Comprising HRCP chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt, co-chair Munizae Jahangir, treasurer and veteran journalist Husain Naqi, vice-chair Akbar Khan, academic and HRCP member Dr Saba Gul Khattak and HRCP staff members Shahid Mehmood and Salman Farrukh, the mission held meetings from 24 to 26 September 2025 with a wide range of civil society—including the press, the legal community, human rights defenders, and families displaced by conflict—as well as with political party leaders, law enforcement officials and senior members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, including the chief minister.

Principally, local communities and stakeholders have highlighted a worrying link between increasing violence, displacement and security operations, and the extraction of natural resources under the proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Act 2025. In many parts of the merged districts, militants appear to be operating unhindered, reportedly extorting and harassing residents, killing those who refuse to comply, and restricting people’s movement beyond the afternoons. Some reports suggest that law enforcement agencies have ceased to operate in these areas.

The mission is especially concerned about the recent killings in Tirah, in which reportedly over 20 civilians, including women and children, were killed, allegedly under aerial bombardment. The mission has demanded a credible inquiry, urging the provincial and federal authorities to cease shifting blame onto one another. Inadequate compensation to victims’ families cannot be a substitute for state accountability and due process.

The mission notes with concern that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance 2019, an impugned law still in force, continues to legitimise internment centres and preventive detention in clear violation of Article 10 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international legal commitments. Moreover, decreased judicial and administrative oversight, alongside weak regulatory mechanisms, continue to perpetuate the practice of enforced disappearances, with allegations of thousands of cases reported, despite far lower official figures.

The mission has further documented the harassment of journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, particularly those advocating against enforced disappearances. The allegation that law enforcement and security agencies have been complicit in forcibly disappearing people who are then traced to internment centres is of grave concern and merits an immediate response from the government.

The mission has also documented serious reservations expressed by the legal community regarding the revival of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, which risk creating a parallel justice system that lacks credibility and undermines the rule of law.

The mission concludes that there appears to be a clear effort to undo the hard-won constitutional merger of 2018, which will not only reverse social and economic progress, but will also prove disastrous for the rights of vulnerable groups, particularly women and transgender persons, living in these areas.

Farah Zia
Director

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While rescue and relief operations are underway, HRCP stresses that these efforts must be urgently expanded, with more rescue teams mobilised and more relief camps established with equitable access to food, shelter, clean drinking water and medical services. Particular attention must be given to the most vulnerable—women, children, the elderly and persons living with disabilities.

The floods also highlight the plight of climate refugees, who have been forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods. The government must recognise and rehabilitate these displaced persons through long-term resettlement plans, access to housing and livelihood support. Failure to do so will only exacerbate poverty, marginalisation and social unrest.

In the medium term, the consequences will be dire, including food inflation, urban migration and the collapse of already overstretched city infrastructure. With much arable land under water and crops destroyed, food supply chains will be disrupted, causing an economic and humanitarian crisis.

HRCP cautions the government that piecemeal responses will not suffice. Fully resourced, empowered and functional local governments are needed to ensure disaster preparedness and rapid response at the community level. Civil defence institutions must be revitalised, early warning systems modernised and climate-resilient infrastructure prioritised. The restoration of wetlands and an immediate end to encroachment on natural waterways are critical steps to mitigating the frequency and severity of such disasters.

HRCP calls on the federal and provincial governments to wake up to their constitutional obligations, demonstrate political will and foresight, and take the decisive and inclusive action needed to prevent Pakistan from remaining trapped in annual cycles of displacement and devastation.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

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HRCP chairperson Asad Butt reminded participants that laws curbing freedoms move swiftly through assemblies, while those serving the people languish. HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique emphasized that colonial systems had reconfigured societies into ‘cores and peripheries,’ treating people as subjects rather than citizens.

In his keynote address, Justice (R) Maqbool Baqer stressed that Pakistan’s judicial system remains designed ‘to control people rather than protect their rights.’ He called for repealing laws that criminalize dissent, embedding compassion into legal practice and safeguarding judicial independence.

In the opening plenary, lawyer Sara Malkani underscored how sedition and preventive detention laws replicate colonial strategies of control, while researcher Nazish Brohi highlighted the state’s continued ‘civilizing mission’ as a colonial practice. Journalist Akbar Notezai pointed out that Balochistan was ‘still treated like a colony,’ citing resource extraction and widespread disappearances. Lawyer Asfandyar Warraich emphasized freedom of assembly as ‘the fulcrum of all rights,’ warning against restrictive new laws on peaceful protest.

Speakers presented abstracts of their research in three subsequent thematic sessions. Speaking on the right to freedom of expression, digital rights activist Farieha Aziz and lawyers Momna Taufeeq, Simra Sohail, Sibghat Sheikh, and Asfand Katchela critiqued the use of PECA and sedition laws as tools of suppression. HRCP Council member Sohail Sangi observed that digital repression was ‘a modern version of colonial controls on the press.’

Lawyers Abira Ashfaq and Mudassar Farooq, cultural rights practitioner Sadia Farooq Azeemi and HRCP Council member Sadia Baloch examined colonial legacies in criminal procedure, land tenure and social control. They called for educational reform, dismantling discriminatory laws and redefining rule of law on indigenous and human rights principles.

HRCP staffer Salman Farrukh and lawyer Aliza Masood highlighted how colonial laws had entrenched forced marriage and denial of women’s consent, while lawyer Hareem Godil traced blasphemy-related provisions from their colonial origins to the abuse of such laws today. HRCP Council member Mahnaz Rahman described the struggles of women against patriarchal and colonial frameworks, while lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed called for judicial sensitization and safeguards to curb the misuse of laws against women and minorities.

In her closing remarks, former HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani emphasized that ‘We cannot cling to either colonial or indigenous authoritarian traditions. The rule of law must be redefined to reflect justice and equality.’ Concluding the conference, Sindh Assembly deputy speaker Anthony Naveed said that it was necessary to critique draft laws governing the rights and freedoms of religious communities to ensure that they fulfilled the function of protecting rather than encumbering vulnerable groups.

Farah Zia
Director

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The report highlights an alarming rise in violence against religious minorities, including targeted killings of Ahmadis and the demolition of protected places of worship. In a chilling development, two individuals accused of blasphemy were extrajudicially killed by the police while seeking protection from hostile mobs. Such incidents underscore the urgent need for reform within law enforcement and accountability mechanisms.

The report also draws attention to persistent forced conversions and underage marriages of Hindu and Christian girls in Punjab and Sindh, exposing the systematic failure to enforce child marriage restraint laws. Meanwhile, the rise in hate speech—ranging from threats against the chief justice of the Supreme Court to public vilification of elected representatives—points to shrinking civic space and emboldened extremist elements.

HRCP notes with concern the increasing tilt of bar associations towards positions aligned with extremist religious groups—a trend that undermines the independence of the legal profession. The report also documents allegations of collusion by state institutions in cases where several hundred young men and women were entrapped in accusations of blasphemy and extorted.

Despite these challenges, the report acknowledges limited progress, including the passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 and provincial legislation establishing research-based centres of excellence on countering violent extremism.

Among other recommendations, HRCP strongly urges the federal government to establish an inquiry commission based on the findings of the National Commission for Human Rights with respect to entrapment in allegations of blasphemy. The authorities should also monitor those seminaries that are frequently involved in the conversion of underage girls.

Law enforcement forces also need to be better equipped to protect individuals from mob violence, with vital police training in intelligence gathering, crowd management, reading early signals of riots, and community policing. Moreover, swift action should be taken against those who instigate such mobs. As recommended in HRCP’s previous reports, the government must urgently establish an independent statutory national commission dedicated to the rights of minorities, ensuring equal representation for all religious communities.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

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Reports from HRCP’s election observers, who carried out spot-checks across 51 constituencies, indicate that the countrywide internet and cellular services shutdown on polling day and arbitrary changes in polling information compromised voters’ access to polling stations. This was particularly true for women with restricted mobility, persons living with disabilities, the elderly, and low-income voters. Of particular concern is the protracted delay in announcement of election results by the returning officers.

Broadly, the polling process itself remained transparent and peaceful. Polling staff were generally well-prepared and well-equipped. In almost all cases, polling agents and candidates were shown the empty ballot boxes prior to polling and the presiding officer was observed stamping and signing the back of each ballot paper before giving it to the voter. The ballot box was in everyone’s sight at all times and voters were allowed to stamp their ballot papers in secret.

However, the post-polling process was clearly unsatisfactory. In a fifth of all polling stations observed by HRCP, the presiding officer did not affix the statement of the count in a conspicuous place for public display or was not seen transmitting a photograph of the result to the returning officer and ECP. It was alleged in many instances that the returning officer’s announcement did not tally with the presiding officer’s count. Worryingly, reports of candidates, polling agents and observers being denied permission to witness the provisional consolidation of results, also surfaced.

HRCP recommends an independent audit of the 2024 elections under the supervision of a parliamentary body. Security and intelligence agencies should play no role in managing the electoral process or its outcomes. Parliament must also debate the utility of the caretaker government scheme. Seamless cellular and internet services must be available on polling day, including after polling has stopped.

The ECP must publish all Forms 45, 46, 48 and 49 in accordance with the Elections Act 2017. On receiving petitions from aggrieved political parties or candidates, the ECP should order ballot recounts in close contests and especially in cases where the number of rejected ballots exceeds the margin of victory.

The integrity of the 2024 elections was compromised, not only by lack of competence on the part of the ECP but also by constant pressure from extra-democratic quarters and questionable decisions by the caretaker government, all of which HRCP has documented in the year preceding the polls. It is now critical for all parties to collectively uphold and protect civilian supremacy through consistent, meaningful and inclusive political dialogue. Indeed, the biggest casualty of these elections has not been any one individual or political party per se, but democratic values, the rule of law and the aspirations of ordinary people.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

Access the complete report here.

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HRCP insists that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announce an election schedule promptly such that polls are held as close as possible to the stipulated 90-day period. The delimitation of constituencies must also be completed quickly and efficiently and under no circumstances used as an excuse to delay the elections any further. Moreover, HRCP is concerned by the scope for manipulating the electoral process by institutions such as NADRA and urges the ECP to guard against this possibility.

HRCP is greatly alarmed by the increasingly polarised environment, in which religious and sectarian divisions are being exacerbated reportedly to carve out artificial political space for far right parties such as the TLP. The divisive and violent tactics used by such parties to build their political identities—particularly at the expense of religious minorities and sects—is eating into organic political and civic spaces. The continuing terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also made political parties more apprehensive about campaigning in the province—a pattern we have witnessed before and must not go through again.

Apart from ensuring that free, fair and credible elections take place, the test of the current caretaker government is to see not only whether it will protect and respect people’s right to protest peacefully, but also whether it will respond to the issues that ordinary citizens are mobilising around.

Hina Jilani
Chairperson

The post Uncertainty around elections must end immediately appeared first on Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Where the state should be focusing on efforts to uphold the rule of law, reduce violence against women, children and transgender persons, protect the rights of workers and peasants, and fulfil people’s right to health and education, it has instead prioritized its own authority at the expense of democratic norms and people’s fundamental rights. HRCP calls on all political parties to reach a consensus on civilian autonomy and guarding federalism.

The government must focus on strengthening trade unions and seriously consider instituting a living wage, especially for vulnerable workers. HRCP also believes that the provision of healthcare and education is the duty of the state. Student unions must be restored and special attention paid to the plight of incarcerated fisherfolk, stateless persons and rising suicides triggered by poverty, particularly in Thar. The contentious provincial labour codes must be revisited in consultation with trade unions.

HRCP believes that the climate emergency is now an existential crisis for the country. The most pressing issues are the lethal levels of air pollution in Punjab, posing serious risks to health, and the immediate threat of water scarcity, especially in lower riparian Sindh, where the construction of canals on the Indus under the Green Pakistan Initiative has raised objections from small farmers and peasants.

We strongly oppose the Gilgit-Baltistan Land Reforms Bill 2024, which seeks to centralize control over private, communal and ancestral land in the guise of ‘reforms’ for development. This appropriation of land by powerful vested interests will further marginalize people and stoke unrest. The state must give Gilgit-Baltistan its due constitutional rights as demanded by its residents.

HRCP deplores the increasing use of short-term enforced disappearances, including against the political opposition, and calls once again for the head of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances to be removed for sheer incompetence.

The conduct of the state has been marked by violence with impunity and a tendency to succumb to far-right ideologies. This was evident from the extrajudicial killings of two people accused of blasphemy in Umerkot and Quetta, from continued attacks on Ahmadiyya graveyards and sites of worship with police complicity at the instigation of the TLP, and hundreds of mostly young people accused of online blasphemy languishing in Punjab jails amid allegations of the FIA’s involvement in their torture. The alarmingly high number of extrajudicial killings, especially in Sindh, must be investigated and perpetrators held to account.

HRCP notes with concern the fact that its chairperson was detained for questioning by the police and four FIRs filed against its members in connection with their human rights work.

The sharp rise in militancy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including increasingly regular attacks on construction workers, miners and polio workers, is rapidly moving towards a point of no return. HRCP calls on Baloch and Baloch-Pashtun leaders to sit together and devise an independent solution to the crisis in the province. Pashtun leaders in Kurram must do the same to resolve the months-long conflict in the district.

HRCP wishes to draw special attention to the detention of human rights defender Idris Khattak, who has now spent five years in custody following a military trial on fabricated charges. He must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

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Where the state should be focusing on efforts to uphold the rule of law, reduce violence against women, children and transgender persons, protect the rights of workers and peasants, and fulfil people’s right to health and education, it has instead prioritized its own authority at the expense of democratic norms and people’s fundamental rights. HRCP calls on all political parties to reach a consensus on civilian autonomy and guarding federalism.

The government must focus on strengthening trade unions and seriously consider instituting a living wage, especially for vulnerable workers. HRCP also believes that the provision of healthcare and education is the duty of the state. Student unions must be restored and special attention paid to the plight of incarcerated fisherfolk, stateless persons and rising suicides triggered by poverty, particularly in Thar. The contentious provincial labour codes must be revisited in consultation with trade unions.

HRCP believes that the climate emergency is now an existential crisis for the country. The most pressing issues are the lethal levels of air pollution in Punjab, posing serious risks to health, and the immediate threat of water scarcity, especially in lower riparian Sindh, where the construction of canals on the Indus under the Green Pakistan Initiative has raised objections from small farmers and peasants.

We strongly oppose the Gilgit-Baltistan Land Reforms Bill 2024, which seeks to centralize control over private, communal and ancestral land in the guise of ‘reforms’ for development. This appropriation of land by powerful vested interests will further marginalize people and stoke unrest. The state must give Gilgit-Baltistan its due constitutional rights as demanded by its residents.

HRCP deplores the increasing use of short-term enforced disappearances, including against the political opposition, and calls once again for the head of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances to be removed for sheer incompetence.

The conduct of the state has been marked by violence with impunity and a tendency to succumb to far-right ideologies. This was evident from the extrajudicial killings of two people accused of blasphemy in Umerkot and Quetta, from continued attacks on Ahmadiyya graveyards and sites of worship with police complicity at the instigation of the TLP, and hundreds of mostly young people accused of online blasphemy languishing in Punjab jails amid allegations of the FIA’s involvement in their torture. The alarmingly high number of extrajudicial killings, especially in Sindh, must be investigated and perpetrators held to account.

HRCP notes with concern the fact that its chairperson was detained for questioning by the police and four FIRs filed against its members in connection with their human rights work.

The sharp rise in militancy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including increasingly regular attacks on construction workers, miners and polio workers, is rapidly moving towards a point of no return. HRCP calls on Baloch and Baloch-Pashtun leaders to sit together and devise an independent solution to the crisis in the province. Pashtun leaders in Kurram must do the same to resolve the months-long conflict in the district.

HRCP wishes to draw special attention to the detention of human rights defender Idris Khattak, who has now spent five years in custody following a military trial on fabricated charges. He must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

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The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) calls on the state to eliminate the heinous practice of enforced disappearances, acknowledging that it constitutes a crime against humanity under international law.

We demand the following of the federal government:

1. Recover all victims of enforced disappearance promptly and safely and present them before courts of law. Those who stand accused of any crimes must be dealt with in accordance with the law and their right to due process and fair trial upheld.
2. Legislate against enforced disappearances as a matter of priority, making the practice a criminal offence.
3. Ratify and implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
4. Hold accountable all individuals and institutions involved in perpetrating or facilitating enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the custodial torture of forcibly disappeared persons.
5. Appoint a new chairperson to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and restructure the commission such that it responds to the needs of victims’ families more effectively.
6. Institute and enforce a transparent mechanism for victims and their families to claim and receive reparations for violations of their right to liberty and due process, including women who have lost their household’s primary earners to enforced disappearance.
7. Extend an invitation to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct an official visit to Pakistan and report its findings.
8. Ensure that victims’ families are allowed to safely exercise their right to freedom of expression and assembly unhindered.

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The alarming frequency of clashes between rival tribes and sects has effectively isolated the district from the rest of the province as a result of road blockades put in place to contain the situation, compounded by suspension of cellular services. Regrettably, such measures have failed consistently to bring any relief and have instead periodically cut off residents’ access to food, fuel and medical supplies. Schools have also had to close intermittently, while in several cases, the blockades have led to the deaths of sick children and elderly persons who did not receive medical attention in time.

Despite a ceasefire agreed to between rival groups in June 2023 and again in October and several jirgas involving tribal elders and the authorities, Kurram remains wracked by violence. An estimated 49 people were killed and at least 190 injured during the conflict in July this year. In September, another 21 people were killed, according to press reports. At least 11 people were killed in October, reportedly including women and children.

HRCP is also greatly concerned by reports that armed, trained fighters may have been involved in the violence—this allegation must be taken seriously and investigated. The fact that local rival groups clearly have access to heavy weaponry indicates that the state has been unable to control the flow of arms into this region.

The protracted trauma and violence to which Kurram’s residents have been subjected for over a year must not become the new normal—it has already reached the proportions of a humanitarian crisis. The state would do well to heed the call of local ‘peace marches’ held by weary residents desperate for an end to the conflict.

The state has a duty to protect their right to life and security, to ensure that the perpetrators of violence are traced and held to account, and to involve all stakeholders in serious negotiations to bring an end to the conflict.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson

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