The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Pakistan on 6 May 2025. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this time frame. If a reply is received it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the judicial harassment and potential criminalization of Ms. Imaan Zainab Mazari, in connection with her work as human rights lawyer.
Ms. Imaan Zainab Mazari is a woman human rights defender and human rights lawyer advocating for victims of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and custodial violations. She has been active in promoting the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan and documenting human rights violations by the Pakistan military and security forces.
ALLEGATIONS
On 20 March 2025, Ms. Imaan Zainab Mazari was issued a summons by the Cyber Crimes Reporting Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore, to appear for an enquiry on the basis of a complaint reportedly filed by a religious leader. To date, the FIA has failed to provide the human rights lawyer with a copy of the complaint or clear details of the charges linked to the summons. It is alleged that due to previous and ongoing threats and judicial harassment concerning the woman human rights defender, it is possible that this summons could be used to pursue a fabricated charge of blasphemy which is punishable by death.
The issuing of this summons is part of a series of criminal actions taken against Ms. Mazari. On 20 August 2023, the woman human rights defender was arrested from her home at 3.30 a.m. without an arrest warrant by the Islamabad Police. The arrest followed a speech that Ms. Mazari gave at a public rally on 18 August 2023, during which she criticized the Pakistani military for ongoing human rights violations. The First Information Report included charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act as well as accusations under section 124A (sedition), sections 148, 149, and 153 (incitement to riot), section 153A (promotion of enmity between groups), and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code. Ms. Mazari was granted bail on 22 August for the charges issued against her under the Penal Code of Pakistan but remained imprisoned due to the additional charges of terror and sedition.
On 28 August 2023, the human rights lawyer was released on bail but was rearrested shortly after, as part of a separate case, on charges of attempting to interfere in State affairs and numerous charges under the Pakistan Penal Code. Charges in the First Instance Report included section 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), section 149 (unlawful assembly), section 186 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of public functions), section 188 (disobedience of an order by a public servant), section 341 (wrongful restraint), section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty), section 395 (dacoity), section 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt), and section 506(ii) (criminal intimidation), of the Pakistan Penal Code. On 2 September 2023, Ms. Mazari was released on bail by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad. The human rights lawyer continues to face charges in relation to these charges.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our deep concern that the most recent summons against Ms. Mazari, based on a complaint which the authorities refuse to share with the human rights lawyer, could be used to develop a fabricated case of blasphemy against her as a reprisal for her legitimate human rights activities and the exercise of her freedom of expression. This is especially concerning given the crime of blasphemy is punishable by death.
We are further concerned about the broader pattern of judicial cases brought against Ms. Imaan Mazari under the Counter Terrorism Act and Pakistan Penal Code. This pattern appears to be an arbitrary use of the legal system to harass and intimidate Ms. Mazari in retaliation for her work as a human rights lawyer seeking to advocate for victims of alleged human violations committed by the Pakistani military and authorities. If confirmed, these facts would be in breach of the guarantees to which lawyers are entitled in order to perform their professional functions without any threat, intimidation, harassment or interference, and without suffering, or being threatened with, prosecution or any administrative or disciplinary sanctions for actions undertaken in accordance with professional duties and ethical standards.
We further recall that counter-terrorism legislation and related penal sanctions should not be misused against individuals peacefully exercising their rights protected under the ICCPR, such as the right to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly. We respectfully reiterate our concerns about the charges filed against Ms. Mazari that seem to conflate her legitimate human rights work with terrorism, and risk undermining, and potentially criminalising, the work of human rights defenders in Pakistan more broadly.
