{"id":1628,"date":"2025-05-31T05:22:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T05:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=1628"},"modified":"2025-05-31T00:49:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T00:49:33","slug":"human-rights-defenders-tahira-abdullah-and-samina-omar-released-after-brief-detention-in-islamabad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/05\/31\/human-rights-defenders-tahira-abdullah-and-samina-omar-released-after-brief-detention-in-islamabad","title":{"rendered":"Human Rights Defenders Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar Released After Brief Detention in Islamabad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"185\" data-end=\"541\">ISLAMABAD: Human rights activists Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar were released on Friday after a short detention by Islamabad Police, following their arrest outside the National Press Club.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"185\" data-end=\"541\">The detention occurred ahead of a planned protest showing solidarity with the people of Gaza, sparking criticism from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"543\" data-end=\"577\">Arbitrary Arrest Sparks Outcry<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"579\" data-end=\"997\">The HRCP condemned the arrests as \u201carbitrary,\u201d noting that neither Abdullah nor Omar were part of any public gathering at the time of their detention.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"579\" data-end=\"997\">The police had accused them of violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits the assembly of four or more people in certain areas temporarily. However, HRCP challenged this claim, stating that their actions did not breach this legal provision.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">HRCP strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar in Islamabad, who were taken into custody outside the National Press Club ahead of a protest in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Given that neither of them was part of any\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HRCP87\/status\/1928436776881754225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"999\" data-end=\"1335\">The commission also raised concerns about the denial of access to legal counsel for the detained activists. It urged authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of both women. HRCP\u2019s statement emphasized the importance of safeguarding human rights defenders and ensuring they are not unjustly targeted for peaceful activism.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1337\" data-end=\"1390\">Broader Context of Pro-Gaza Protests in Islamabad<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1392\" data-end=\"1757\">The protest was organized by former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, who had earlier called for participation through a public appeal. Alongside Abdullah and Omar, two other female activists associated with JI were detained and charged under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with disobedience to orders issued by public officials.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1759\" data-end=\"2295\">Reports also mentioned the arrest of seven men, who were held at Kohsar police station. This incident is part of a pattern of crackdowns on pro-Gaza demonstrations in Islamabad, with previous arrests of Mushtaq and other activists for organizing protests violating Section 144.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1759\" data-end=\"2295\">In September 2024, police had detained Mushtaq\u2019s family and dozens of protestors during a similar rally, while in March 2024, over 350 individuals were booked on charges related to stone-pelting and threatening law enforcement during a pro-Palestine protest.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2297\" data-end=\"2504\">The recent detentions and subsequent releases highlight ongoing tensions between civil society activists and law enforcement agencies over the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression in Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: Human rights activists Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar were released on Friday after a short detention by Islamabad Police, following their arrest outside the National Press Club. The detention occurred ahead of a planned protest showing solidarity with the people of Gaza, sparking criticism from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Arbitrary Arrest &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[633,635,634],"class_list":["post-1628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-human-rights-activists","tag-islamabad-detention","tag-tahira-abdullah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1630,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1628\/revisions\/1630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}