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Human Rights Watch World Report 2001 - Pakistan

Respect for civil and political rights deteriorated significantly in the year following the bloodless military coup, on October 12, 1999, that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan. General Pervez Musharraf's administration began to address some longstanding justice issues - notably, through the adoption of Pakistan's first federal juvenile justice law and the establishment of a commission on the status of women - but it also greatly augmented executive powers and curtailed the independence of the judiciary. It moved to neutralize political parties through the application of broadly defined laws governing terrorism, sedition, and public order, and through the establishment of a powerful extra-constitutional "accountability" bureau. Opposition party members were subjected to prolonged detention without charge; some were tortured in custody. Sectarian violence and attacks on religious minorities continued and, despite renewed attention to the issue, the government failed to provide meaningful recourse for women victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Human Rights Developments

Early in the year, the military government moved to strip the judiciary of much of its power. On January 26, General Musharraf issued an order requiring all Supreme and High Court judges to take an oath binding them to uphold his proclamation of a national emergency and to adhere to the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). Many, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, refused to take the oath. A total of fifteen judges were removed. The PCO, which remained in effect at this writing, had been announced by Musharraf just days after the October coup. It suspended the constitution and legislative bodies and prohibited the Supreme and High Courts from making any decision against the chief executive.

On May 12, a reconstituted Supreme Court issued a verdict rejecting petitions challenging the coup's legality. The court set a deadline of three years for the holding of national and provincial elections, but reserved authority to review the continuation of the Proclamation of Emergency, leaving the door open to future extensions of military rule.

Top officials of the deposed government were detained on the day of the coup; two of them, former Information Minister Mushahid Hussain and former Petroleum Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan continued to be held without charge as of this writing. Nawaz Sharif himself was tried and convicted of hijacking and terrorism - for refusing to allow General Musharraf's plane to land in the hours leading up to the coup - under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and sentenced to life imprisonment on April 6 following a trial marred by procedural abuses.

In December 1999 the military government amended the Anti-Terrorism Act to add hijacking and conspiracy to the list of offenses falling within the Anti-Terrorism Court's jurisdiction. These offenses were then applied retroactively to Nawaz Sharif. Another amendment allowed the government to replace the judge originally assigned to hear the case, a Sharif appointee. In January, the new judge stepped down, publicly complaining of the presence of intelligence agents in his courtroom. In March, only days before the final arguments were to be presented in the trial, Sharif's lawyer, Iqbal Raad, and two of his colleagues were assassinated in their office. Other members of the defense team charged that the government had failed to provide them protection despite repeated warnings that they were being threatened. A month after Sharif's conviction by the Anti-Terrorism Court, he was shifted to Attock Fort - an army-occupied sixteenth century fortress west of Islamabad - to face trial on charges of concealing assets and evading taxes in connection with his acquisition of a helicopter. He was convicted on July 22, and sentenced to fourteen years in prison, with a fine of Rs. 20 million (U.S. $380,000).

The new government's principal vehicle for detaining former officials and party leaders, however, was the National Accountability Ordinance, a law ostensibly created to bring corrupt officials to account. The ordinance confers sweeping powers of arrest, investigation, and prosecution in a single institution, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and permits detainees to be held for up to ninety days without being brought before a court. The law was later amended to facilitate conviction by shifting the burden of proof during trial from the prosecution to the defense.

There were persistent reports of ill treatment in NAB custody, particularly in the case of high profile detainees who were held early in the year in Attock Fort. Persons convicted under the ordinance were prohibited from holding public office for a period of twenty-one years. An amendment to the Political Parties Act in August also barred anyone with a court conviction from holding party office. The combined effect of these acts, as they were applied, was to eliminate the existing leadership of the major political parties. While administration officials said that parties would be allowed to participate in future elections to the Senate and national and provincial assemblies, local government elections, scheduled to be held in December, were to be conducted on a non-party basis.

The Musharraf government also suppressed political activity by conducting raids on party offices, preventing political rallies from being held, and lodging criminal cases against rally organizers under laws governing sedition and the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. The sedition law, Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, criminalizes speech that "brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Central or Provincial Government established by law." Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance prohibits speech that "causes or is likely to cause fear or alarm to the public" or any section thereof, or which "furthers or is likely to further any activity prejudicial to public safety or the maintenance of public order."

Rana Sanaullah Khan, a member of the suspended Punjab provincial assembly from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML), was arrested in Faisalabad on November 28, 1999. The arrest came after he criticized the army at a meeting of former legislators and urged his colleagues to launch a protest movement against the military government. He was tortured while in custody, and criminal charges were registered against him under the sedition law and MPO .

On March 15, the government formally curtailed freedom of association and assembly with an order banning public rallies, demonstrations, and strikes. The order's enforcement against a procession from Lahore to Peshawar that Nawaz Sharif's wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, had planned to lead, resulted in the arrests of at least 165 PML leaders and activists. On September 21 the ban was also invoked against 250 members of the hardline Sunni Muslim group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, who had planned a march to celebrate a religious anniversary.

Other police and army operations targeted the two leading ethnically-based parties in Sindh, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Paramilitary rangers and police in Sindh province launched a crackdown against activists and leaders of the JSQM and the MQM on February 19, 2000 after the two parties jointly called for a strike against the government's dismissal of 400Pakistan Steel Mills workers. Paramilitary troops and rangers responded with search and siege operations in the cities and a search for JSQM activists in rural areas of Sindh, resulting in the arrest of about forty activists.

The JSQM and MQM called for further protests to be held on February 22 against the police violence of February 19, but withdrew their call after setting a deadline for the government to accept two demands: the release of jailed MQM leader Farooq Sattar and the reinstatement of laid-off Pakistan Steel Mills employees. On the night of February 21, police and paramilitary rangers rounded up and detained fifty-four JSQM and MQM activists. They were released the following day.

Many local observers maintained that a major consequence of curbs on political parties and activism was that the relative influence of mainstream religious parties - whose authority General Musharraf largely refrained from challenging - would grow. Indeed, that influence was apparent from the government's abrupt withdrawal - in the face of planned protests by religious groups - of plans to restrict application of Pakistan's much criticized blasphemy laws and to repeal laws providing for separate elections for members of religious minorities. These laws are seen by many minority group advocates as having contributed to their communities' political marginalization. In the absence of legal reform, the blasphemy laws, which set forth stringent penalties, including capital punishment, for offenses against Islam, continued to be used against Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Following up on promises made during a government-sponsored national human rights convention in April, President Rafiq Tarar announced the promulgation of a juvenile justice ordinance in July that incorporated a number of recommendations made by local and international nongovernmental organizations and the official Pakistan Law Commission. The ordinance included a ban on the death penalty on persons for crimes committed while they were under the age of eighteen, provision of state-funded legal assistance for juveniles, the creation of juvenile courts with exclusive jurisdiction over juvenile cases, a prohibition on joint trials of adults and children, and a requirement that probation officers prepare reports on a child's circumstances prior to adjudication of his or her case.

On September 1, the government announced the establishment of the National Commission on the Status of Women, with a mandate to safeguard and promote women's interests but few powers to implement it. The first issue that the commission was directed to examine was violence against women. The government-empowered by the Supreme Court to amend the constitution and enforce new laws without parliament's approval - also reserved one third of the seats for women in local government elections that were scheduled to commence in December.

Thousands of women fell victim to domestic violence, so-called honor killings, and sexual assault, with virtually no access to the country's justice system. Women who attempted to register a police complaint of spousal or familial physical abuse were invariably turned away and sometimes pressured by the police to reconcile with their abusers. Women who reported rape or sexual assault by strangers fared marginally better, but they too faced harassment by officials at all levels and risked being prosecuted for illicit sex if they failed to "prove" rape under the 1979 Hudood Ordinances, which criminalize adultery and fornication.

According to a report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in March, a nongovernmental body, more than 1,000 women died in Pakistan in 1999 as victims of honor killings - the practice of punishing women said to have brought dishonor to their families. Most of the killings, the report added, were carried out by the victims' brothers or husbands. The same report concluded that at least 1,000 people had been killed in religious or ethnic violence each year since 1990. Sectarian violence between rival Sunni and Shi'a Muslim groups continued in 2000, reaching its peak during the holy month of Moharram. On April 12, gunmen attacked a Shi'a prayer meeting in Rawalpindi, killing nineteen.

Religious intolerance continued to generate new abuses. In December 1999, several hundred persons looted and burned property belonging to a local Ahmadi leader, Mohammad Nawaz, in Okara district, Punjab. Nawaz was accused of planning to build an Ahmadi house of worship. Police personnel did nothing to stop the crowd and instead registered a case of blasphemy against Nawaz and his two sons. In May 2000, a lower court in Sialkot district, Punjab, sentenced two Christian brothers to thirty-five years' imprisonment and Rs. 75,000 (US$1,500) fine. They were convicted of desecrating the Koran and blaspheming against the Prophet Mohammed. Both cases were reportedly registered by an ice cream vendor who had fought with the brothers after insisting that his dishes were reserved for Muslim customers.

Though the government repeatedly stated that the Pakistani press enjoyed unconditional freedom, local human rights activists reported that self-censorship on political issues was increasingly common in the vernacular press, and there were indications that the English-language press was coming under official pressure as well. On September 27, an army monitoring team conducted an unannounced, four-hour inspection of the headquarters of Karachi's respected English-language daily Dawn. Although the ostensible purpose of the inspection was to check metering equipment for electricity billing fraud, the team demanded access to all floors of the publishing house, including the offices of the publishers, editors, and journalists. According to Dawn, the inspection was preceded by legal notices to the newspaper from the Information Ministry to restrict its coverage of a draft Freedom of Information Act, and by complaints from government officials about an article in Dawn stating that the administration was preparing new curbs on press freedom.

The UNHCR pledged to continue its yearly repatriation of 100,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan, which is currently home to over two million refugees. Though the repatriation was voluntary, the refugees returned to face ongoing civil war and severe violations of women's human rights.

Defending Human Rights

Despite numerous crackdowns on political activism, human rights organizations, for the most part, were permitted to function freely. Groups such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan openly condemned the military government's treatment of detained political figures, and its curtailing of judicial independence. According to a report in Dawn, following the shutdown of nearly 2,000 NGOs and the imposition of new registration requirements for NGOs by the Punjab provincial government last year - a move that was initiated under the Sharif administration - NGOs in the province continued to require clearance from the Intelligence Bureau in order to register with the government. While NGOs in Sindh province did not require such clearance, the Sindh Social Welfare Department began scrutinizing the workings of all NGOs functioning in the province, including their financial records and sources of funding.

The Role of the International Community

In a bid to build international support, General Musharraf and other senior officials of the military government attempted to bolster diplomatic ties overseas. But the international community remained steadfast in its demands for a return to democratic governance and peaceful resolution of the conflict in Kashmir.

United Nations

In a December 1999 report, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances stated that it continued to receive reports that Pakistani authorities failed to adequately investigate and prosecute "disappearance" cases. In March, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women submitted a written report on her September 1999 visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Among her findings were a rise in violence against Afghan women, including domestic violence, honor killings, and trafficking of Afghan refugee women in Pakistan. She also found that individuals working on the plight of Afghans, including members of Afghan nongovernmental organizations, the majority of which had moved to Pakistan, continued to receive death threats, were subject to harassment, and often lacked protection from local authorities. The rapporteur also noted local NGO concern over what they termed the "Talibanization" of Pakistan, and its impact on Pakistani women.

United States

During a brief stopover in Islamabad at the end of his South Asia tour in March, U.S. President Bill Clinton urged the military government to restore democracy, seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Kashmir, and pressure the Taliban in Afghanistan to both improve their treatment of women and cease sponsoring terrorist groups. Clinton took pains not to legitimize the military government by making a state visit.

In its second annual report on international religious freedom released in September, the U.S. Department of State noted that there was a "slight improvement" in the Pakistani government's treatment of religious minorities between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000. It cited General Musharraf's abandoning of his predecessor's proposal to impose Shari'a law through a constitutional amendment as a positive move, but asserted more generally that discriminatory legislation continued to fuel religious intolerance. Later that month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom held public hearings on religious persecution in India and Pakistan. At this writing, members of the commission were preparing for a visit to Pakistan in November following the government's invitation.

European Union

Almost a year after its forceful condemnation of the coup in Pakistan, the E.U. initiated political contact with the military government in an effort to formalize a timetable for national elections. Following the April verdict in the trial of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the E.U. also voiced concerns over the oath of loyalty to the PCO required of judges, retroactive application of amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, and the broader question of judicial independence, stating that the E.U. would closely follow Sharif's appeal.

The Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon visited Pakistan in August to convey the Commonwealth's concerns regarding the restoration of constitutional and democratic rule. Pakistan was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth following the military coup. The visit was followed by a warning by Commonwealth foreign ministers - who met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar during the U.N. Millennium Summit in September - that Pakistan would face full suspension from the Commonwealth if it did not provide a firm timetable for a return to democracy.

Japan

As part of a South Asia tour in August, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori used Japan's leverage as a top donor to call for a resumption of talks on Kashmir and condemned violent attacks on civilians. Mori urged Musharraf to restore civilian rule by 2002, and indicated that while most Japanese grants and loans would remain suspended following Pakistan's nuclear tests in May 1998, some funds might be released for development work in response to Pakistan's pledge to continue its freeze on nuclear tests. The Japanese government maintained, however, that Pakistan's refusal to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was the main obstacle in the resumption of Japanese aid. Earlier in the year, Japan also provided small grants to NGOs carrying out Afghan refugee assistance in camps in Pakistan and inside Afghanistan.

International Financial Institutions

At this writing, the World Bank had yet to schedule the donor conference on Pakistan that had been put on hold since the coup. Proposed loans that were in the pipeline, but not yet approved, amounted to more than U.S. $800 million. In late September, the IMF and Pakistan were reported to have reached a preliminary agreement on a $3.5 billion loan program, to be spread out over three years. IMF cash credits during the first year would be limited to $700 million from the fund's Poverty Relief and Growth Facility (PRGF).

Relevant Human Rights Watch Reports

Prison Bound, The Denial of Juvenile Justice in Pakistan, 10/99

Reform or Repression?: Post-Coup Abuses in Pakistan, 10/00

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