ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday instructed the federal government and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to submit their response at next week’s hearing of a case concerning the Internet slowdown across the country, which has caused immense problems for online workers and businesses.
According to the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, Internet speed across the country has dropped by 30-40 percent in the last few weeks, as the government tries to operationalize a national firewall installed recently to filter undesired content such as “anti-state propaganda.”
The PTA has the technological ability to block unwanted content and prevent the access of local users to specific websites, though the firewall is expected to enhance its capability to monitor and filter Internet content on a wider scale.
Justice Shakil Ahmad of the LHC took up a petition filed by a local lawyer highlighting the issue which nominated the government and PTA as respondents.
“Justice Ahmad ordered that representatives of all the respondents in the case should ensure their attendance in the next hearing,” Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
“The judge summoned one representative each from the federal government, the Ministry of Information and the PTA at the next hearing on August 21,” it added.
The Pakistan Software Houses Association described the problems caused by the firewall on Friday as “a disaster” for the IT industry.
The association’s senior vice chairman, Ali Ihsan, maintained the Internet disruptions were “not mere inconveniences but a direct, tangible, and aggressive assault on the industry’s viability – inflicting devastating financial losses estimated to reach $300 million, which can further increase exponentially.”
The petition requested the court to order the government to provide uninterrupted Internet service in the country.
Pakistan court seeks government response next week on nationwide Internet slowdown
https://arab.news/2h87v
Pakistan court seeks government response next week on nationwide Internet slowdown
- Government’s decision to install a national firewall to filter ‘anti-state’ content online has reduced Internet speed
- Lahore High Court has asked federal authorities and PTA to submit response to a petition on the Aug. 21 hearing
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
