January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 14: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has criticised the police action against members of civil society who were expressing solidarity on Sunday with the deposed judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who is under house arrest.

The HRCP demanded that all the fabricated cases against the civil society members be withdrawn.In a statement issued here on Monday, Iqbal Haider and Zohra Yusuf of the HRCP said that eight people — Kamran Noorani, Salahuddin Ahmed, Naveed Naushad, Mohammad Faisal, Mustafa Rizvi, Zafar Aslam, Asad Umer and Mr Danish — were arrested under Sections 147 and 148, put into police vans and taken to the Darakhshan police station. The women present at the scene were also misbehaved with.

They said the civil society members were exercising their basic right of peaceful demonstration by lighting candles against the undeclared “house-arrest” of Rana Bhagwandas.

They held the provincial authorities responsible for the police action, including baton charge of protesters. After five hours of detention the activists were released on bail on personal bonds.