-area-1 {padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget h4 {color:#333333;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget .heading h4 {color:#333333;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget h4 {font-size:18px;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget .heading h4 {font-size:18px;}<\/style><style type=\"text\/css\" data-id=\"tweets-widget-2\">#tweets-widget-2 li { border-color:#ebeaea;}<\/style><div id=\"tweets-widget-2\" class=\"widget tweets\" style=\"border-style: solid;border-color: #ebeaea;border-color:transparent;border-width:0px;\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div style=\"overflow:hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"twitter-timeline\" data-dnt=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HRCP87\" data-tweet-limit=\"5\" data-width=\"\" data-height=\"900\" width=\"\" height=\"900\" data-theme=\"light\" data-link-color=\"#ff9800\" data-border-color=\"#ebeaea\" data-chrome=\"\">Tweets by HRCP87<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div class=\"fusion-additional-widget-content\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:20% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 9.6%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 9.6%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}<\/style><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 40px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 180px;}<\/style><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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