POLICE ARREST HUNDREDS THROUGHOUT PUNJAB PROVINCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 002544 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK SUBJECT: POLICE ARREST HUNDREDS THROUGHOUT PUNJAB PROVINCE Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Peter Bodde, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) According to media reports, Pakistani police have arrested between 800 and 1,200 people -- mostly political party workers -- throughout Punjab over the last few days. Rahat Quddusi, special advisor to Punjab's Chief Minister, said that the arrests are an effort to maintain law and order, and the decision to crack down was made at a meeting held last Friday chaired by Punjab's Inspector General of Police. Those picked up, Quddusi said, were on a watch list compiled by Pakistan's intelligence agencies. ¶2. (U) Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto publicly condemned the arrest of her party's political activists -- which by mid-day June 7 totalled approximately 200, according to People's Party officials. Bhutto said that the arrests were a result of her party's decision to support the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists in its observation of a "black day" in protest against the government's recent curbs against the media. Other political parties, including Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, and members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal coalition are claiming their party workers have also been arrested. ¶3. (C) Comment: Police roundups of political party workers ahead of protest rallies have been common, and workers are generally released after the end of the protest. The latest round of arrests show that the government is worried about the possible confluence of protests -- in support of the Chief Justice and against the restrictions on press freedom. End Comment. BODDE