University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: End the unjust detention and immediately release human rights defender Idris Khattak, facing life-threatening health risk

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UN human rights experts issued an urgent appeal on April 2, 2026, demanding Pakistan immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Idris Khattak, who has been detained for over six years following his enforced disappearance in November 2019. Khattak, whose detention was ruled arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2025, …

Imran and Munir (2018), “Defying Marginalization: Emergence of Women’s Organizations and the Resistance Movement in Pakistan: A Historical Overview”

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Rahat Imran and Imran Munir. “Defying Marginalization: Emergence of Women’s Organizations and the Resistance Movement in Pakistan: A Historical Overview.” Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 19, no. 6 (2018): 132-156. This article examines the rise of feminist legal and political resistance in Pakistan during and after General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime (1977–1988), a period marked by …

Pakistan Arrests Prominent Human Rights Lawyers Amid Crackdown on Dissent

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Pakistani authorities arrested human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, while they were traveling to a court hearing in Islamabad. The arrests, reportedly carried out with force and without presenting warrants on-site, have sparked widespread condemnation from legal associations, human rights groups, and civil society. Bar councils across Pakistan …

Kureshi(2022). “Seeking supremacy: The pursuit of judicial power in Pakistan”

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Kureshi, Y. (2022). Seeking supremacy: The pursuit of judicial power in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. The emergence of the judiciary as an assertive and confrontational center of power has been the most consequential new feature of Pakistan’s political system. This book maps out the evolution of the relationship between the judiciary and military in Pakistan, explaining …

Kureshi (2025), “To Reinforce or Replace: Courts and Democratic Backsliding”

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Kureshi, Yasser. To Reinforce or Replace: Courts and Democratic Backsliding (2025). Government & Opposition. doi:10.1017/gov.2025.10015. Courts are often seen as defenders of democracy, but this article shows that empowered judiciaries can also enable democratic backsliding. Kureshi develops a framework distinguishing courts that reinforce political representation from those that replace elected institutions when fighting corruption. Through …

Islamabad Court Attack Sparks Nationwide Lawyers’ Boycott in Pakistan

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A deadly terrorist assault on the district and sessions courts complex in Islamabad’s G-11 sector has triggered a national outcry from Pakistan’s legal community. The attack, which killed multiple people and injured dozens—including lawyers and court staff—exposed severe lapses in security at what should have been a high-protection judicial site. The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) …

Pakistan Expands Military Chief’s Powers and Limits Supreme Court Authority

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Pakistan’s parliament has passed a sweeping constitutional amendment that expands the powers of the military and sharply reduces the authority of the Supreme Court — a move critics warn will cause lasting damage to the country’s democracy. The amendment elevates Army Chief Asim Munir to a new position, Chief of Defence Forces, giving him formal …

Ghias (2010), “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.”

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Shoaib A Ghias, “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 4 (2010): 985–1022.  Summary: This article explores the struggle for judicial power in Pakistan under Pervez Musharraf focusing on two questions. First, how did pro‐Musharraf regime judges expand judicial power, leading …

Kyle, Reiter (2021), “Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice (1st ed.)”

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B.J. Kyle, A.G. Reiter, Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice (1st ed.). London: Routledge, 2021. Summary: The interaction between military and civilian courts, the political power that legal prerogatives can provide to the armed forces, and the difficult process civilian politicians face in reforming military justice remain …

Ghias (2010), “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.”

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Shoaib A Ghias, “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 4 (2010): 985–1022.  Summary: This article explores the struggle for judicial power in Pakistan under Pervez Musharraf focusing on two questions. First, how did pro‐Musharraf regime judges expand judicial power, leading to …