Presidency of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's tenure as the sixth president of Pakistan began on 16 September 1978 and ended with his death in an aircraft crash on 17 August 1988. Zia came to power after a coup, overthrowing prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and imposing martial law in 1977.

During his reign, there was significant political and military repression in Pakistan. Among the complaints against the Muhammad Zia ul-Haq administration were its repression of press and journalists, repression of rape victims imprisoned for zina (extra-marital sex) under its Hudood Ordinances, and its repression of protestors. Zia's government repressed communists and protestors violently during the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy campaign.

Zia-ul-Haq came to power as a result of a coup, overthrowing Pakistan's first popularly elected Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Though the coup itself was bloodless, civilian opposition in parts of the country was substantial. Martial law was declared, senior civilian politicians opposing Zia were imprisoned, and less well known figures in opposition student groups, trade and journalist unions and political parties were "made an example of" with public floggings.

International geopolitics played a significant role in the state of human rights in Pakistan during this time. About two years after the coup, the Soviet Union invaded Pakistan's neighbor Afghanistan, transforming Pakistan and Zia's government into a key Cold War ally of the United States, and giving Zia latitude to ignore internationally accepted human rights norms.