The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) released its human rights annual report on Thursday. The agency raised alarms about weakening democracy and poor law and order. At the launch event, HRCP addressed many incidents of rights violations against different sections of society after the general elections on February 8, 2024.

HRCP noted that the polls saw compromise, and the new government gave space to undemocratic forces. The government passed many laws in a hurry, which HRCP found flawed.

At the launch, HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt raised concerns about what he called "state-sanctioned violence" in 2024. He said officials reported at least 379 new cases of enforced disappearances. He said authorities committed two extrajudicial killings of people suspected of blasphemy. He also said police carried out 4,864 staged encounters in Sindh and Punjab alone, as reported by Dawn.

Former HRCP Chairperson Hina Jilani added that no situation, not even war or insurgency, could justify enforced disappearances. “No cause can justify violence or acts of terrorism. The human rights community insists that all acts of violence be dealt with by the law,” she said.

The report also criticised the ongoing ban on the social media platform X and stressed on the crimes the state committed against minority groups.

The HRCP report highlighted the deteriorating human rights conditions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It recalled the protests in 2024 against rising flour prices and electricity tariffs. In May, protestors staged a long march.

The government responded with mass arrests and violence against activists. The report said, “At least four individuals, including a police officer, reportedly lost their lives during clashes between protesters and security forces”.

HRCP said the government failed to maintain law and order in PoK. It mentioned the jailbreak at Central Jail Poonch, where 19 prisoners escaped using a smuggled pistol. The report also discussed the enforced disappearances in the region and the abduction of journalist Ahmad Farhad from Islamabad and the disappearance of Mudassar Khan from Neelum Valley, which drew media attention.

The report said the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and other parts of Pakistan faced multiple targeted attacks in 2024. The HRCP recorded incidents where attackers desecrated Ahmadi places of worship and assaulted worshippers.

The Ahmadiyya sect believes that Ghulam Ahmad was the Messiah who lived after Prophet Muhammad and claims to be part of Islam. In 1974, former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims. Since then, they have faced persecution due to their faith.

The report said the February 2024 general elections faced allegations of electoral manipulation. It recalled that the fate of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf remained unclear. The report also condemned how the government made laws in 2024 and said this harmed freedom of expression.

HRCP Co-Chair Munizae Jahangir said Pakistan’s judicial system had over 2.4 million pending cases in 2024. The report said Pakistani jails are overcrowded at 228 percent capacity.

Amnesty International also noted similar human rights concerns last year. “Human rights have declined alarmingly, leading to widespread mental distress among the population due to inflation, joblessness, and blatant violations of the law," Butt said at the launch event.

He said the state failed to protect its citizens. He said Pakistan suffered 1,166 terrorist attacks in 2024, which killed 2,546 people — a 66 per cent rise in deaths from 2023. He cited the Kurram battlefield, where 250 people died, and a November attack that killed 52 people.

HRCP raised serious concerns about the shrinking space for freedom of speech and expression. It noted restrictions on internet access and the continued ban on the platform X.

HRCP said journalists faced increased vulnerability in 2024, with 162 attacks and six journalists killed by unknown individuals. The body reminded the Pakistani government of its constitutional obligations to ensure freedom of faith and expression.

The report criticised “misuse of religious material for blackmail and subsequent arrests by the Federal Investigation Agency,” often based on WhatsApp activity. HRCP cited incidents in Swat, Sargodha, Umerkot, and Quetta, condemning the rise in mob lynchings across the country.

The report addressed the situation in Balochistan and Sindh. It highlighted the role of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). HRCP said people in Balochistan felt ignored by the state in 2024. They raised concerns about enforced disappearances and the state’s control over natural resources. The report said the government lacked the political will to solve these problems.

The report also focused on the treatment of growing movements in Balochistan and Sindh, such as the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). “Most residents of Balochistan remained increasingly disillusioned with the state throughout the year, concerned that their grievances—concerning continued enforced disappearances and control of the province’s natural resources—were being ignored with little political resolve on the government’s part to address these,” the report reads. 

It opposed the violation of the right to assemble in Balochistan and the killings of journalists in Khuzdar and Mastung. Gunmen killed the president of the Khuzdar Press Club on World Press Freedom Day. The report also noted a rise in polio cases in the region.

Dr. Sabiha Baloch, a BYC leader, told Firstpost that civilians in Balochistan faced grave atrocities. 

“The people of Balochistan are deprived of even the most basic human rights. Every fundamental right is denied, from the right to life to freedom of speech. Despite being a mineral-rich region, over 80 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty. The literacy rate remains one of the lowest in the country due to widespread poverty and a severe lack of access to schools and higher education,” Dr Baloch told Firstpost, last month.

She said, “Balochistan has been transformed into a military zone. Certain areas have turned into complete no-go zones or restricted areas for civilians. In cities such as Mashkay and Awaran, even locals can only enter by presenting their national identity cards. Military checkpoints are scattered along the roads, where Baloch citizens are interrogated daily by non-local army personnel. The list of human rights violations committed by the Pakistani army in Balochistan is extensive — far too numerous to cover in a single statement. In summary, in Balochistan, fundamental human rights are nonexistent".

The report showed how Pakistan, while going against India, struggled to maintain law and order within its own territory.