ORAL STATEMENT BY CIVICUS
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott
Examination of Pakistan’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Report
Chairperson,
Honourable Committee members,
CIVICUS welcomes this opportunity to share with you some of the organization’s main concerns about Pakistan’s civic space record.
We are alarmed by the criminalisation, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and journalists in Pakistan as well as abductions and killings. Human rights defender Idris Khattak who was forcibly abducted in 2019 is serving a 14-year jail sentence on trumped-up espionage charges. The authorities have also targeted ethnic minority defenders for their activism including Dr. Mahrang Baloch and Manzoor Pashteen.
Freedom of expression has also been severely curtailed in Pakistan through restrictive legislation. In particular, the authorities have used defamation laws in the Penal Code and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) to criminalise human rights activists, journalists and critics, and create a chilling effect for those who may want to speak up.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has long been the enforcer of the government’s campaign of censorship and repression of the media. It also has broad censorship powers to block and remove internet content considered offensive.
Freedom of peaceful assembly is subject to significant restrictions through broad and restrictive laws such as the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 and Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In recent years, there has been a crackdown on opposition protests as well as protests by ethnic minority communities, particularly ethnic Baloch and Pashtun activists with incidents of unlawful killings, excessive force, arbitrary arrests and the prosecution of protesters. The annual march known as the Aurat March, held by women human rights activists on International Women’s Day has also faced repeated restrictions.
Therefore, we call on the UN Human Rights Committee to make the following recommendations:
- Immediately and unconditionally release all HRDs, activists and journalists including Idris Khattak, drop all charges against them and provide them with a safe and secure environment in which to carry out their work.
- Review defamation provisions in the Penal Code, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and other provisions in order to bring them into line with the ICCPR
- Halt all forms of censorship and ensure uninterrupted access to digital platforms and internet services.
- Respect the right to peaceful assembly, amend the Maintenance of Public Order Law, 1960, in order to guarantee this right and halt the misuse of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to restrict protests.
We thank you for your attention.
