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KARACHI: Pakistan is spying on millions of its citizens using a phone-tapping system and a Chinese-built Internet firewall that censors social media, in one of the most comprehensive examples of state surveillance outside China, Amnesty International said.

The rights watchdog said in a report released on Tuesday that Pakistan’s growing monitoring network was built using both Chinese and Western technology and powered a sweeping crackdown on dissent and free speech. Already restricted political and media freedoms in Pakistan have tightened in recent years, particularly after the military broke with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022, who was later jailed and thousands of his party activists were detained.

Pakistan’s spy agencies can monitor at least 4 million mobile phones at a time through its Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), while a firewall known as WMS 2.0 that inspects Internet traffic can block 2 million active sessions at a time, Amnesty said.

The two monitoring systems function in tandem: one lets intelligence agencies tap calls and texts while the other slows or blocks websites and social media across the country, it said. The number of phones under surveillance could be higher as all four major mobile operators have been ordered to connect to LIMS, Amnesty technologist Jurre van Berge told Reuters.

“Mass surveillance creates a chilling effect in society, whereby people are deterred from exercising their rights, both online and offline,” the report said. Amnesty said its findings draw on a 2024 Islamabad High Court case filed by Bushra Bibi, the wife of former premier Khan, after her private calls were leaked online.

In court, Pakistan’s defense ministries and intelligence agencies denied running or even having the capacity for phone tapping. But under questioning, the telecom regulator acknowledged it had already ordered phone companies to install LIMS for use by “designated agencies.”

Pakistan’s technology, interior, and information ministries, as well as the telecom regulator, did not respond to questions from Reuters about the Amnesty report.

FOREIGN SUPPLIERS 

Pakistan is currently blocking about 650,000 web links and restricting platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and X, Amnesty said.

The controls have hit hardest in the insurgency-hit Balochistan province, where districts have faced years-long Internet blackouts, and rights groups accuse the military of disappearances and killings of Baloch and Pashtun activists, charges it denies.

Amnesty said it also reviewed licensing agreements, trade data, leaked technical files and Chinese records tying the firewall supplier to state-owned firms in Beijing.

It added that the firewall is supplied by the Chinese company Geedge Networks. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Monitoring centers for mobile calls are common globally but Internet filtering for the public is rare, said Ben Wagner, Professor of Human Rights and Technology at Austrian university IT:U.

Having both in Pakistan “constitutes a troubling development from a human rights perspective” and “suggests greater restrictions on freedom of expression and privacy will become more common as such tools become easier to implement,” he said.

Amnesty said the firewall uses equipment from US-based Niagara Networks, software from Thales DIS, a unit of France’s Thales, and servers from a Chinese state IT firm. An earlier version relied on Canada’s Sandvine.

Niagara told Reuters it follows US export rules, does not know end users or how its products are used, and only sells tapping and aggregation gear.

Amnesty said the phone tapping system was made by Germany’s Utimaco and deployed through monitoring centers run by UAE-based Datafusion.

Datafusion told Amnesty that its centers are only sold to law enforcement and that it does not make LIMS, while AppLogic Networks, the successor to Sandvine, said it has grievance mechanisms to prevent misuse.

The other companies named in the report did not respond to requests for comment. 

LOWER DIR, Pakistan: The wooden roof of a classroom in the Sabar Shah Primary School hung loose earlier this month, its cracked walls lined with nervous children who shuffle in every morning despite the danger.

They sit at their desks watching the ceiling instead of their books, each rumble of thunder a reminder that the roof could collapse at any time.

Since mid-August, heavy monsoon rains have battered Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, damaging 704 schools — 669 partially and 35 completely — according to the provincial Elementary and Secondary Education Department. Nationwide, over 900 people have been killed since the monsoon season started on June 26, at least 411 of them in KP.

In the province’s Lower Dir district, the worst-affected in terms of school damage, more than 100 buildings have been hit, leaving thousands of children struggling to continue their education inside unsafe classrooms.

“After the cracks occurred in the walls, we can not focus on our studies because we have the damage to the school building in our mind,” said Abdullah, a 10-year-old third grader. “Since we have no other nearby government school, I have to pursue my education in this same school, whatever the circumstances may be, but my studies are impacted, and I fear for my future.”

Pakistan already has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children — more than 26 million, according to UNICEF and UNESCO. Teachers and parents warn that the damage to schools in KP risks pushing even more children out of classrooms, as families weigh education against safety.

Hifza Hayat, an 11-year-old in fourth grade, recalled a frightening moment when wood from the roof fell during a lesson. 

“The General Science class was in progress and there were clouds,” she said. “The dangling plywood fell on the fan and was pushed to the side.”

She said the fear has made it harder to learn. 

“During the lessons in the classroom, we look more into the roof and walls,” she said. “We are always double-minded, we can’t remember lessons properly. The studies have been impacted badly, and the situation has left an impact on our minds. If this continues, I would not be able to study.”

Muhammad Yasir, who teaches science and is the school’s in-charge, said the building had been in poor condition even before the recent rains worsened it. Around 300 children are enrolled, and classes are often shifted outdoors when the weather turns threatening.

“When it rains, or even when we see clouds in the sky, we take the students outside and give lessons under the open sky,” he said.

“It is difficult to teach with proper concentration under such circumstances, hence the teaching and learning abilities are significantly impacted.”

“MOUTH OF DEATH”

Deputy District Education Officer Fayaz Ud Din confirmed that Lower Dir had the highest number of damaged schools in the province, adding that he had informed the provincial government that 31 schools needed urgent repair:

“The situation for the children’s education is dire after the rains, as the damage is causing the future of thousands to be in danger and keeping the children in school is a challenge. They need very rapid restoration and a lot of resources to accommodate all these children.”

KP Education Minister Faisal Tarakai admitted some schools were so severely damaged that it was not possible to hold classes there. He said the provincial government was in talks with the United Nations and private institutions to ensure repairs. 

“We will do whatever is possible,” Tarakai told media recently, “but we will not let a single child be deprived of education.”

Parents are not convinced and said they were torn between ensuring their children’s safety and keeping them in school. 

Muhammad Islam, who has four children enrolled, described the daily anxiety of sending them into a damaged building.

“Every morning it feels like sending them into the mouth of death, not knowing whether they will return alive,” he said.

“It has become a constant trauma. I don’t want my children to die. The situation has made me think on withdrawing my children from the school. If no proper measures are taken, I will withdraw my children from the school once this annual session concludes.”

Psychologists also warned that the dangers go beyond disrupted lessons. 

“Children studying in damaged schools risk trauma and flashbacks, which can lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” said Khaista Nooreen, a clinical psychologist who works in a private hospital in Peshawar. “It can be seen in children who have gone through such traumas, and fears prevent them from doing well in their lives. in the future.”

For now, the fear is constant for Hayat and her classmates.

“Now when it rains, we worry the walls and the wood and the stones of the walls would fall on us,” she said. “We have no other option but to come to this school and study at God’s disposal.”