Justice Aminuddin Khan’s (now CJ FCC) order upholding the military trials of civilians is being relied upon by the ATC judge to convict Imaan and Hadi on terrorism charges.
Judgments that were made possible by the 26th amendment are now being invoked to further justify injustice.
The fact that certain fundamental rights are subject to “reasonable restrictions” does not grant the state a licence to undermine or usurp those rights. The power to impose restrictions is not a power to render the rights themselves meaningless.
Rida Hosain retweeted
After an anti-terrorism court pronounced human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha guilty, journalists and lawyers raised questions and expressed reservations.
Lawyer Rida Hosain said the convictions were “a stain on our judicial system”.
dawn.com/news/2040698/absolu…
At a time when a province has been placed under emergency rule on the pretext of a surge in terrorism, the state is using its anti-terrorism machinery to convict two human rights lawyers for terrorism.
Is this how the state wants to spend its resources?
Imaan and Hadi’s convictions are a stain on our judicial system.
Those entrusted with upholding the rule of law are weaponising it to persecute courageous human rights lawyers.
This only further exposes a system that is functioning as an instrument of repression.
Rida Hosain retweeted
🔴 Press release
WIL and HRCP reject FCC verdict narrowing workplace harassment protections
23 October 2026, Lahore. @WomenInLawPk (WIL), in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), convened a roundtable in Lahore to examine the implications of the Federal Constitutional Court’s recent verdict in Usman Shahid v. Nadia Sarwar and its implications for workplace harassment complaints and women’s safety and dignity at work.
WIL founder @NidaUsmanCh pointed out that the verdict, which interpreted workplace harassment as necessarily being sexual in nature, was a departure from the broader interpretation of harassment in Nadia Naz v. President of Pakistan (2023). Participants expressed concern that requiring a sexual element and independent corroboration could narrow access to remedies, given that harassment often occurs in private and includes intimidation, exclusion, stereotyping and other forms of gender-based hostility.
Fazlia Tariq of @DigitalRightsPK and lawyer @RidaHosain highlighted the difficulties complainants face in reporting abuse and gathering evidence, particularly in cases of cyber-harassment and other violations without witnesses. Shaharbano Raza of the Lahore University of Management Sciences cautioned that the verdict could erode trust in workplace inquiry committees, which take time to establish credibility. Journalist @FatimaRazzaq20 expressed concern about the selective application of harassment laws and the potential effect of the verdict on pending complaints. Aneesa Agha of the Centre for Fundamental Rights questioned whether the issue would recede from public attention, pointing to the need for sustained engagement.
Fazli Hadi of @Shirkat_Gah highlighted women’s continued underrepresentation in managerial and decision-making positions. @Noorzraja of the Centre for Fundamental Rights urged participants to build alliances with women parliamentarians and engage the National Commission for Human Rights, while Aliza Naqvi of @Asma_Jahangir called for sustained advocacy by HRCP, WIL and other organisations.
Participants also discussed possible legal and institutional responses, including seeking a review of the verdict, mobilising senior lawyers and journalists, engaging with parliamentarians, and assessing the impact of the harassment law over its 16 years of implementation. HRCP treasurer Husain Naqi urged lawyers, civil society organisations and journalists to work together to challenge the ruling. Lawyer Asad Jamal called for close scrutiny of the verdict and an assessment of the law’s record since its enactment, while Sunny Zia of HRCP stressed that advocacy must also address the patriarchal attitudes underpinning workplace harassment.
Participants called for stronger complaint mechanisms, competent guidance for complainants, clear criteria for penalties and well-supported ombudspersons. The roundtable concluded with a call for coordinated, sustained advocacy to protect women’s hard-won rights and ensure safer workplaces.
At the heart of the RTI filed by @Benazir_Shah was a fundamental principle: public land belongs to the people of Pakistan and is held on trust for them. They have a right to know how it is being allocated and used.
Accountability begins with access to information.
It took 10 months before the Pakistan Information Commission finally ordered GCI to disclose information about corporate farming on state land.
Grateful to the brilliant lawyer @RidaHosain for representing me in this fight for transparency and the public’s right to know.
It is short-sighted, unjust, and wrong to defend police encounters allowing the executive to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
According to HRCP, 670 police encounters in Punjab were reported in just 8 months. Per the HRCP, “924 suspects killed as against only two police officers over eight months…this imbalance suggests deliberate executions”.
Cases rely on copy-paste FIRs that repeatedly feature identical phrasing, such as accusing the suspect party of having "opened fire on the police party”.
This is not justice.
Rida Hosain retweeted
The Pakistan Information Commission has ordered Green Corporate Initiative (Pvt) Ltd (GCI) to disclose details of public land identified for corporate farming, profit-sharing agreements with provincial governments, and information on foreign and local investors engaged.
🧵
Rida Hosain retweeted
Why does the Supreme Court look like a cross between a tomb and a church? Athar Minallah has answers. Beautiful vintage photos.
dawn.com/news/2037558/when-i…
Rida Hosain retweeted
Playing carrot & stick with an elected representative govt of a province & imposing illegal outside unelected set-up through Governor rule & emergency isn’t exactly “good” for the country & people - but that seems to be PPP’s chosen route that isn’t possible to sanitise now.
No, I had already said it’s a right. And that is how we had argued it.
I don’t recall Pti standing up for prisoner rights when many of our people were given the silent knock and brutal treatment.
I am not disclosing what was said in the room and I never will but the security of all of KP would have been the province’s responsibility.
No point arguing in this space.
But one thing is clear. The @PPP_Org repeatedly wanted for pti to move forward. They let KP leadership subvert all signed agreements and all due and undue relief went up in smoke. That is not going to be good for them or for the country. We will still try if they want to try.
Rida Hosain retweeted
🚨🚨
Former federal minister for human rights @ShireenMazari1 statement on the conduct of jail trial of her daughter @ImaanZHazir and son in law @AdvHadiali and conduct of the anti terrorism court.
Rida Hosain retweeted
Sally Rooney has more courage and spine than any world leader out there. This is what the artist does: shows you the world you live in.
The PPP continues to boast about the 18th Amendment while voting in favour of emergency and supporting governor’s rule.
Is suspending an elected government and imposing technocrats on the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PPP’s idea of democracy and provincial autonomy?
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s speech exposes that there was no constitutional breakdown, nor a grave emergency.
Bilawal says negotiations were succeeding, and even today, urged that the federal government to continue talks and find a “middle path”. If negotiations were possible then, and a middle ground remains possible even today, why was an elected provincial government dismantled in the name of an emergency? His speech destroys the purported justification for emergency and governor’s rule.
Article 234 requires that the provincial government cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution, and Article 232 requires a grave emergency beyond the provincial government’s control.
The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deserve better than to have their elected government treated as a political bargaining chip.
Rida Hosain retweeted
جو کچھ اب ہو رہا ہے، وہ 2024 کے انتخابی نتائج کو مکمل طور پر الٹ دینے کے مترادف ہے۔ پہلے آپ نے انتخابی نتائج تسلیم کرنے سے انکار کیا اور اب ایک ایسی حکومت کو ہٹا دیا ہے جو آپ کی پسند کی نہیں تھی، حالانکہ اسے صوبے میں دو تہائی اکثریت حاصل تھی.
پی ٹی آئی کی سیاست میں مسائل ہیں اور وہاں دہشت گردی کا بھی مسئلہ ہے، لیکن یہ کسی منتخب حکومت کو ختم کرنے کا جواز نہیں بنتا۔ سکیورٹی کے مسئلے کو سیاسی مسئلے سے جوڑ دیا گیا ہے، بینظیر شاہ
@Benazir_Shah
Rida Hosain retweeted
Threats over her clothes. Intrusive personal questions. A workplace harassment complaint that began in 2012. Why has Nadia Sarwar’s case raised fresh concerns about protection for working women in Pakistan?
In #RightsWatch, @ehmadliveson and @xarijalil speak with human rights lawyer @RidaHosain about the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling in the National Bank employee’s case.
Hosain challenges the court’s interpretation of the pre-2022 harassment law and examines what it could mean for older complaints, evidence requirements and women seeking protection at work.
Who remains protected, and who could fall through the gaps?
Watch the full conversation and subscribe to Voicepk dot net for independent human rights journalism.
youtu.be/hCnzfwizjlU
By imposing an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the federal government has undermined the democratic choice of the people of KP and its provincial autonomy.
The authority of KP’s elected institutions flows from the people’s will, not from the dictates of the federal government.
In 12 districts in KP (including the former tribal areas), the notification states that Article 175(3) does not apply.
Article 175(3) mandates the separation of the judiciary from the executive.
This paves the way for executive officers to perform judicial functions in these areas.
Rida Hosain retweeted
The 25th Constitutional Amendment was meant to end the separate, colonial-era legal regime imposed on FATA, including the FCR, and bring the people under the same constitutional and legal framework as the rest of Pakistan.
The imposition of an emergency in specific areas allows the executive to suspend certain fundamental rights.
To impose emergency rule over the former tribal areas is to push the people of those areas back into a legal black hole where their fundamental rights are treated as dispensable.
