Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] and other international and local human rights groups on Tuesday asserted [press release] that the Pakistan government should investigate whether four missing anti-Taliban activists were abducted by the Taliban. HRW noted that the four men were all “vocal critics of militant religious groups and Pakistan’s military establishment,” making them prime targets for reprisals. According to HRW, “The government’s failure to provide information on the fate or whereabouts of a person taken into custody amounts to an enforced disappearance, which is a serious violation of international human rights law.”

In August 2015 the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] to allow military trials for terrorism suspects. Military trials could make it easier for Pakistan courts to impose the death penalty. In May 2015 Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed [JURIST report] to cooperate in their struggle against terrorism in the region. In July 2014 Pakistan passed [JURIST report] an anti-terrorism bill that allows police to use lethal force, search buildings without a warrant, and detain suspects for up to 60 days so long as authorities have “reasonable apprehension of [the] commission of a scheduled offense.” A 2011 report [official website, PDF] by the Pakistan Minister of Finance said that the War on Terror has cost Pakistan billions of dollars and more than 35,000 lives.