Israeli lawyer Ben Marmarelli says Palestinian prisoners he represents beg him not to visit because they're raped each time he is due to meet them.
This is a scene from Al Jazeera's shocking new documentary on Israel's systematic use of rape.
59 years ago today, Israel attacked the USS Liberty in international waters. 34 crew members were killed and 174 were wounded by the IDF.
Today, I spoke on the House floor to honor the fallen and to recognize the survivors who were present in the gallery.
Shameless are those who decided to keep human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali's in jail. Hundreds of people were depending on them to fight for basic rights in these dumb and deaf courts.
#ReleaseImaanAndHadi
URGENT: 185 citizens including bar leaders, lawyers, civil society members, journalists, artists, & educators condemn delays in the hearing of the suspension of sentence applications of @ImaanZHazir & @AdvHadial; call for urgent hearing & justice at IHC.
#ReleaseImaanAndHadi
NCHR has visited Junaid in Multan Jail. He was arrested on 13.3 2013 & spend 13 years in prison. His lawyer was shot dead in chambers. His appeal has been pending before Multan HC since 2019. NCHR has already written to govt for urgent intervention in order to ensure due process.
🚨🚨#BREAKING: Even after the 14 days deadline given by the #SupremeCourt crossed, State appointed prosecution team seeks adjournment in #Pakistan’s most prominent human rights defenders @ImaanZHazir & @AdvHadiali sentence suspension application on a frivolous ground that three member prosecution team is not available, one is in Lahore and the other is in Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar’s court. Justice Azam Khan adjourned the hearing for Thursday, 4th of June.
Eid Mubarak to our jailed friends and advocates @ImaanZHazir & @AdvHadiali who have sacrificed their Eid days for the lives and liberties of victims of enforced disappearances, blasphemy gang and poor labourers.
Let us not forget those who sacrificed their freedom for our’s . May they live long, happy and prosperous lives
#EidMubarak2ImaanAndHadi
🚨 Trump demands Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan sign Abraham Accords as condition of Iran deal
President Trump posted on Truth Social Monday demanding that all countries involved in Iran negotiations simultaneously sign the Abraham Accords, describing it as a prerequisite for any deal and warning those who refuse would be excluded from the agreement.
“It should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote, naming Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain as targets. The UAE and Bahrain are already members.
🔸Trump warned: “If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.”
🔸He said it “should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit.”
🔸He also dangled Iran’s own potential membership, writing: “If Iran signs its Agreement with me… it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition.”
🔹The Abraham Accords, brokered during Trump’s first term, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Kazakhstan. Trump’s demand would require the mediating countries to recognize Israel and normalize relations as a condition of ending the Iran war — a significant ask given that Saudi Arabia has publicly conditioned any normalization on a credible and irreversible path to Palestinian statehood, a position shared in various forms by Turkey, Egypt, and others on the list.
🔹The demand comes as the U.S. has allowed Israel to continue the daily killing of Palestinians in Gaza for more than seven months since the October 2025 Trump-brokered ceasefire, with over 900 Palestinians killed since the agreement was approved by Israel. The U.S. and Israel are also deliberately blocking minimum levels of food, medicine, shelter, fuel, and reconstruction aid.
🔹President Trump has also removed sanctions on the most violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where rampant state-backed settler violence to uproot Palestinian families has gone unchecked since the start of his second term.
🔹Trump closed his social media post with a warning: “It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”
"Either we proclaim that Palestinian civilians are lesser civilians, lesser human beings, not entitled to the same protection, or we proclaim that the rules do not apply to Israel, and accept that Palestine becomes the ground zero for the death of international law-based order.
A resolute action is needed to end the impunity and the crimes it enables, to save Palestinians, but also save the prospect of freedom, justice and peace for all in our region and beyond."
Can you imagine the terror and horror Israel inflicts on Palestinian children, women, and men in detention centers when the cameras are away?
This is Israeli terrorism.
The protection of fundamental rights requires that all individuals, regardless of their views are afforded fair process & timely access to justice. Delayed hearings in matters concerning liberty inevitably erode confidence in rule of law.
🚨🚨#BREAKING: #Pakistan’s most prominent human rights defenders @ImaanZHazir and @AdvHadiali will have their 2nd Eid behind bars too, #Islamabad high court issues notices on the application of suspension of sentence for 1st of June 2026.
Urgent hearing appeal was for suspension of sentence so there shd be no confusion. Clearly justice delayed is justice denied doesnt hold much sway in IHC! 2 working days are still here but Judge Azam decided not to give date for early hearing of suspension till 1st June. All abt vengeance, never abt justice. #ReleaseImaanAndHadi
Once upon a time
By a former judge & jurist
There was once an Islamabad High Court that inspired confidence among ordinary citizens. It would entertain grievance letters and convert them into petitions. No lawyer was needed, and judgments would be handed down without fear or favour. No one could dare think of violating its orders. People reposed trust in the Court because it was seen as a constitutional forum that stood above power, influence, and intimidation. Even petitions concerning the enforced disappearances of voiceless citizens of Balochistan were entertained, often bypassing the Balochistan High Court itself. The jurisprudence that evolved challenged the power centres instead of submitting to them.
That Court was feared by the powerful because it gave hope to the powerless. When no other court would grant relief, the Islamabad High Court stood as an exception. Citizens believed that at least one constitutional court remained willing to speak the language of rights rather than expediency.
Then came the backlash. The High Court was stormed by lawyers; its Chief Justice and judges were held hostage for more than eight hours. It was unprecedented. Malicious vilification campaigns followed. The Court had raised the expectations of suffering citizens too high, and for that it had to be disciplined.
Within a few years, the same Court was dismantled. Fearlessly independent judges were removed, sidelined, or transferred. In their place emerged a Court transformed beyond recognition. Today, even entertaining an application for early hearing has become an extraordinary event. Two human rights lawyers were arrested while under the protection of the elected President of the Bar, and their suspension of sentence continues to gather dust in a storeroom.
The contrast between the old Islamabad High Court and the present one could not be starker. The earlier Court asserted constitutional authority over all centres of power; the present Court appears dictated by Sector Commanders. Once, state officials feared violating court orders. Today, Sector Commanders are publicly patted on the back for the effective discharge of illegal duties. Once, judges spoke through courageous judgments; today, silence itself has become institutional policy.
The judges of the Islamabad High Court now refuse to give effect even to the orders of the Supreme Court. Either the Supreme Court has become impotent, or the judges of this newly reconstructed Islamabad High Court have become fearless in their disregard for constitutional hierarchy.
The legal fraternity, once capable of storming the Court in outrage, has now become content in submission. Civil society looks the other way. Political parties remain indifferent. The destruction of judicial independence has been normalised so completely that even open defiance of constitutional norms no longer shocks the public conscience.
Everyone now seems guided by the demoted Chief Justice Yahya Afridis advice to “rejoice” — even though it was he who, single-handedly, laid the foundations for dismantling a fearlessly independent constitutional court and replacing it with one that bends before unelected authority.
And yet, in the middle of this decay, Hadi Ali Chattha and Iman Mazari have emerged as symbols of resistance. You both have become heroes for an entire generation that has witnessed the public burial of constitutionalism and the humiliation of the rule of law. Your persecution has exposed a system where obedience is rewarded, dissent is criminalised, and the law is no longer a shield for citizens but a weapon of intimidation wielded by the powerful. 1/2
جسٹس اعظم خان نے ایزدوکیٹ ایمان مزاری اور ایڈوکیٹ ھادی علی چٹھہ کی طرف سے دائر سزا معطلی کی درخواستوں کی جلد سماعت کی درخواست سننے سے انکار کر دیا اور کہا کہ سپریم کورٹ کی حکمنامے کی مصدقہ نقل نہیں لگائی گئی۔ اس پر درخواست گذاروں کے وکیل ایڈوکیٹ فیصل صدیقی نے مصدقہ نقل پیش کر دی تو جج صاحب بولے کہ یہ دفتر میں دائر کی جائے جسکے بعد جلد سماعت کی درخواست نئے سرے سے مقرر کی جائیگی۔ واضح رہے رجسٹرار آفس نے بھی اس حوالے سے کوئی اعتراض نہیں لگایا تھا۔
Clear reluctance on part of Islamabad High Court to offer justice to @ImaanZHazir & @AdvHadiali delaying matters of grave justice despite clear SC instructions on unheard of “technicalities”. Part of the larger scheme to sanction any dissenting expression #ReleaseImaanAndHadi