There is a need for a rational debate on the death penalty involving scholars, jurists, academia, civil society and human rights defenders and legislation on the scope of the President’s powers to grant pardons to resolve the ambiguities created by the rulings of the superior courts.

The mission is especially alarmed by the apparent surge in suicide cases in various parts of GB, particularly in district Ghizer. A large number of these victims comprise women and the mission has reason to believe that some cases of honour killings have been labelled suicide and thus ‘forgotten

Herald Report Islamabad: The Asma Jahangir conference organisers have rejected claims that the event furthered any partisan agenda or violated the media-related laws by inviting a former prime minister to speak at the conference. Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad addressed the opening day of the third Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on Nov 20, 2021. HAH Photo “The AJ …

The government has filed a plea in a court for cancellation of bail of the prime accused in the Adeeba murder case amid protests in different parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and other cities seeking justice for the victim and an end to rising incidents of suicide and violence against women in the mountainous societies.

Leaders of lawyers' and media bodies, human rights defenders, and parliamentarians Thursday vowed to resist increasing assault on judiciary and media.

High Asia Report GILGIT:  An accountability court on Tuesday accepted the plea bargain application of Salim Khan, a former member of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, to pay Rs51 million he had embezzled in the Sost Dry Port scam. Justice Khurshid Ahmed of the Accountability Court Gilgit approved the plea bargain on the recommendation of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regional office. …

GILGIT: Four more prisoners were released from Damas jail in Ghizer District on Friday. According to a notification issued by the Home Department of Gilgit-Baltistan, the authorities have issued release order of Aleemuallah Khan, Musa Khan, Irfan Ali and Shukrullah Baig. Notification of the Provincial Government/Home department for the release of the four prisoners The interim government/home department with the …

By Amir Roshan A massive protest joined by mourners on the occasion of Chehlum of the martyrs of Karbala at Aliabad Hunza on October 8. Photo by Ali Ahmed As sit-in and protest rallies for the release of Awami Workers Party (AWP) leaders Baba Jan, Aleemullah Balkhan, Iftikhar Karbalai, and 11 other imprisoned youth continue, more people pour into Aliabad …

Noted journalist Matiullah Jan returns home nearly 12 hours after he was abducted from Sector G-6, a highly secured locality of Islamabad in broad daylight.

Students protest in Tehran’s Sharif University on Monday, January 13, 2020. Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian journalist and activist whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, has been sentenced to death for his actions following what Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called a “grossly unfair” trial. A Revolutionary Court “considered that the 13 charges [against Zam] were the equivalent of the …

Herald Report Islamabad: Pakistan’s top court on Friday threw out the presidential reference against senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa in a case that was widely seen as pitting the country’s judiciary against its government and powerful armed forces. “[The reference] is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed,” read the majority (9-1) short verdict on …

Herald Report Activists of women’s and human rights organisations have condemned misogynist, sexist and provocative rants of government’s top lawyer and sought an unconditional apology from him. In a joint statement, activists of women’s rights, literary, cultural, youth, and legal groups, academia, have expressed outraged and condemned the highly derogatory, inflammatory, sexist, and misogynist remarks made the other day by …

Anwar Hussain was facing a corruption reference in an accountability court      Herald Correspondent GILGIT: Officials of the anti-graft watchdog have arrested a court absconder in Gilgit-Baltistan on charges of corruption. According to a press statement issued by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), its officials have arrested Anwar Hussain from Nilt, Nagar. He was presented before a judge of …

Herald Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Tuesday put on notice the advocate general and government of Gilgit-Baltistan on a petition filed by the Federal government seeking an amendment to the election laws to hold polls in the region. The seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, issued notice to the GB government and its top counsel for Thursday to …

Ismat Shahjehan, president Women Democratic Front holding Mashal Khan’s portrait and other activists at the Student Solidarity March at Islamabad on Friday.–Photo by PrSF by Waseem Altaf   Mashal Khan was my friend on Facebook and would often ask me to recommend him books for reading. He was lynched to death by a group of religious fanatics on this day …