Pakistan: Authorities continue to silence dissent with crackdown on Baloch and other activists, protesters and journalists

The state of civic space in Pakistan is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Ongoing concerns include the repression against the opposition, the censorship of journalists and attacks on peaceful protests around the elections. Other ongoing concerns include the criminalisation, threats and harassment of human rights defenders and the failure to hold perpetrators to account. There have also been violations documented against ethnic Pashtun and Baloch minorities and women’s rights activists.

In July 2024, The Pakistani government said it had plans to ban Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The announcement by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar came days after the Supreme Court handed a major legal victory to the PTI by declaring it eligible for a share of seats reserved in national and provincial assemblies.

On 24th September 2024, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination published its Concluding Observations on Pakistan and raised concerns about the increasing number of reports of violent attacks and reprisals -- including physical attacks, mob lynchings and killings -- against persons accused of blasphemy, who often belong to ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups. The Committee was also concerned about reports of the enforced disappearance of ethnic and ethno-religious leaders, politicians, public officials and human rights defenders and the increasing rate of enforced disappearance among persons belonging to ethnic minority groups in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces.

In recent months, the police have cracked down on gatherings by activists and protesters in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, using excessive force and targeting activists. A new peaceful assembly law threatens the right to protest in Islamabad. The authorities also filed a case against Baloch activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch, raided and briefly detained Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairman, and added Baloch activist Sammi Deen to the Exit Control List. A poet was abducted for his human rights activism while police arrested opposition lawmakers and leaders. They were also ongoing attacks and criminalisation of journalists.

Peaceful Assembly

Police in Balochistan use excessive force on peaceful protest against abduction

Police used excessive force against protestors who gathered in Balochistan’s Quetta on 11th July 2024 demanding the release of a civilian who was reportedly abducted by Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

According to the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which led the protest, the abductee, Zaheer Ahmed Baloch, has been a government servant for the last 15 years and was taken away by the CTD on 27th June while he was on his way to work. The BYC said Zaheer, who has no political affiliations, was forcibly taken away. His family had been harassed by government agencies before he was picked up by the CTD.

Zaheer’s family together with other protestors held a sit-in in Quetta from early July 2024 demanding the police register a first information report (FIR) against the CTD and to press for the release of Zaheer. However, the police refused to mention the CTD in the First Information Report (FIR).

As police refused to heed their demands, the protestors marched from Sariab Road in Quetta to the Red Zone area. Police then cracked down on the protestors using tear gas, baton charges, and also opened fire. Several protestors including women and children suffered injuries. Some of them even had their limbs fractured.

Amnesty International condemned the unlawful use of force by the police in Pakistan, including the use of tear gas and batons and the mass arbitrary and unlawful arrests of peaceful protesters.

Reprisals and violence around the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar

Human rights groups documented violence by Pakistan state forces against human rights defenders and peaceful protestors who had gathered for the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar Balochistan on 28th July 2024.

According to Front Line Defenders, the Baloch National Gathering is a peaceful march which was organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee in Gwadar, Balochistan, to highlight the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan by the Pakistan state. This includes systemic discrimination, violence and impunity in the province.

In the weeks leading up to the Baloch National Gathering, members and human rights defenders associated with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) faced reprisals by state authorities including surveillance, raids, arrests and false legal cases.

The NGO Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that some of the march’s organisers received threats to call off the march or face arrest or enforced disappearance.

From 26th to 28th July 2024, major highways in Balochistan were blocked by the military using containers, heavy stones and large trucks to prevent people from joining the Gwadar gathering. Transporters and passenger bus drivers were threatened and told not to transport attendees. Internet, mobile and land line access to Turbat, Gwadar District and Mastung District were also reportedly blocked, reducing avenues for information to be shared.

According to Human Rights Watch, Pakistani authorities detained hundreds of people. Baloch activists alleged that government security forces also used excessive force to prevent protesters from reaching the port city of Gwadar, the end point of the march.

Amnesty International reported that on 27th July 2024, Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakistan, fired at people travelling to join the Baloch protests, injuring at least 14. On 28th July 2024, at least three protestors were killed by security forces in Gwadar and Talar, and dozens injured.

On 29th July 2024, at least three human rights defenders including Sammi Deen Baloch, Dr. Sabiha Baloch and Sabghatullah Abdul Haq were detained by uniformed armed personnel.

Security forces fire on protesters at Bannu peace protest

On 19th July 2024, security forces allegedly fired upon a large protest rally in the city of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leaving at least one protester dead and another 27 injured.

According to news reports, the incident occurred when the rally comprising thousands of protesters was marching towards the Bannu Cantonment area. The protesters, which some estimates put at 10,000, comprised supporters of political parties, traders, activists, members of civil society and people from different walks of life. Waving white flags, they were protesting against growing militant activity in the region and the recently announced military operation while demanding the restoration of peace and stability in the region.

Amnesty International said: “Firing by officers on peaceful protestors in Bannu today resulting in the death and injury of several protestors, is a violation of their rights to peaceful assembly under international human rights law and Pakistan’s own Constitution”.

New peaceful assembly law threatens the right to protest in Islamabad

A new law to regulate protests was bulldozed through parliament in early September 2024 that would increase restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly.

The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act which is applicable only to the Islamabad Capital Territory, was presented in the Senate of Pakistan on 2nd September 2024 and approved by the Senate Standing Committee the very next day. It was passed by the Senate and the National Assembly over the course of the following two days, despite objections from opposition parties. Presidential assent was granted in ‘haste’ by the end of the same week.

According to Amnesty International, the law expands the power of the authorities to restrict or ban assemblies in Islamabad on overbroad grounds, including the ‘disruption of daily activities’, and significantly increases the maximum penalty for taking part in an ‘unlawful assembly’ from six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Association

Authorities file case against Baloch activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch

On 7th June 2024, Pakistan authorities filed a First Information Report (FIR), including false sedition charges, against Baloch woman human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch. The FIR is linked to a full day conference held by Mahrang Baloch at the Quetta Press Club on 18th May 2024, which was unjustly disrupted by local authorities.

According to Front Line Defenders, Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a woman human rights defender based in Balochistan, and a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) campaigning against unlawful enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the Pakistani authorities in the Balochistan Province.

In November 2023, Dr. Mahrang Baloch was a key figure in the Baloch Long March, organised in response to the extrajudicial killing of a Baloch youth in Turbut, Balochistan and which galvanised into a peaceful march calling for an end to the atrocities including enforced disappearances and killings. Authorities responded with violence and reprisals against peaceful protesters, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch.

Balochistan is a region that has experienced decades of violence, and systemic abuses by Pakistan authorities. This includes the military, intelligence agencies and armed groups that continue to target local communities and human rights defenders who seek to document and advocate against the violations.

NGO chairman detained in police raid on Karachi home

On 26th July 2024, police detained Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairman Asad Iqbal Butt in a raid on his Federal B Area residence in Karachi in a bid to stop his participation in the 28th July rally against enforced disappearance in Gwadar.

They detained the HRCP chief at around 1.30pm and brought him to the Gulberg police station, where he was asked whether he was going to attend the Baloch conference in Gwadar. He was released at around 4pm.

HRCP said that he was ’arbitrarily detained’ by the police in Karachi and that the ‘HRCP believes that this measure is an intimidation tactic designed to stifle the voice of human rights defenders’. Mahrang Baloch, organiser of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, condemned the detention and said that it is reflective of the ‘oppression and tyranny of the state military’ in Balochistan.

Poet abducted for his human rights activism

On 15th May 2024, Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmad Farhad was abducted from outside his house. Farhad was pushed into a vehicle in Islamabad after returning from a dinner.

His wife, Syeda Urooj Zainab, said that hours before his abduction Farhad had posted on X about receiving threats from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency. She accused the country’s spy agency of responsibility, saying it acted because of his activism.

Zainab said: “My husband has been abducted for writing and raising his voice against human rights violations across the country. He actively reported on the recent protests in his home town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”

Hours after his disappearance, Farhad’s family petitioned the Islamabad high court to investigate what had happened. The court ordered security forces to produce Farhad within four days and threatened to summon the prime minister in the event he was not released.

Zainab said that two days after the alleged abduction, Farhad contacted her through WhatsApp and asked her to withdraw her petition in the court in return for his recovery.

Two weeks after he was abducted, Farhad resurfaced in the custody of police in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir and was later released on bail. He now faces a criminal case of “obstructing” a public servant at a checkpoint.

In July 2024, Farhad told the Guardian he was ‘thrown into a tiny, hot, foul smelling cell and began to become unwell soon afterwards, but was given no medical attention’. He was interrogated and his captors made it clear that his political poetry, his activism and a recent post on social media calling for Pakistan’s powerful army chief to resign, were the reasons he had been picked up.

Government adds Baloch activist Sammi Deen to Exit Control List

On 8th September 2024, human rights activist Sammi Deen Baloch was restricted from travelling to Muscat, Oman. Her name was put on an Exit Control List (ECL) by the state, a move that now prevents her from travelling abroad. Such tactics have been used previously by the state to restrict the movement of human rights defenders.

According to Sammi Deen, after receiving her boarding pass, she had approached the immigration officers to hand over her passport. However, the officer hesitated and appeared uncertain. When Sammi Deen enquired about the delay, the officer citied a system error.

She was then detained in a room for almost four hours without explanation as to why she was not allowed to travel. Sammi Deen said the immigration officers were also rude to her. She was informed that her name had been added to the ECL and she was questioned repeatedly about her trip to Muscat.

Sammi Deen then turned to social media to address the situation, finding it to be her most effective tool. Within three minutes of going live on social media, the officer returned her passport and told Sammi Deen that she could leave, but did not explain the reason for the travel ban.

In 2024, Sammi Deen received the Front Line Defenders Award for her work. She was a key leader of the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar, making her and other activists targets of government repression.

Police arrest lawmakers, leaders from former PM Imran Khan’s party

On 10th September 2024, police in Pakistan arrested several lawmakers and leaders from former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in a series of raids in Islamabad. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said at least 13 individuals were picked up from various locations in the capital, Islamabad, including some from outside parliament.

The raids follow a massive PTI rally on 8th September 2024 when tens of thousands of supporters demanded Imran Khan’s release from jail, where he has been for more than a year. Khan was removed as prime minister in 2022.

Among the detainees, accused of inciting violence, was the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Gohar Khan. Videos circulating online showed police taking the party head out of his vehicle before whisking him away to a police station. Others arrested include Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, who were arrested by police outside parliament.

Previously, in July 2024, a UN human rights working group said former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arbitrarily imprisoned in violation of international law.

Court sets aside policy to regulate NGOs’ funding

On 6th September 2024, the Lahore High Court (LHC) set aside a federal government policy introduced in 2022 to regulate foreign funding of non-governmental and non-profit organisations.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and others had challenged the ‘Policy for Local NGOs/NPOs Receiving Foreign Contributions 2022’ mainly questioning the federal cabinet’s lack of executive authority to regulate or impose restrictions on non-governmental and non-profit organisations without prior legislation from the parliament.

The policy provided that an authorised officer of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA), not below the rank of BS-21, shall approve or reject a request of the NPOs and NGOs for execution of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry.

The petitioners said the policy, conspicuously, extended a superintending role for the security agencies. The policy also spelt out that security agencies were required to grant clearance before signing of an MoU.

The court found that this policy infringed on constitutional rights under Article 18, which guarantees freedom of trade and business. The judgment noted that the federal cabinet’s actions lacked legal sanction and that such policies must be enacted through legislative authority. The court also criticised the involvement of security agencies in scrutinising NGOs as unlawful and an unwarranted intrusion into fundamental rights.

Expression

Ongoing attacks and criminalisation of journalists

Journalists remain at risk of attacks or being criminalised in Pakistan for their work or critical views of the government.

According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), on 21st May 2024, Nasrullah Gadani, a reporter for local Sindhi language newspaper Awami Awaz, was attacked by armed assailants in the Kori Goth area of the Ghotki district in Sindh province. He suffered critical gunshot wounds to his abdomen. Gadani died in a Karachi hospital on 24th May 2024.

On the same day, Kamran Dawar, a journalist based in the North Waziristan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed by unidentified assailants in front of his home in Tappi village.

Separately, on 22nd May 2024, Syed Iqrar ul Hassan, a prominent TV anchor with ARY News, and his three team members were attacked by a group of people in Gujranwala city in Punjab province. Hassan and his team sustained minor injuries.

On the evening of 18th June 2024, unidentified assailants fatally shot veteran journalist Khalil Jibran, a reporter for the privately owned Pashto-language broadcaster Khyber News, in the Landi Kotal area of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In July 2024, The Sindh Human Rights Defenders shared information of attacks and threats against journalists. Raza Rind, a reporter from GNN News, was attacked on 15th June while Meer Khan Shar, a reporter at Mehran TV, was threatened for his reporting. On 3rd July, Peeral Azad from the Daily Sindh Express had a false case registered against him and threats of illegal detention and disappearance, while on 30th June, Nooral Arfeen, a news anchor at BOL news, was brutally attacked by more than a dozen masked men.

On 10th September 2024, it was reported that a First Information Report (criminal complaint) had been registered against several journalists in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, including Abid Hussain Shah, president of the Kashmir Press Club, along with journalists Zaffar Mughal and Zafeer Bacha from Daily Uraan, Amjad Baig from JK News, and Raja Mushtaq Ahmed. The FIR is linked to a 2020 report alleging that Sardar Naseer Sarwar, the Superintendent of Mirpur Jail, had sexually assaulted a female prisoner. Zaffar Mughal was also arrested.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) strongly condemned the FIRs and the arrest of Mughal. PFUJ President Afzal Butt called the charges “a clear violation of press freedom” and demanded the immediate release of Mughal and the dismissal of all charges.

On 11th September 2024 the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) initiated legal proceedings against journalists and YouTuber Imran Riaz Khan for allegedly leading an online smear campaign against the judiciary. The case was filed under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, specifically invoking Section 20, which deals with privacy violations and includes charges related to threats and abetment.