SCOTTISH politicians – including Nicola Sturgeon – have been asked to intervene after an award-winning human rights activist who spoke in the Scottish Parliament earlier this year was arrested in Pakistan.
Gulalai Ismail spoke at Holyrood at a Humanist Society Scotland event in May attended by MSPs Claire Baker, Bill Kidd and Kenneth Gibson.
She was arrested yesterday morning by Pakistan’s (Federal Investigation Authority) while re-entering the country from the UK. During her trip, Ismail attended board meetings of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and met up with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai , whom she mentored. Ismail was later released on bail but her father said her passport was withheld.
Humanist Society Scotland has also written to the Pakistan Consulate. Chief executive Gordon MacRae said: “This is an extremely concerning attempt to control and restrict the movements of human rights advocates by the Pakistan authorities. We call on politicians right across the political spectrum in Scotland, with any influence in Pakistan to take immediate action and please help our friend and committed human rights activist.”
Ismail in 2002 founded Aware Girls, an organisation which works to empower and educate women and girls on rights and leadership in Pakistan. Yousaf participated in the programme in 2011, before her attempted assassination by a Taliban gunman.
Ismail was placed on Pakistan’s exit control list – a state mechanism to prohibit leaving the country – while she was in the UK last week.
In an audio file released from the airport, she said: “I have been arrested as the state and non-state actors have been doing an illegal crackdown on me for human rights activism and raising my voice for peacebuilding.
“I think this is an example of how space for voices who are speaking for civic rights and peacebuilding. This is not an attack on Gulalai Ismail, this is an attack on our civic freedom and liberty to speak out. This is an attack on our freedom of speech.”
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