Freedom in the World 2026: Pakistan

Summary

Territories are sometimes assessed separately from related countries if they meet certain criteria, including significantly different conditions for political rights and civil liberties, and boundaries that are sufficiently stable to allow annual comparisons. The numerical scores and status listed above do not reflect conditions in Pakistani Kashmir, which is examined in a separate report. Freedom in the World reports assess the level of political rights and civil liberties in a given geographical area, regardless of whether they are affected by the state, nonstate actors, or foreign powers.

Disputed territories are sometimes assessed separately if they meet certain criteria, including boundaries that are sufficiently stable to allow year-on-year comparisons. For more information, see the report methodology and FAQ . Pakistan holds regular elections under a competitive multiparty system.

However, the military exerts enormous influence over the conduct of elections, government formation, and policies; intimidates the media; and enjoys impunity for indiscriminate or extralegal use of force. The authorities often impose selective restrictions on civil liberties. Islamist militants conduct terrorist campaigns against the state and also regularly carry out attacks on members of religious minority groups and other perceived opponents.

This report has been abridged for Freedom in the World 2026. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. For additional background information, see the reports from the 2024 and 2025 editions of Freedom in the World.

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This summary (292 words) is drawn automatically from the report's own text: every sentence is Freedom House's, selected to represent the report, in the order the report gives them. Some context is necessarily lost; read the full report before quoting it.