World Report 2026: Pakistan

Summary

In 2025 Pakistani authorities suppressed dissenting voices amid a crackdown on media freedom, political opposition, and civil society, often using vague and overbroad laws to stifle criticism. Blasphemy-related attacks on religious minorities increased, fueled by discriminatory legislation and government inaction. Militant groups carried out violent attacks on security forces and civilians, killing hundreds.

Government threats and attacks on the media created a climate of fear among journalists and civil society groups, with many resorting to self-censorship. Journalists faced harassment, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and physical attacks for reporting critical of the government and security forces. In January, the National Assembly passed an “anti-disinformation” law criminalizing “false and misleading” online content—which the law does not define—with up to three years in prison.

In March, masked men abducted prominent journalist Waheed Murad in Islamabad; Murad later appeared in court and was charged under Pakistan’s draconian Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and held for 48 hours. Also in March, Federal Investigation Agency officers arrested Farhan Mallick, an online media entrepreneur, in Karachi. In August, the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCIA) arrested journalist Khalid Jamil at his Islamabad residence under PECA for “publishing and spreading anti-state narratives on social media” and sharing “false, misleading, and baseless information.

Pakistani authorities enforced blasphemy law provisions that have provided a pretext for violence against religious minorities, leaving them vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and prosecution. In June, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting how blasphemy laws have been exploited for blackmail and profit and have targeted the poor and minorities in unlawful evictions and land grabs. According to the statutory National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), at least 450 people were falsely charged with blasphemy through an organized scheme of blackmail and extortion.

In a significant development in July, the Islamabad High Court ordered the federal government to form a commission within 30 days to investigate the growing misuse of blasphemy laws. Pakistan law enforcement agencies were responsible for grave human rights violations , including arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent human rights monitor, between January and May 2025 at least 268 individuals, including 155 women, were killed in the name of “honor. In a January visit , the EU Special Representative for Human Rights warned Pakistan not to take its GSP+ status for granted, as the trade benefits are linked to respect for human rights.

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