GENEVA - Pakistan must immediately release human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha and drop unfounded criminal and terrorism charges against them, UN experts* said today.
On 17 September 2026, Mazari-Hazir and Chattha were rearrested on terrorism-related charges related to a separate older case, hours after the Supreme Court granted them bail. The accusation dates back to March 2025 concerning their participation in a protest that authorities allege was illegal.
The experts recalled they had previously expressed their alarm at the conviction of Mazari-Hazir and Chattha, a married couple, for social media posts supporting local activists and criticising the military.
"Invoking an older case immediately after they were granted bail appears to be an attempt to use the criminal justice system as punishment for freedom of expression and human rights advocacy" the experts warned. "We have followed successive proceedings against Mazari-Hazir and Chattha since January, also seemingly intended to punish and intimidate these lawyers; while sending a chilling message to the profession in general."
Following their re-arrest, an Islamabad anti-terrorism court refused a police request to hold and interrogate the couple for 30 days and instead ordered them to be sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand. On 22 September 2026, an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad returned the couple's bail petitions because they lacked signed powers of attorney.
The experts condemned the use of vague and overbroad counter-terrorism provisions to restrict human rights and hinder the legitimate exercise of their right to promote, protect, and defend human rights.. They recalled that international standards provide that governments should protect lawyers from intimidation, harassment and improper interference, and from prosecution for carrying out recognised professional duties. The same standards also protect lawyers' freedom of expression.
"Pakistan should drop all charges based on the exercise of freedom of expression by legal practitioners or their legitimate legal work, and order the couple's immediate release," the experts said. "They should already have adequate access to counsel of their choice, to their family, and to adequate and necessary medical care."
The experts have been in touch with Pakistan about these concerns.
