Pakistan’s War on Its Critics Now Reaches Across Borders — and South Africa Must Take Note

For many Pakistani journalists and human rights defenders, exile was supposed to bring freedom. Instead, it has become another battleground. As evidence grows of Pakistan’s campaign to harass, silence, and even assassinate critics abroad, South Africans are being urged to pay attention — both for what it says about global human rights and for the lessons it holds about protecting exiled voices living in our country.

The October anniversary of journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder in Kenya has reignited global debate on Pakistan’s transnational repression. Sharif fled Pakistan in 2022 after exposing military corruption and receiving repeated death threats. Two months later, he was shot dead by Kenyan police in what authorities called a “case of mistaken identity.” His widow, Javeria Siddique, insists it was a targeted killing ordered from Pakistan. To this day, no one has been held accountable.

The murder was not an isolated event. Several Pakistani dissidents, including journalist Sajjid Hussain in Sweden and activist Karima Baloch in Canada, have died under suspicious circumstances. Blogger Waqas Goraya survived an assassination plot in the Netherlands, orchestrated by agents linked to Pakistan’s military intelligence. Freedom House calls these acts “transnational repression” — the targeting of critics overseas through intimidation, abduction, or assassination.

South African human rights observers say the pattern is alarmingly familiar. The same dynamics of state secrecy, intelligence overreach, and impunity that Pakistan’s military establishment enjoys echo those seen during South Africa’s apartheid years, when exiles abroad were hunted by state operatives.

Pakistan’s record has worsened since 2022, when former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted and later jailed following a military-backed campaign. His supporters were detained, silenced, or banned from politics, and the 2024 elections were marred by violence and censorship. The U.S. State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report accused Pakistan of arbitrary killings, disappearances, and transnational intimidation of activists.

Recent cases show that even academia and digital platforms are not safe. In the United Kingdom, researcher Roshaan Khattak faced harassment for studying enforced disappearances in Balochistan. At the same time, U.S.-based journalist Ahmad Noorani has accused Pakistani authorities of retaliating by harassing his elderly mother in Islamabad. Advocacy group First Pakistan Global warns that Pakistani embassies and intelligence operatives now use online surveillance, threats, and family targeting to intimidate critics overseas.

South Africa’s foreign policy, long rooted in solidarity with oppressed peoples, now faces a test of its principles. The growing number of exiled activists in Johannesburg and Cape Town means this issue is not distant. Analysts argue that Pretoria should work through the African Union and United Nations to push for international accountability mechanisms against states that export repression beyond their borders.