The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday condemned police action against Aurat March activists in Karachi a day earlier, calling on authorities to respect people’s access to civic spaces.

On Thursday, a rights activist was ‘briefly detained’ from outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC), ahead of a press conference by Aurat March over the alleged abduction of two Baloch girls.

The organisers said classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani was also manhandled by police, while other women participants were also “mistreated” by female officers on their way to the press club. Journalist Zofeen Ebrahim was also barred from attending the press conference, which was eventually held at the KPC.

In a post on social media platform X today, the HRCP said it condemned the police obstruction of Aurat March’s scheduled press conference and the brief detention and manhandling of activists and reporters, including Kermani.

“We are also alarmed that journalist Ebrahim was barred from entering the press club. The HRCP urges the authorities to respect all people’s access to civic spaces and investigate the alleged police misconduct,” the commission said.

While the authorities refused to give any official account of yesterday’s incident, a police officer who wished not to be named, said that “extreme vigilance and heightened security measures” had been put in place in the Red Zone, particularly around the KPC, because of security concerns.

The officer said there was a “terrorist threat” and that security had therefore been tightened. The officer denied the arrest of any woman activist.