Pakistan: Concerns over censorship and other restrictions on freedom of expression in Balochistan

‘In a province that has been deeply impacted by exploitation and militancy, the government’s decision to silence peaceful expression through violent repression is a violation of its international human rights obligations and risks stoking further unrest. We call for an end to censorship and other undue restrictions on the right to freedom of expression in Balochistan’, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

09 August 2024: PEN International is concerned over recent reports of censorship and other restrictions on freedom of expression in Balochistan, a province in southwestern Pakistan. The organisation calls for an immediate end to the censorship of media reporting and to ensure that the ethnic Baloch community’s right to freedom of expression is protected.

On 28 July, a peaceful protest began in the city of Gwadar which called for greater human rights protections and for an end to wide-ranging rights abuses being carried out against the province’s marginalised ethnic Baloch community. However, reports have emerged of a violent crackdown taking place against demonstrators, and efforts by Pakistani authorities to censor reporting of the protests and ensuing suppression.

Examples of censorship include reports that Pakistani authorities have sought to remove coverage of the demonstrations from local newspapers. In one example, Anwar Sajidi, editor-in-chief of the Daily Intikhab newspaper, reportedly refused to comply with the request and continued to report on the demonstration, which resulted in local authorities pulling government advertising from the news outlet.  In recent days, PEN International has received anecdotal reports of media outlets rejecting article pitches from journalists seeking to report on Balochistan.

Many news outlets in Pakistan are heavily dependent on revenue derived from government advertisements. This dependency exposes news outlets to economic coercion from the government, which has a track record of deliberately suspending advertising from independent media as a means to stifle critical reporting. The resulting chilling effect disincentivises news outlets from reporting on politically sensitive topics.

Other examples of censorship in the province include the shutting down of internet access in Gwadar on 27 July, constraining the flow of information at a time when the authorities carried out mass arrests of demonstrators. According to reports, full internet access has yet to be restored as recently as 6 August.

Such restrictions on the flow of information between Balochistan and the wider world have a wide-ranging impact on the rights of those affected, including the right to freedom of expression. The resulting information vacuum also complicates efforts to document and verify human rights violations and creates fertile ground for the unchecked spread of misinformation.

The restrictions in Balochistan are the latest example of the government’s long-running crackdown in a province that has been marred by conflict for decades. Despite being Pakistan’s largest province and rich in natural resources, it is also the country’s poorest, with the province’s ethnic Baloch population heavily marginalised through the implementation of exploitative policies and the use of state violence to curb dissenting expression.

In June 2024, reports emerged that the Balochi Academy, a literary and cultural organisation that promotes the Balochi language, was among several literary organisations to have its budget cut by as much as 95%. The cuts to Balochi cultural institutions take place at a time when the government declared an overall surplus in its provincial budget.

In a province which already has the country’s lowest literacy rates for children, the ongoing underinvestment in cultural and literary institutions risks exacerbating the marginalisation experienced by the province’s ethnic Baloch population, perpetuating a cycle of disenfranchisement and conflict.

Note to editors:

For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/ Pacific Region at PEN International, email: ross.holder@pen-international.org