The controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, which had elicited an outcry from political parties and rights activists due to its draconian clauses and infringement of constitutional rights, saw the light of day after an amended version was passed by the Senate on July 1, 2014 followed by the National Assembly on July 2, 2014.
Met with a mixed response, while some former opponents are content with the amendments, others suggest further amendments whereas some maintain there is no need for this law at all. In this legal analysis, we discuss the more worrying aspects of the law, namely:
Right to Shoot
Search Without Warrant
Preventive Detention and Internment
Reversal of Burden of Proof
Enhanced Legal Intercepts Regime
READ NOTE HERE: Legal analysis of the Pakistan Protection Act
See other material published on the PPA by Bolo Bhi in this Resource Guide
About The Author
Farieha Aziz
Farieha Aziz is a Karachi-based, APNS-awardwinning journalist. She is a co-founder and Director at Bolo Bhi. She has a masters in English literature. She worked with Newsline from July 2007-January 2012 and taught literature to grades 9-12. She served as an amicus curiae in a case filed in the Lahore High Court in 2013, challenging the ban on YouTube, and is currently a petitioner on behalf of Bolo Bhi in a case filed in the Islamabad High Court challenging government's censorship on the Internet and the powers of the regulator. She can be found on Twitter: @FariehaAziz and reached via email: farieha@bolobhi.org