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Pakistani Lawyer who Fought for Unlawfully Held is Abducted

Associated Press

   ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani lawyer known for pursuing cases of those
   unlawfully detained by the country's security agencies was abducted
   overnight from his home in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, his son
   said Tuesday.

   According to the son, several armed men in plainclothes knocked on the
   gate of the family's home on Monday night. When the family opened the
   door, the men barged in and snatched his father, Inamur Rehman, shoved
   him into a car and then sped away.

   Rehman, a lawyer and a retired military officer, was never a threat to
   anyone, said the son, Husnain Inam. He refused to speculate on who was
   behind the abduction.
   "We are still in a state of shock," said Inam, adding that the family
   was too terrified to cry out for help during the abduction.
   Inam, a college teacher, said he's formally reporting the abduction to
   the police. No government official could immediately be reached to
   comment.
   Rehman has been vocal critic of Pakistani security agencies and has
   also represented several people detained by the country's
   military-backed spy agency in recent years. He has previously reported
   being harassed by security agencies.
   In 2012, he petitioned a court challenging the government's move to
   keep outgoing army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in office for
   another three years.
   Last Tuesday, dozens rallied in the capital, Islamabad, marking the the
   International Human Rights Day by urging the government to release
   hundreds of people who they say have been ``forcibly disappeared'' by
   security agencies in recent years.
   The government has repeatedly denied the allegations. Although
   Pakistani law prohibits detentions without court approval, officials
   privately concede that intelligence agencies are holding an unspecified
   number of suspects. The officials say the detentions are because of
   ties to militant groups.