Event Summary
In an unprecedented development, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the country’s foremost independent rights watchdog has reported a systematic clampdown on its operations by state authorities during the months of June and July 2025. In a public statement issued on 2 July 2025, HRCP described a series of “arbitrary, illegal, and unjustified actions” that have hindered its ability to function freely, marking what it termed the most serious interference in its 38-year history. The Commission highlighted that for the first time, its meetings and public consultations—particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad were forcibly cancelled after hotels, under state pressure, demanded official “No Objection Certificates (NOCs)” to proceed. HRCP clarified that such NOC requirements had never been imposed on their programming before, indicating a shift in bureaucratic tactics to suppress civil society discourse.
The Commission’s operations in Lahore also faced disruption, beginning with the sealing of its office by local authorities in late 2024 on vague municipal grounds. The electricity meter was removed, and a fine of Rs. 3.8 million was levied, while the organization’s bank account was frozen allegedly on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan, which later denied such directives in court. These administrative and financial hurdles, HRCP argues, are part of a broader campaign to undermine its institutional autonomy and curtail its role as a vocal advocate for human rights.
Intimidation of individual HRCP members has also intensified. In July 2024, HRCP’s chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt, a 78-year-old veteran human rights defender, was detained from his home and interrogated for several hours by unidentified officials. He was questioned about his support for Baloch activists, and officials reportedly showed him photos of his family participating in advocacy events—an act interpreted as veiled threats. This deeply personal form of pressure has alarmed many in Pakistan’s civil society space, particularly because it was targeted at a senior figure known for decades of peaceful advocacy.
HRCP officials believe the crackdown stems from their continued work on sensitive subjects such as enforced disappearances, the rights of Afghan refugees, and land and resource extraction in Balochistan. These are politically contentious issues in Pakistan, and HRCP remains one of the few organizations willing to openly document and challenge state narratives. The Secretary-General of HRCP, Harris Khalique, noted that although the organization has faced pushback in the past, “it was never like this” suggesting a dangerous escalation in state hostility toward rights-based advocacy.
This crackdown signals not just a targeting of HRCP, but a broader warning to other civil society actors engaging in critical discourse or documenting state violations. By obstructing HRCP’s access to physical venues, financial operations, and digital reach, the state is effectively shrinking civic space under the guise of administrative procedure and national security. This coordinated pressure threatens the very foundations of democratic accountability, especially in a context where freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly are already under strain.