ISLAMABAD – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday condemneda ‘burglary-style raid’ in Lahore on the house of its editor of the ‘Stateof Human Rights’ report.
In a press release on Friday, HRCP said, “At about 8.45 pm (on Thursday),two armed men broke into the house of Ms Maryam Hasan, editor of HRCP’sannual report, and took away her laptop, two hard drives and two mobilephones, as well as some jewelry and cash.”
It was added that the armed men “told Hasan that they had also come the daybefore, but not committed burglary since she had not been at home”.
The ‘burglars’ questioned Ms Hasan about her professional engagements andintimidated her in a roundabout manner before finally leaving at 10 pm, therelease said.
The Chairperson of HRCP Mehdi Hasan said the commission “suspects that thetwo suave raiders were no ordinary thieves”. He called on Punjab governmentto apprehend the culprits and establish their identity.
“HRCP will hold the provincial authorities responsible for any attempt bystate or non-state actors to harass any persons associated with theCommission,” he concluded.
The HRCP’s annual report released last week, highlighted an increase inenforced disappearances and targeted violence against soft targets andraised the issue of curbs on freedoms of expression while appreciatinglegal progress in other aspects of human rights in Pakistan.