NEW YORK - A leading international human rights watchdog Thursday called on the Pakistan government to end its crackdown against activists of opposition groups led by the Pakistan Muslim League-N. "It's a disgrace for elected officials to mimic the discredited military government by using old and repressive laws to stifle political expression," said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The protesters who were arrested should be freed right away and allowed to demonstrate peacefully without fear of violence or arrest." Human Rights Watch said that by placing curbs on the rights to peaceful assembly and association, Pakistan's government was making use of the same authoritarian tools it had decried when in opposition. "Pakistan's transition to democracy is imperiled by the government reacting to a political dispute with unnecessary force," said Hasan. "Regardless of political differences, rights-respecting leaders don't lock up people for trying to participate in their country's political process."