Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, which took office in February 2024, is perpetuating a longstanding crackdown on free expression and civil society, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2025 on Thursday. Blasphemy-related violence against religious minorities, fostered in part by government persecution and discriminatory laws, intensified in 2024.
For the 546-page World Report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down on and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, displaced many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.
“The space for free expression and dissent in Pakistan under the Sharif government is shrinking at an alarming pace,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Pakistani authorities are repeating a decades-long cycle of power grabs and victimization of opponents at the expense of everyone’s human rights.”
Throughout 2024, Pakistani authorities intermittently blocked social media platforms such as X, cracked down on opposition parties, and detained hundreds of activists, some on charges of violence. Journalists faced intimidation, harassment, and surveillance for perceived criticism of the government. Government threats and attacks created a climate of fear among journalists and civil society groups, with many resorting to self-censorship.
The Pakistan government frequently enforced blasphemy law provisions that provided a pretext for violence against religious minorities and left them vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and prosecution. Mob and vigilante attacks on people for alleged “blasphemy” killed at least four individuals. The authorities continue to target members of the Ahmadiyya religious community for prosecution under blasphemy laws and specific anti-Ahmadi laws.
Soaring poverty, inflation, and unemployment jeopardized rights, including the right to health, food, and an adequate standard of living for millions. Austerity measures under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program resulted in additional hardship for low-income groups. The authorities used a colonial-era Land Acquisition Act to evict low-income communities to facilitate development projects.
The Pakistani government should take concrete steps to protect everyone’s rights by ending arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and removing discriminatory laws that promote violence against religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said.