ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police have dismissed three cops for harassing, blackmailing and illegally detaining a married couple who was visiting a picnic spot in Pakistan's federal capital, a police spokesman said on Sunday.
The couple was en route to Shahdara picnic spot this month and were stopped by a police mobile team in the jurisdiction of the Bharakahu police station, which asked for their marriage certificate. The policemen on duty humiliated and harassed the couple and demanded bribe after they failed to furnish the marriage certificate, according to Islamabad police spokesman Jawad Taqi.
Police constables Asfand Ayaz, Nayab and Sami Ullah separated the woman from her husband and sat her in a police vehicle, where one officer harassed her and took her phone number. Later, another constable, Naimatullah Baloch, repeatedly contacted her on her phone and threatened her for refusing his demands. The couple lodged a complaint with Islamabad's deputy inspector-general for operations and an inquiry confirmed the officers' misconduct.
“As soon as the complaint was lodged, the SSP [senior superintendent of police] investigated the matter and after a thorough inquiry, the three officers involved were terminated from their jobs this week,” Taqi told Arab News on Sunday.
To ensure internal accountability, the spokesman shared, the Islamabad police had a dedicated department, called the Internal Accountability Unit, within the office of the Islamabad police chief.
“Additionally, there is a separate IG [Inspector-General] Islamabad helpline 1715, where complaints against the police can be made in case of any misconduct,” he added.
Taqi emphasized the importance of a proper self-accountability mechanism to ensure that “any individuals damaging the institution's reputation or abusing their authority are held accountable through departmental procedures.”
In a separate case last month, Asim Zaidi, in-charge of the Sangjani police station in Islamabad, was arrested over illegal detention of two citizens, Muhammad Saeed and Shahbaz, for 19 days, without any charges, according to the Islamabad police. The illegal detention came to light after families of the detainees approached a local court. A police inquiry revealed that a case filed by Zaidi against the detainees was "delayed and improper."
In Pakistan, police harassment of citizens has been a pressing issue for years, with numerous reports of citizens facing mistreatment, abuse and unlawful detention. According to the National Corruption Perception Survey 2023 conducted by the Transparency International Pakistan (TIP), police were the "most corrupt institution" in the South Asian country.
Islamabad police dismiss three cops for harassment, illegal detention of couple
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Islamabad police dismiss three cops for harassment, illegal detention of couple
- A police team humiliated and harassed the couple as well as demanded bribe from them after they failed to provide a marriage certificate
- Last year, Transparency International Pakistan's National Corruption Perception Survey identified police as the 'most corrupt institution'
Pakistan urges ‘time-bound and irreversible’ path to Palestinian statehood at UN
- Pakistan warns the Security Council Israeli settlement expansion has reached its highest level in the West Bank
- It says Islamabad backs sustained ceasefire, expanded humanitarian access, protection of UNRWA’s role in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday called for a time-bound and irreversible political process leading to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, urging the international community to move beyond declarations and turn long-standing commitments into concrete action.
Addressing a Security Council briefing on the Middle East, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations said repeated diplomatic initiatives had underscored that the status quo was untenable and that only a credible political horizon, grounded in international law, could deliver durable peace.
His remarks came as the Security Council reviewed the implementation of Resolution 2334, which calls on Israel to halt settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory.
Pakistan said recent diplomatic efforts — including a high-level conference in July and the General Assembly’s endorsement of the New York Declaration reaffirming the two-state framework — had sought to preserve the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
It said follow-up meetings at Sharm El-Sheikh, along with US-led initiatives under President Donald Trump aimed at halting the fighting, were intended to reopen a political process toward Palestinian statehood.
“A time-bound and irreversible political process, anchored in relevant UN resolutions must lead to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told the council.
“It is high time to turn promises into action and speed up this process,” he added.
Ahmad said Pakistan backed Security Council Resolution 2803, which calls for efforts to sustain the ceasefire, expand aid access and restart a political track toward Palestinian statehood.
He said settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, had reached its highest levels since the United Nations began systematic monitoring, citing UN findings that more than 6,300 housing units were advanced during the reporting period.
Such actions, he said, had “no legal validity” under international law but continued to undermine the viability of the two-state solution.
Pakistan also defended the role of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), saying it remained indispensable for Palestinian refugees and must not be weakened by what it called unfounded criticism.
Ahmad condemned the storming of UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem earlier this month, calling it a violation of international law and the inviolability of UN premises, and urged full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, along with the immediate start of reconstruction without annexation or forced displacement.
