ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s health ministry has said the country had not yet reported any cases of the “Indian strain” of the coronavirus considered to be responsible for a catastrophic second wave of the pandemic in its South Asian neighbor, while the prime minister’s special adviser on health said on Tuesday it was “incorrect” to say the government was only relying on gifts and donations of vaccine jabs to meet its demand.
India recorded more than 320,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday as a grim surge of illness and death ripped through the country.
Syed Sajid Shah, a spokesperson for the Pakistani health ministry, told reporters on Monday the country was still “safe” from the Indian variant while cases of the UK variant were being reported in Pakistan.
Pakistan has already banned land and air travel from India. Last week, it offered “relief support” to India as hospitals in the neighboring nation begged for oxygen supplies and coronavirus infections soared.
On Tuesday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, said the government was not solely relying on gifts and donations of vaccines and had a purchase plan in place, including contracts with three vaccine companies.
“To say that the government is waiting to receive vaccines as gifts is incorrect,” Sultan said, adding that the delay in the arrival of more vaccines in Pakistan was due to global supply shortages.
We have signed deals for 30 million doses, including a deal for technology transfer and joint manufacturing of China’s CanSino vaccine, the health chief said, adding that money was not a concern and the government was willing to spend.
“Many countries were not able to get vaccines despite advance booking,” Sultan said, giving the examples of Canada and Australia and adding that the government was also yet to receive vaccine jabs from global alliance COVAX, delayed due to supply chain issues.
He said the government had purchased three million doses of available vaccines by March 30 and two million people had so far been inoculated.
Pakistan says ‘Indian variant’ of COVID-19 not detected, denies only relying on vaccine donations
https://arab.news/nq8xg
Pakistan says ‘Indian variant’ of COVID-19 not detected, denies only relying on vaccine donations
- Heath chief says government has signed contracts for 30 million doses including technology transfer from China
- Says delays in arrival of more vaccines due to global supply shortages, two million people vaccinated so far
UN experts slam Pakistan lawyer convictions
- Imaan Mazari, husband Hadi Ali Chattha were sentenced to 10 years last month for “anti-state” social media posts
- Five UN special rapporteurs say couple jailed for exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law
GENEVA, Switzerland: Five UN special rapporteurs on Wednesday condemned the conviction and lengthy jail sentences imposed on a prominent rights activist and her fellow lawyer husband in Pakistan over “anti-state” social media posts.
Imaan Mazari, a 32-year-old lawyer and vocal critic of Pakistan’s military, “disseminated highly offensive” content on X, according to an Islamabad court.
She and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were jailed on January 25, with a court statement saying they “will have to remain in jail for 10 years.”
The UN experts said they had been jailed for “simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law.”
“Lawyers, like other individuals, are entitled to freedom of expression. The exercise of this right should never be conflated with criminal conduct, especially not terrorism,” they said in a joint statement.
“Doing so risks undermining and criminalizing the work of lawyers and human rights defenders across Pakistan and has a chilling effect on civil society in the country.”
Mazari shot to prominence tackling some of Pakistan’s most sensitive topics while defending ethnic minorities, journalists facing defamation charges and clients branded blasphemers.
As a pro bono lawyer, Mazari has worked on some of the most sensitive cases in Pakistan, including the enforced disappearances of ethnic Balochs, as well as defending the community’s top activist, Mahrang Baloch.
Mazari and her husband have been the subject of multiple prosecutions in the past, but have never previously been convicted of wrongdoing.
“This pattern of prosecutions suggests an arbitrary use of the legal system as an instrument of harassment and intimidation in order to punish them for their work advocating for victims of alleged human rights violations,” the UN experts said.
“States must ensure lawyers are not subject to prosecution for any professional action, and that lawyers are not identified with their clients.”
The statement’s signatories included the special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the independence of judges, freedom of opinion, freedom of association and on protecting rights while countering terrorism.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak in the name of the United Nations itself.
The UN experts have put their concerns to Islamabad.
