ISLAMABAD: International rights watchdog CIVICUS classified Pakistan as “repressed” in its latest report on civic freedom on Monday, accusing authorities of placing restrictions on social media platforms, stifling protests from opposition parties and criminalizing activists.
Pakistan’s rights groups and opposition parties have highlighted what they say is growing suppression of their fundamental rights over the past few years. They point to legislations in recent months that recommend hefty fines and jail terms for those spreading “fake news” online, a ban on social media platform X that has been in place since February last year, arrests of opposition leaders and their supporters, and alleged harassment of journalists.
Pakistan’s government denies the allegations, saying that its legislations ensure data privacy on social media platforms, and it only takes action against violent protesters who take the law into their hands.
According to the latest report compiled by CIVICUS, an online platform that tracks the latest developments to civic freedoms worldwide, Pakistan joins Congo, Serbia, Italy and the US in this year’s watchlist which “lists countries experiencing rapid declines in civic freedoms.”
“Pakistan’s recent criminalization of activists, stifling of opposition and minority protests, and digital space restrictions have resulted in the county being added to the CIVICUS Monitor watchlist,” the rights body said in a press release.
CIVICUS classified Pakistan in the “repressed” section, where it said countries where civic spaces are significantly constrained are included. CIVICUS said individuals and civil society members who criticize power holders risk surveillance, harassment, intimidation, imprisonment, injury and death in countries categorized as repressed.
The press release mentioned the government’s move to ban the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) last year under it anti-terror laws. The PTM is a pro-Pashtun rights group that is known for its criticism of Pakistan’s powerful military. The online platform also mentioned the charges that prominent ethnic Baloch rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a fierce critic of Pakistan’s military who blames it for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in southwestern Balochistan province, faces.
The army says many of Balochistan’s so-called disappeared have links to separatists while military spokespersons have also variously accused the rights movement led by Baloch of being “terrorist proxies.”
“She faces multiple criminal charges including under Anti-Terrorism Act, for organizing sit-in across the country and attending gatherings,” Rajavelu Karunanithi, CIVICUS Advocacy and Campaign Officer for Asia, said. “CIVICUS calls on the government to drop these fabricated charges immediately and to revoke the ban against the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.”
It also mentioned the government’s amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in January, saying that they aim to tighten control on online speech and target journalists.
“The crackdown on protests by the opposition and ethnic minority groups and targeting of journalists and digital restrictions are inconsistent with Pakistan’s international human rights obligations,” Karunanithi said.
“The authorities must take steps to reverse course and protect the rights to peaceful assembly and expression and bring perpetrators to justice,” Karunanithi added.
CIVICUS said it assigns ratings as either “closed,” “repressed,” “obstructed,” “narrowed” or “open,” based on a methodology that combines several data sources on the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression.
Over 20 organizations collaborated to provide an evidence base for action to improve civic space on all continents, the platform said in its press release.
