{"id":8571,"date":"2023-05-08T13:45:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=8571"},"modified":"2023-05-08T13:45:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:45:14","slug":"state-must-take-stand-against-mob-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/state-must-take-stand-against-mob-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"State must take stand against mob attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release<\/p>\n

State must take stand against mob attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lahore, 8 May 2023<\/em>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) observes with great alarm that the prevalence of\u2014and seeming public tolerance for\u2014mob lynching has risen in recent months. This uptick in vigilantism not only indicates an increasing desensitisation to violence, but also breeds further brutality.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the murder of a cleric at a public meeting in Mardan, who was beaten to death by a mob following allegations of blasphemy, is at least the second such incident this year alone. In February, a 45-year-old man was killed by a mob in Nankana Sahib on similar grounds.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the impunity\u00a0that has\u00a0accompanied\u00a0such incidents\u00a0betrays\u00a0a breakdown of\u00a0the rule of law. Law enforcement authorities\u00a0are not adequately equipped or trained to\u00a0contain\u00a0such flareups or to trace and charge hundreds of\u00a0perpetrators.\u00a0This is compounded by the weak response of the\u00a0political leadership, which appears to lack the political will to\u00a0take\u00a0a stand against such atrocities.<\/p>\n

The state must devise a strategy to restore public trust in the criminal justice system and uphold the right to due process and fair trial. At the same time, unless the state makes it unequivocally clear that religious extremism will not be tolerated, such incidents will invariably recur.<\/p>\n

Hina Jilani
\nChairperson<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>