LAHORE, Oct 24: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed its concern over the government’s reported move to amend the anti-terrorism law to grant the authorities sweeping powers to detain people.

Describing the move as too draconian to be allowed in a modern state, the HRCP said in a statement on Thursday “when militancy has inflicted immense suffering on the people of the country and threatens the state, measures to counter it must not amount to imposing still greater hardship on citizens and further derogation of the rule of justice.

“Given past examples, there is a fear that the power granted by the new amendments to detain persons without charge for up to a year or to arrest suspects without assigning a reason will only increase the harassment being faced by a growing number of persons over the past three years,” it said.

The HRCP believed that expanding the already enormous coercive powers of the state can only add to the strains already placed on the relations between the state and the citizens, while posing a still greater threat to the fundamental rights of people.

The commission warned that deep-rooted problems could not be solved through draconian legislation.

“It is also necessary to address the root causes of militancy rather than its symptoms. Where legislation of any kind is deemed to be necessary to tackle the problem, it must not be divorced from the primary need to safeguard fundamental rights since the protection of the rights of all citizens is essential if the violent tendencies in society, that have already claimed so many lives, are to be eradicated and greater safety ensured for all people.”