Home Latest News Pakistan Army Denies Any Role in Gul Bukhari Abduction

Pakistan Army Denies Any Role in Gul Bukhari Abduction

by AFP

Military spokesman says armed forces want thorough investigation of British-Pakistani activist’s hours-long detention

The military has denied any role in the abduction of a British-Pakistani activist known for criticizing the armed forces, in an incident that prompted a wave of condemnation and increased fears of a crackdown on free speech.

Gul Bukhari, 52, was detained for several hours by unknown men in Lahore late Tuesday, one day after the military held a press conference warning that it is monitoring citizens who criticize Pakistan. She was released a few hours later, early Wednesday.

Pakistan has a history of enforced disappearances, with the kidnappings becoming increasingly brazen in recent years. Bukhari is known for advocating human rights online and is also a prominent columnist whose articles are often highly critical of the military and its policies.

When news of her abduction broke it caused a furor, with widespread calls for her release and fingers broadly pointed at the military. The British High Commission expressed “concern” at the incident as activists called on the Army to tolerate dissent.

“[The] Army is not behind the abduction of Gul Bukhari,” Major General Asif Ghafoor, chief military spokesman, told reporters late Friday. “We actually want a thorough investigation in this case,” he said.

The military routinely says it is not involved in enforced disappearances, but the statement was a rare on-the-record denial.

During a wide-ranging press conference on Monday that appeared to address mounting criticism against its policies, the military issued a veiled warning to online critics, saying it has the capacity to monitor social media accounts.

Ghafoor briefly flashed an image on screen showing what appeared to be Twitter handles and names, including of at least one prominent journalist, but refused to elaborate further, fueling outcry over free speech. Late Friday he said they “did not intend to implicate journalists.”

Activists remained skeptical of the military’s role in disappearances and curtailing of free speech. “If they did not do it, then they need to come up with an action, a plan of enquiry [to investigate] who did,” said Shahzad Ahmed, head of Bytes for All, a think-tank working for digital security and free speech. “So far the fingers are being pointed towards them.”

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