# Amnesty urges Pakistan-administered Kashmir to free activists and end crackdown

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/amnesty-urges-pakistan-administered-kashmir-to-free-activists-and-end-crackdown/
- Published: 2026-11-14T11:54:38+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-14T12:21:07+00:00
- Original publisher: Middle East Eye (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/amnesty-urges-pakistan-administered-kashmir-free-activists-and-end-crackdown
- Topics: Asia, Elections, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Amnesty calls for detained activists to be released.
- It says the JAAC ban infringes civil liberties.
- Crackdown followed protests over living costs and services.

## Summary

Amnesty International has urged Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s new government to release hundreds of activists and others detained under anti-terrorism laws after protests over the cost of living. It says banning the grassroots Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and restricting demonstrations violate rights to association, expression and peaceful assembly.

JAAC, founded in 2023, includes traders, lawyers, students, civil society activists and local political figures campaigning over electricity bills, flour prices, taxes and public services. Protests turned violent earlier this year, followed by a crackdown in which activists, protesters and journalists were arrested or placed on watchlists over alleged links to JAAC or coverage of demonstrations. Prime Minister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani took office in August amid months of unrest, and UN experts and rights groups have also raised concerns about curbs on civil liberties.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.