Full Statement

FOUR YEARS WITHOUT ARSHAD SHARIF Four years ago today, on October 23, 2022, Pakistani investigative journalist Arshad Sharif was shot dead by Kenyan police outside Nairobi. Police called it a case of mistaken identity. Mr. Sharif, a prominent television anchor critical of Pakistan's military establishment, had left Pakistan in August 2022 after multiple criminal cases, including sedition charges, were registered against him. In December 2022, Pakistan's own fact-finding team concluded the killing was a "planned, targeted assassination" and said people in Kenya, Dubai or Pakistan may have been involved. Four years later, no one has been convicted. 🔹 In July 2024, Kenya's High Court ruled the shooting unlawful. 🔹 In July 2026, Kenya's Supreme Court declined to order prosecution of the officers. 🔹 Three men named in the criminal case remain at large. 🔹 In February 2026, the Federal Constitutional Court ended its oversight of the investigation, despite a written plea from his widow, Javeria Siddique, to keep it open. His late mother, who died in October 2025 still seeking justice, asked that senior military and intelligence officials be named in the case. They were not. Pakistan's military rejects any suggestion of involvement. If that is so, an independent and transparent investigation should be welcomed by all sides. First Pakistan Global calls on: ✅ Pakistan to make public the findings of the Special Joint Investigation Team ✅ Kenya to make a public charging decision on the officers involved ✅ Both governments to accept an independent international investigation, as Reporters Without Borders has urged ✅ @StateDept and Members of Congress to raise the case with both governments Impunity in this case sends a message to every Pakistani journalist who asks hard questions. Full statement with sources attached. @IFJGlobal @pressfreedom @CPJAsia @RSF_inter @HRCP87 @amnesty @hrw @UNHumanRights @HRCP87 @worqas @brief_pk @ryangrim @cenkuygur @DropSiteNews @MarioNawfal @MoeedNj #JusticeForArshadSharif #NoImpunity #PressFreedom

The entire country is expected to revolve around glorifying the military and perpetuating narratives of discipline and professionalism. If they were truly disciplined, they would not have allowed their greed for power to override their constitutional duty. This glorification is shameful. Pakistanis have moved beyond the propaganda.

🔴 Under an elected govt of @ImranKhanPTI, terrorism in Pakistan fell to historic lows. Since the military installed a hybrid regime after the rigged 2024 elections, it has surged. Military control → more terrorism → more excuses for control Geopolitical turmoil also suits their aim of furthering control Dr. @HNadim87 on @kthalps 🎥 #Pakistan #KPK

@ReutersAsia corrected your headline

This is what has unfolded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the military-backed regime imposed emergency rule and suspended the elected provincial government. #KPK #Emergency @POTUS @SecRubio @RepMcGovern @TLHumanRights @RepRoKhanna @RepGregoryMeeks @HouseForeignGOP @RepJoeWilson @RepSuhas @RepHuizenga @RepJayapal @RepRashida @RepKamlagerDove @BradSherman @RepMcCormick @amnesty @hrw @freedomhouse @UNHumanRights @USCIRF @ryangrim @TuckerCarlson @ChrisVanHollen @MarkWarner @timkaine @cenkuygur @Kasim_Khan_1999 @KatieHalperShow @DropSiteNews @BBCWorld @worqas @AJEnglish @BBCUrdu #BlackDayForDemocracy #Pakistan #HumanRights #Democracy #RuleOfLaw

Dr. @HNadim87 breaks down the military regime's takeover of KP on Katie Halper, a move made under the pretext of "terrorism" while Imran Khan stays in prison. #Pakistan #KPK

@SohailAfridiISF - a student leader from a long-neglected tribal region was given the opportunity through democracy to lead his people. Yet, an independent political voice is unacceptable to military junta. If a sitting chief minister has indeed been abducted in this manner, it would represent an extraordinary assault on democratic institutions and the people's mandate. #KPK #Emergency

Hi Caitlin, First Pakistan Global issued a press release today on the reported shootings of protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the flawed reasoning behind the emergency imposed there. I've attached it here. We'd love to add you to our media list, so please share your email by DM or write to us at [email protected]. Thank you!

Pakistan's Democracy Is Being Traded for Its Minerals Why the world should look past the "counter-terrorism" explanation for the emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa On October 11, Pakistan's federal government suspended the elected government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and imposed emergency rule. The province's chief minister is in custody. Hundreds of opposition workers have been detained, internet service has been cut in several districts, and police have used tear gas and gunfire to break up protests. The official reason is the fight against terrorism. The international community should ask a harder question: why now, and why these regions? Follow the minerals. Pakistani officials value the country's untapped mineral wealth at up to $6–8 trillion. That includes copper, gold, lithium and rare earth elements, which are critical to the global energy and technology supply chain. Most of it lies in KP and Balochistan, the provinces where civilian authority is being pushed aside. Washington has made its interest plain: The US Chargé d'affaires in Islamabad, Natalie Baker, has personally urged American firms to invest in Pakistan's mining sector. She announced $1.25 billion in US government financing for the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan. A US firm has signed a $500 million critical minerals agreement with Pakistan. Shipments of minerals have already gone to the United States. Investment is not wrong in itself. But when it comes with the removal of elected governments in the very regions where the resources lie, the people who live on that land are left with no voice in how it is used. History gives reason to be skeptical. People across the Global South remember Iraq, invaded over weapons of mass destruction that were never found, and Libya. In both countries, strategic resources and foreign interests outlasted the promises of democracy. Pakistanis are entitled to ask whether "security" is again the cover for something else. We have seen this before, on our own soil. South Asians need no lessons on what happens when commerce arrives ahead of consent. The East India Company came to the subcontinent as a trading firm. Within a century it had its own army, collected taxes and ruled millions, all to extract the region's wealth for shareholders abroad. Local rulers who cooperated were rewarded, and those who resisted were removed. Today, when foreign mining interests line up behind an unelected administration in Pakistan's resource-rich provinces, the parallel is hard to miss. A colonial tool for a modern crackdown. The British Crown inherited the East India Company's empire and wrote laws to protect it. One of them, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, lets authorities ban public gatherings, typically of four or more people. It was designed to stop a colonized population from organizing, and Pakistan, India and Bangladesh still use it. Today it does the same job: it criminalizes peaceful assembly and divides citizens who unite around a legitimate demand. Divide and rule did not leave with the British. What we ask of the international community: ✔️Call for the restoration of KP's elected government and the release of detained political leaders and workers. ✔️Demand stop use of force against protesters. ✔️Make any foreign investment in Pakistan's minerals conditional on transparency, consent from local communities, and respect for constitutional rule. ✔️Press for the repeal of colonial-era laws like Section 144 that suppress peaceful assembly. Pakistan's resources belong to its people, and so does its right to choose who governs them. @amnesty @hrw @freedomhouse @UNHumanRights @USCIRF

@MohsinNaqviC42's “look what you made us do” moment. Apparently dismantling democracy is someone else's fault. #Asimlaw

Pakistan’s hybrid regime, with the self-proclaimed champions of democracy @AsifAliZardariF and @BBhuttoZardari at its helm, is now presiding over the removal of an elected provincial government. The irony is hard to miss: those who claim to defend democracy are overseeing the suspension of an electoral mandate.

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS! 🚨🚨 🌍 GLOBAL PARLIAMENTARY EMERGENCY SUMMIT 📍 WASHINGTON, D.C. 🇺🇸 🛑 STOP DICTATORSHIP & POLITICAL GENOCIDE IN PAKISTAN! 🌎 FROM THE STREETS OF PAKISTAN TO THE PARLIAMENTS OF THE WORLD — THE WORLD CONVENES, PAKISTAN’S DEMOCRACY TAKES CENTER STAGE! DEMOCRACY • HUMAN RIGHTS • RULE OF LAW • INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY • CIVILIAN SUPREMACY Final logistics are underway for what we aim to make one of the largest and most consequential international parliamentary gatherings in decades to raise global awareness about Pakistan’s unprecedented democratic, constitutional, and human-rights crisis. 🌍 Parliamentarians, human-rights leaders, and democratic voices from across the globe will be invited to address the rise of authoritarianism, military domination, political persecution, and the erosion of constitutional freedoms in Pakistan. 250 MILLION PEOPLE — OPPRESSED IN WHAT MANY DESCRIBE AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST OPEN-AIR PRISON, TREATED AS SUBJECTS RATHER THAN FREE CITIZENS, AND HELD HOSTAGE UNDER MILITARY DOMINATION. ✊ CIVILIAN LIVES MATTER! ✊ RESTORE TRUE DEMOCRACY! 🌎 ONE GLOBAL CALL FOR JUSTICE! 📢 GLOBAL CALL FOR PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION IF YOU LIVE IN: 🇺🇸 USA • 🇨🇦 CANADA • 🇬🇧 UK • 🇪🇺 EUROPEAN UNION • 🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA • 🇳🇿 NEW ZEALAND • 🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA • OR ,DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES ACROSS AFRICA, ASIA & LATIN AMERICA And want your Member of Congress, Parliament, or elected representative to participate in this historic summit, please email us their name and constituency. 📩 [email protected] 🌎 WASHINGTON, D.C. — THE WORLD WILL BE LISTENING! FIRST PAKISTAN GLOBAL Pakistani American Diaspora.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for apologists for Pakistan’s current military junta to justify the repression, imprisonment of political workers, and decisions to insert the country into geopolitical conflicts while its own citizens are struggling at home. The fact that thousands of Pakistanis are back on the streets, despite protesters having faced deadly violence less than two years ago (#IslamabadMassacre), is a remarkable testament to their resilience. People who have endured repression and hardship continue to find the courage to demand political representation while drawing strength from their imprisoned leader @ImranKhanPTI and movement they believe in. Everything else—the excuses, spin, and vested interests—is increasingly just noise.

Pakistan’s military dictators have repeatedly lacked democratic legitimacy at home, so coercion and brutality have too often been directed at their own people. Yet abroad, strategic usefulness has frequently brought them legitimacy, money and military support—especially from Washington.

🚨 ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL NEWS DESKS Pakistan is heading toward a major political mobilization on September 27. In the days leading up to it, reports concerning the detention of @Aleema_KhanPK, sister of former Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI, deserve independent journalistic examination. This is a moment for international correspondents and news organizations to be present—not simply to report competing claims afterward, but to establish what is happening as events unfold. Send reporters. Speak to all sides. Verify what happens. Document any detentions or restrictions. Keep independent cameras on the ground. Credible, firsthand reporting on September 27 will be essential. @nytimes @ElianPeltier @Reuters @AJEnglish @cnni @zeteo_news @washingtonpost @DropSiteNews @amnesty @hrw @CPJ @RSF_inter

🆕 Pakistan’s judiciary did not collapse overnight. It evolved from legitimizing military power after the fact to being structurally reshaped in ways that make meaningful judicial resistance increasingly difficult. From FPG’s Dr. Zoobia Chaudhry: a historical analysis tracing how Pakistan’s judiciary evolved from providing post-coup legitimacy through the “Doctrine of Necessity” to today’s constitutional engineering where courts increasingly serve as instruments through which military power is institutionalized rather than restrained. “From Doctrine of Necessity to Constitutional Engineering: How Pakistan’s Military Dictators Destroyed Its Courts” globalvillagespace.com/from-…

US citizens/dual citizens get Pakistan's US travel advisory from US State dept when they register with Smart Traveler Program (STEP): You can also face detention for posting content on social media viewed as critical of the Pakistani government, military, or officials. And if you're a dual national, the embassy's ability to help you if detained is limited.