Human rights in Pakistan
Furthermore, courts suffer from lack of funds, outside intervention, and deep case backlogs that lead to long trial delays and lengthy pretrial detentions.
[21] In September 2015, The Lahore High Court imposed a ban on speeches of Altaf Hussain, the founder and chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a party known for its advocacy of interests of the Muhajir community in Pakistan.
The report brought to light widespread intimidation of journalists by various government, military and security agencies with killings allegedly being carried out by the Inter-Services Intelligence.
[24] In 2013 veteran journalist Hamid Mir, a recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's second-highest civil award, was shot at by unidentified assailants, thrice wounding him with bullets.
"[34] In 2016, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has imposed a complete ban on airing Indian content on local television and FM radio channels, in an effort to crackdown on “culturally-damaging” soaps from across the border.
[36] In 2019, the Supreme Court of Pakistan endorsed the ban and declined the request of Pemra to air ads of global big brands containing Indian content on the ground that they would damage Pakistani culture.
[41] Pakistan's former military ruler and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf explained in his 2006 autobiography, In the Line of Fire: “We have captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States.
Those who habitually accuse the U.S. of not doing enough in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the Government of Pakistan.”[42] Multiple forced disappearances have been reported in Balochistan.
[43] In 16 cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the abductions were carried out by, in the presence of, or with the assistance of uniformed personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC), an Interior Ministry paramilitary force.
In a number of cases, police assisted by being present at the scene or securing an area while plainclothes intelligence officers abducted individuals who later “disappeared.”[44] Pakistani-administered Kashmir, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan are recognized by the Government of Pakistan as nominally self-governing entities, though they are de facto provinces of Pakistan that lack political representation in the National Assembly and other constitutional rights that the provinces are entitled to.
In spite of these difficulties, the press publishes freely on other matters, although journalists often exercise self-restraint in their writing to avoid inuring the wrath of the government or military.
[70] Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute argue that aid agencies face dilemmas with engaging with the government, as this does not always produce the desired results and can conflict with their aim of promoting stability and maintaining a principled approach.
[70] By mid-July 2009, Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) put the total of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) at just over 2m, while unofficial figures are as high as 3.5m.
[70] Before military operations are undertaken, little preparation is made for the predictable increase in displaced peoples in order to avoid attracting the attention of opposing forces.
[70] However, operational agencies also indicated that donors have also been slow to challenge government policy due to their overall support to the Pakistani counter-insurgency effort, as well as lack of influence.
[70] Furthermore, in an effort to force refugees back to the areas they have fled (in order to create a sense of normalcy), the government has cut off power and water supply to the IDP camps.
[70] The UK equally sees an opportunity to counter instability and militancy through a combined military and 'hearts and minds' approach, through judicial, governance, and security sector reform.
[71] Sunni militant groups operate with impunity across Pakistan, as law enforcement officials either turn a blind eye or appear helpless to prevent widespread attacks against religious minorities.
[71][1] However, in recent years, the Pakistani military and law enforcement agencies have conducted vast and extensive operations against these terrorist organizations which has resulted in a dramatic decrease in violence against minorities and restoration of relative peace.
[83] Founder of Aware Girls, Gulalai Ismail, was threatened with death by the Inter-Services Intelligence after she joined the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement and protested against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the Pakistani state.
The attackers infiltrated and ambushed a coal mine near Mach, Pakistan; after which they "separated those who belonged to an ethnic group called Hazaras, blindfolded them, tied their hands behind their backs and brutally killed them".
[87] Academics and journalists in the United States have been approached by Inter-Services Intelligence spies, who threatened them not to speak about the insurgency in Balochistan, as well as human rights abuses by the Pakistani Army or else their family would be harmed.
[88] According to Amnesty International, extrajudicial executions of Muhajirs by law enforcement personnel, often portrayed by the authorities as "encounters" with police, continued to be reported from Karachi with distressing frequency.
The ordinance provides a ready and convenient tool in the hands of fundamentalists and the government to incriminate Ahmadis on flimsy grounds and petty excuses.
[103] As of April 2012, Pakistan did not provide a legal system for registration of marriages for certain minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Baháʼí.
[121] Krishan Bheel, one of a handful of Hindu members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, came into news recently for manhandling Qari Gul Rehman, who had repeatedly provoked him by making declaratory statements against his religion.
[132][133][134] Since March 2005, 209 people have been killed and 560 injured in 29 different terrorist attacks targeting shrines devoted to Sufi saints in Pakistan, according to data compiled by the Center for Islamic Research Collaboration and Learning (CIRCLe).
Although relations between Shia and Sunni were once cordial, some see a precursor of Pakistani Shia–Sunni strife in the April 1979 execution of deposed President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on questionable charges by Islamic fundamentalist General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who subsequently took over as dictator of Pakistan.
[140] Zia-ul-Haq pursued anti-Shia policies[141] and attacks on Shias also increased under Zia's presidency,[142] with the first major sectarian riots in Pakistan breaking out in 1983 in Karachi and later spreading to Lahore and Balochistan.
Several human rights groups have highlighted the increased phenomenon of Hindu girls, particularly in Karachi, being kidnapped from their families and forced to convert to Islam.
