Silenced

Online speech and its consequences in Pakistan, 2016 to present

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Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997

About this law

Pakistan's main counter-terrorism law. It defines terrorism broadly (section 6), sets its punishments (section 7) and sends such cases to special anti-terrorism courts.

Cases described in the media as 'digital terrorism' often add ATA charges to PECA or PPC charges, which moves the case to an anti-terrorism court.

A plain-language explanation, not legal advice. The official text always takes precedence.

Official text

The official consolidated text, published by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Pakistan Code:

Act page on Pakistan Code ↗ Official PDF ↗

Sections in the Legal Library

Recent incidents citing this law

The following verified cases are currently mapped on Silenced under this law.

21 verified incidents whose report cites this law. Citations are read automatically from news reports and can be incomplete; inclusion does not verify the allegation.

  1. راولاکوٹ میں 8 سے 10 ہزار مظاہرین کو منتشر کرنے کا حکومتی دعویٰ، کالعدم جوائنٹ عوامی ایکشن کمیٹی کا لانگ مارچ جاری رکھنے کا اعلان

    · Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir · Speech Consequences · Arrest · Law cited: ATA 21, 22, 23

    ماخذ کے مطابق آن لائن سرگرمی سے منسلک حراست کی اطلاع: «عمر نذیر نے سوشل میڈیا پر اپنے بیان میں الزام عائد کیا کہ ان کی گاڑی پر حملہ سیکیورٹی فورسز کی جانب سے کیا گیا جبکہ حکام کے مطابق چند نقاب پوش افراد نے ان کی گاڑی پر حملہ کیا جس کا مقدمہ نامعلوم افراد کے خلاف درج کرلیا گیا تھا۔»

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  2. Faith, fear, fragility

    · Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: ATA 11-B

    Source reports mob violence linked to online activity: "The leadership of these groups suddenly activates their social media teams to highlight the incident to gain public support and give an impression to the state institutions that the situation can worsen if any action against the culprits is taken."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  5. Seminary sealed, 18 booked over ‘blasphemy’

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C; ATA 7, 9

    Source reports a criminal case (FIR) linked to online activity: "Police found around 15 to 18 people regularly spreading hate material and blasphemous content in print and at online platforms."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  7. DIG, two SSPs among 45 booked for Umerkot doctor’s murder

    · Karachi, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: ATA 6, 7

    KARACHI/MIRPURKHAS: A day after an inquiry committee concluded that blasphemy suspect Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar was killed in a “staged” encounter, police on Friday registered a murder case against a DIG, two SSPs, as many clerics and 40 others at the Sindhri police station. Officials said that the FIR was registered on the complaint of high court lawyer and victim’s brother-in-law Mohammed Ibrahim Kunbhar against DIG Javed Jiskani, then SSP-Mirpurkhas Asad Chohadhry, the SSP-Umerkot Asif Raza Baloch, CIA-Mirpurkhas, SHO-Sindhri and those who instigated people against the blasphemy…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  10. SHC summons defence secretary in ‘enforced disappearance’ case of SU student

    · Hyderabad, Sindh · Enforced Disappearances · Disappearance · Law cited: ATA 6, 7

    HYDERABAD: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, on Thursday summoned the federal defence secretary and Hyderabad DIG to appear in court on Aug 28 in person with a comprehensive report regarding the case of Sarwaich Nohani, a Sindh University student who was allegedly arrested by CIA almost four years ago and has…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  13. Killer of blasphemy accused remanded in police custody

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 153-A, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298; ATA 7, 15

    PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday remanded the suspected killer of a man accused of blasphemy in police custody for three days. The blasphemy accused, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, was shot down inside a courtroom at the Judicial Complex here on Wednesday.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  14. Man shot dead for ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan courtroom

    · Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 153-A, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298; ATA 7, 15

    A man accused of blasphemy for claiming that he was a prophet has been shot dead in a courtroom in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police officials say, the latest violence associated with Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws. “The culprit accepts responsibility for killing him, and says that he killed him for having committed blasphemy,” said police official Ahmed. Also reported by The Guardian and Dawn.

    View on map · Al Jazeera ↗

  16. Riots erupt as Mirpurkhas vet booked in blasphemy case

    · Mirpurkhas, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-B, 506; ATA 6, 7

    Mirpurkhas police on late Monday registered a blasphemy case against a veterinary doctor in Phuladiyon and took him into custody. The doctor, who is from the Hindu community, was accused of blasphemy after a man alleged that he had provided medicines wrapped in paper that he claimed "had Quranic verses printed on them".

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  17. Mashal murder case: PHC suspends sentences of 25 convicts

    · Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: ATA 11

    Read more: 'Stop us if you can': Religious parties in Mardan protest conviction of 31 men in Mashal's murder Mashal Khan, 23, a student of Mass Communications at Mardan's Abdul Wali Khan University, was beaten and shot to death by an angry mob on April 13, 2017 after he was falsely accused of blasphemy.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  19. ATC in Haripur starts hearing Mashal Khan lynching case

    · Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: ATA 28

    An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur on Wednesday began hearing the Mashal Khan lynching case against 57 suspects indicted a day earlier by the court. Mashal Khan, a journalism student at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, was killed in April after a charged mob beat and shot him after accusing him of publishing blasphemous content online.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

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