HRCP strongly condemns the reported entry of masked individuals into the District Press Club in Landi Kotal in Khyber yesterday evening. Reports that the individuals searched several rooms before leaving raise serious concerns about the security and independence of journalists and media institutions. The sanctity of press clubs lies in the fact that they are vital spaces for journalists to work freely and for citizens to engage with issues of public interest. Any unauthorised intrusion into such a space risks intimidating journalists and undermining freedom of expression and the press. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government must conduct a prompt, impartial investigation into the incident, establish the identity and purpose of those involved, and ensure that they are held to account.

🔴 Press release HRCP demands end to emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25 October 2026, Lahore. Earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly cautioned the authorities against imposing an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Two weeks on, we reiterate our unequivocal opposition to these measures. Our concerns remain the erosion of democratic space, the disenfranchisement of the province’s electorate, arbitrary and preventive detention, and the disproportionate impact of security measures on civilians. That Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the country’s only opposition-led province makes this intervention particularly troubling. The detention of its elected chief executive is a grave affront to democratic norms, while the arrests of other elected representatives and political workers, including women PTI workers in Punjab, point to a wider crackdown on political activity. HRCP unequivocally condemns militancy and terrorism. However, counterterrorism measures must remain within the law and must not become a pretext for collective punishment, excessive force or the suppression of fundamental rights. Military operations risk civilian casualties and mass displacement, while force alone has repeatedly failed to deliver lasting peace. Instead, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must have a meaningful say in their political future and control over their natural resources, including minerals, water and land. Preventive and unlawful detention must not become a tool for silencing opposition or bypassing judicial safeguards. Detainees must be informed of the grounds for their detention, given access to lawyers and families, and produced before a court within the legally mandated timeframe. The province’s history of opaque internment centres makes these safeguards particularly urgent. Although mobile and internet connectivity has been restored following initial shutdowns, the full impact remains unclear. Such disruptions restrict access to information and undermine education, communication and livelihoods. Curfews and military deployments in North and South Waziristan, Bannu and Miranshah continue to disrupt civilian life. The authorities must justify these restrictions, disclose information about civilian casualties and ensure adequate assistance for displaced families. HRCP is also concerned by reports of police raids on PTI workers in Peshawar, Swat and Khyber, and the dispersal of gatherings. In Bara, police reportedly used a lathi charge against a gathering of an estimated 2,000–4,000 people. These reports require further verification, but the absence of complete information must not be mistaken for an absence of violations. Restrictions on peaceful assembly must be lawful, necessary and proportionate, and the treatment of women in detention must be scrutinised. HRCP demands the immediate release of the chief executive and all others arbitrarily detained, the lifting of emergency and governor’s rule, and the restoration of the provincial assembly. We urge the government and the PTI to resume comprehensive political dialogue, involving civil society, to address militancy, protect fundamental rights and secure local ownership of resources. The state must understand that it governing by emergency rather than consensus could irretrievably weaken Pakistan's democracy. Asad Iqbal Butt Chairperson

🔴 Press release WIL and HRCP reject FCC verdict narrowing workplace harassment protections 23 October 2026, Lahore. @WomenInLawPk (WIL), in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), convened a roundtable in Lahore to examine the implications of the Federal Constitutional Court’s recent verdict in Usman Shahid v. Nadia Sarwar and its implications for workplace harassment complaints and women’s safety and dignity at work. WIL founder @NidaUsmanCh pointed out that the verdict, which interpreted workplace harassment as necessarily being sexual in nature, was a departure from the broader interpretation of harassment in Nadia Naz v. President of Pakistan (2023). Participants expressed concern that requiring a sexual element and independent corroboration could narrow access to remedies, given that harassment often occurs in private and includes intimidation, exclusion, stereotyping and other forms of gender-based hostility. Fazlia Tariq of @DigitalRightsPK and lawyer @RidaHosain highlighted the difficulties complainants face in reporting abuse and gathering evidence, particularly in cases of cyber-harassment and other violations without witnesses. Shaharbano Raza of the Lahore University of Management Sciences cautioned that the verdict could erode trust in workplace inquiry committees, which take time to establish credibility. Journalist @FatimaRazzaq20 expressed concern about the selective application of harassment laws and the potential effect of the verdict on pending complaints. Aneesa Agha of the Centre for Fundamental Rights questioned whether the issue would recede from public attention, pointing to the need for sustained engagement. Fazli Hadi of @Shirkat_Gah highlighted women’s continued underrepresentation in managerial and decision-making positions. @Noorzraja of the Centre for Fundamental Rights urged participants to build alliances with women parliamentarians and engage the National Commission for Human Rights, while Aliza Naqvi of @Asma_Jahangir called for sustained advocacy by HRCP, WIL and other organisations. Participants also discussed possible legal and institutional responses, including seeking a review of the verdict, mobilising senior lawyers and journalists, engaging with parliamentarians, and assessing the impact of the harassment law over its 16 years of implementation. HRCP treasurer Husain Naqi urged lawyers, civil society organisations and journalists to work together to challenge the ruling. Lawyer Asad Jamal called for close scrutiny of the verdict and an assessment of the law’s record since its enactment, while Sunny Zia of HRCP stressed that advocacy must also address the patriarchal attitudes underpinning workplace harassment. Participants called for stronger complaint mechanisms, competent guidance for complainants, clear criteria for penalties and well-supported ombudspersons. The roundtable concluded with a call for coordinated, sustained advocacy to protect women’s hard-won rights and ensure safer workplaces.

HRCP is alarmed by a disturbing pattern in which the state’s failure to protect vulnerable people is compounded by the erosion of due process. The alleged killing of 15-year-old Waseem Abbas, who was reportedly chased and run over by his employer in Multan, and the subsequent death of the accused in an alleged police encounter, raises urgent questions about the state’s approach to treating human life and legal safeguards as expendable. Not only do extrajudicial killings violate the right to due process, but they also deprive victims and their families of the chance to obtain truth and justice. The perception that such killings are an acceptable way of controlling crime signals that vengeance without accountability is prioritised over justice. We call for an independent, transparent investigation into this case and for an end to extrajudicial killings in all forms.

Knowing your rights is the first step towards protecting them. At our workshop in Multan, lawyers, journalists, activists and civil society representatives engaged with field experts and human rights practitioners to deepen their understanding of fundamental rights, international human rights treaties, and the legal remedies available when rights are violated. Our discussions connected international human rights standards with the legal and practical tools available to people seeking justice, giving participants a stronger foundation to advocate for rights in their own communities. @CanHCPakistan

HRCP strongly condemns the abduction of 20 trainee police personnel in Mastung on 16 October and the killing of two police constables in Nasirabad on 17 October in Balochistan. Both incidents demonstrate the deteriorating security situation and the growing risks faced by public officials and ordinary citizens. We urge the authorities to secure the safe recovery of the abducted personnel and ensure a credible investigation into both incidents such that the perpetrators are held to account. However, we would also remind the state that kinetic measures alone cannot deliver lasting peace. Rather, the state must urgently initiate meaningful political dialogue with all stakeholders in Balochistan, particularly civil society, and address the province’s long-standing grievances, including protecting the rights of local communities over their own resources.

HRCP is appalled by the deaths of at least 30 children and a teacher, who were killed at the Al-Khair School in Afridi Abad, Peshawar, when the building's roof collapsed. It is important to stress that this was not an accident but a preventable failure, given that police have reportedly attributed the collapse to a weak structure carrying excessive construction. HRCP notes that a similar incident this year killed 14 children at a Lahore tuition centre. We call for an independent, time-bound inquiry, with the findings made public as well as for accountability of the school owner and of the regulators who allowed unsafe buildings to operate, compensation for the affected families, and mandatory structural audits of all public and private schools.

🔴 Press release   HRCP report questions state’s commitment to equal citizenship for minorities   15 October 2026, Lahore. A report released earlier today by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has welcomed the passage of the National Commission for Minorities Act 2025 and child marriage restraint laws raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 in Punjab and Balochistan. However, the report also warns that these important steps towards protecting religious minorities are in stark contrast to persistent violations of freedom of religion or belief (FORB), including the weaponisation of blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions, escalating hate speech, and the state’s failure to ensure equal citizenship.   Sanctuary Denied: Freedom of religion or belief in 2025/26, HRCP’s seventh annual report on this subject, points out that the National Commission for Minorities Act remains unimplemented months after its passage, with the commission yet to be constituted. Meanwhile, hundreds of people accused of blasphemy remain in legal limbo, and the alleged perpetrators of an organised entrapment network have yet to be investigated. The report also documents attacks on the Ahmadiyya community, including two extremist attacks in Chenab Nagar, alongside increasingly overt attempts to exclude Ahmadis from public and commercial life.   Girls from Christian and Hindu communities continued to face abduction and forced marriage, compounded by poverty and inadequate police responses. Discriminatory employment practices, the Islamisation of school curricula and the marginalisation of minority concerns in mainstream media further undermine equal citizenship. The report urges the federal government to operationalise the National Commission for Minorities Act without further delay, investigate alleged blasphemy entrapment networks and hold accountable those who incite violence against minorities. It also calls for stronger safeguards against forced conversions and underage marriages, mandatory FORB training for law-enforcement agencies, and effective protection for human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must also enact legislation setting the minimum marriageable age at 18 for all.   Speaking at the report launch, HRCP director @farahziaa warned that the state’s approach to religious minorities was increasingly exclusionary. Minority rights defender @NabilaFBhatti drew attention to the case of Kamran Gill, a Christian medical practitioner from Sheikhupura, whose dispensary was set ablaze by a mob on 9 October following allegations that he had shared blasphemous content on social media. HRCP Punjab vice-chair Raja Ashraf warned that blasphemy accusations had become a means of exploiting and endangering vulnerable people.   Describing the severe restrictions on Ahmadis’ freedom of expression and assembly, community representative @IamAmirMahmood recalled that the community’s last public gathering had taken place more than 40 years ago. Shehri Pakistan director @ArafatMazhar cautioned that in ongoing blasphemy cases, the public must consult the accused’s lawyers and allow the courts to determine the appropriate legal procedure, rather than turning accused individuals into symbols of the wider debate over blasphemy laws. Former HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani, highlighting the institutional nature of discrimination against minorities, reminded the audience that ‘Democracy should have no concept of “minority” and “majority”.’ Asad Iqbal Butt Chairperson The report can be accessed here: tinyurl.com/5n83s9h9

Urban development... but for whom? The demolition drives by the @CDAthecapital, targeting informal settlements and low-income communities in Islamabad earlier this year, continue to raise serious concerns about the right to housing, due process and the protection of vulnerable communities. Those residents who were evicted lost not only their homes but also lives they had spent years building. Those who were spared, on the strength of a 2015 Supreme Court stay order against summary evictions of katchi abadis, still live in fear of the rumble of bulldozers. #righttoshelter #righttohousing

Join us in Lahore on Thursday 15 October 2026 as we launch our annual report on the state of freedom of religion or belief in 2025/26.

HRCP cautions the federal government and Parliament that declaring an emergency or imposing governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa risks further deepening political tensions and undermining democratic processes. We strongly urge the federal government and the PTI to resume a meaningful political dialogue immediately and ensure that citizens' fundamental rights are not suspended under any pretext.

The right to a fair trial means little if a wrongful death sentence cannot be corrected before it is carried out. Pakistan’s justice system must account for the possibility of error when the consequences are irreversible. On World Day against the Death Penalty, HRCP urges the state to sustain at the very least the moratorium on executions and carry out meaningful reforms to ensure that justice does not come too late.

Does the threat of death actually deter crime, or does it distract us from the deeper failures of our criminal justice system? On this World Day against the Death Penalty, Pakistan’s reliance on capital punishment raises an important question: are we addressing the roots of crime or simply punishing its consequences?

جہدِ حق کا اکتوبر کا شمارہ شائع ہو چکا ہے: tinyurl.com/3jxywuzk اس ماہ کے ایچ آر سی پی کے نیوز لیٹر میں ہم آپ کے لیے توجہ طلب انسانی حقوق کے مسائل، فیلڈ رپورٹس، ایڈووکیسی کی سرگرمیوں اور زمینی حقائق سے جڑی آوازوں سے متعلق تازہ ترین خبریں لے کر آئے ہیں۔ اس شمارے میں شامل ہیں: سزائے موت کے خلاف چوبیسواں عالمی دن: زندگی کی کہانیاں پاکستان سے افغان طلبہ کی بے دخلی کا فیصلہ واپس لیا جائے: قانونی برادری، ماہرین تعلیم اور سول سوسائی کا مطالبہ پنجاب دہشت گردی کے مقدمات کے لیے بے چہرہ، خفیہ ٹرائلز چاہتا ہے جمہوریہ کے نگہبان: پاکستان میں جمہوریت کو زندہ رکھنے والے مرد و خواتین 17 ہزار چیخیں اور 6 فیصد انصاف: جب گلگت بلتستان بھی محفوظ نہ رہا