Pakistan Page 1 of 45 Pakistan Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 4, 2002 In October 1999, the elected civilian Government of former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Army Chief of Staff General Pervez Musharraf. In consultation with senior military commanders, General Musharraf designated himself Chief Executive, and suspended the Constitution, the Parliament, and the national and provincial assemblies. The office of the President, which mainly is ceremonial, was retained. In 1999 General Musharraf appointed an advisory National Security Council, which included military and civilian advisers, a civilian cabinet, and new governors to all four provinces. The government bureaucracy continued to function; however, at all levels the functioning of the Government after the coup was "monitored" by military commanders. On June 20, General Musharraf was sworn in as the country's President, after the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) was amended (the PCO functions in place of the country's suspended Constitution). In 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that the Musharraf Government was constitutional and imposed a 3-year deadline--starting from October 12, 1999--to complete a transition to democratic, civilian rule. Between December 31, 2000, and August 2, local elections were held in five phases on a nonparty basis; on August 14, the Government announced that elections on the national and provincial level are scheduled to take place between October 1 and 11, 2002. The Government subsequently confirmed that political parties are to be permitted to participate. However, President Musharraf announced on several occasions that he intends to remain in office after the elections are held. The constitutional mechanism allowing Musharraf to do so remains unclear. The Government has aimed to empower women by increasing women's participation in government, reserving one-third of the seats on local governing bodies for women. Electoral reforms prepared during the year included the elimination of the separate electorates system for religious minorities and the tripling of National Assembly seats reserved for women. Corruption and inefficiency remained acute, despite reforms initiated by the Musharraf government to reduce corruption; however, these reforms have had some effect on officials in higher levels government. The suspended Constitution provided for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to executive branch and other outside influences, and inadequate funding, inefficiency, and corruption were problems. The Supreme Court demonstrated a limited degree of independence; however, the overall credibility of the judiciary remained low, and President Musharraf has taken steps to control the judiciary and to remove his Government from judicial oversight. During the year, the Government undertook a donor-funded program to reform the lower levels of the judiciary; minor improvements were evident by year's end. The police have primary internal security responsibilities, although paramilitary forces, such as the Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary, provide support in areas where law and order problems are acute, such as Karachi and the frontier areas. Provincial governments control the police and the paramilitary forces when they are assisting in law and order operations. In 2000 the Government announced a devolution plan that included some increase in local political control of the police; the plan was implemented on August 14 but no significant improvements were reported by year's end. During some religious holidays, the regular army is deployed in sensitive areas to help maintain public order. After the coup, the army played a role in enforcing exit control restrictions at airports and border crossings. Members of the police committed numerous serious human rights abuses. Pakistan is a poor country with great extremes in the distribution of wealth; its population is approximately 140 million. Education, especially for women, is poor; only 33 percent of the population are judged literate, even using a very low standard. Cotton, textiles and apparel, rice, and leather products are the principal exports. The economy includes both state-run and private industries and financial institutions. The suspended Constitution provided for the right of private businesses to operate freely in most sectors of the economy and there continued to be a strong private sector. The per capita annual income is approximately $475 (PRs 30,000). During the year, the Government pursued several major economic reforms designed to alleviate poverty. In September, the Government successfully completed a 10-month Standby Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at stabilizing the economy and restoring fiscal discipline through http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8237pf.htm 12/12/2002 Pakistan Page 2 of 45 improvements in governance. The Government also completed work on a poverty reduction strategy report that received joint IMF-World Bank approval in December. The report was the result of an 18-month consultative process between the Government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), civic groups, the public, and international donors that was aimed at building a framework for eliminating poverty. On the basis of the Government's commitment to eliminate poverty, on December 12 the IMF approved a $1.3 billion, 3-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program for the country that is to help the Government to complete its economic reform program. With the assistance of international donors, the Government increased funding commitments to health, education, and rural job creation programs. The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, particularly with regard to protection of religious minorities from intimidation from extremists, serious problems remained. Citizens continued to be denied the right to change their national and provincial governments peacefully but participated in local government elections during the year that provided increased power to district mayors and councils. Police committed numerous extrajudicial killings; however, the total number of such killings has declined in recent years. In Karachi there were fewer killings between rival political factions during the year; however, there was an increase in violence and killings between rival religious sects. Police abused and raped citizens. While the officers responsible for such abuses sometimes were transferred or suspended for their actions, no officer has been convicted and very few have been arrested. The Government conducted a series of trainings for police officers in provincial capitals; in these trainings, human rights abuses committed by law enforcement officials were acknowledged openly. In Karachi there were signs of progress in redressing police excesses; however, in general police continued to commit serious abuses with impunity. Prison conditions remained extremely poor and life threatening, and police arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens. In midyear the Government undertook a major effort to curb religious extremism. Two organizations responsible for sectarian killings were banned on August 14, and by year's end, the Government had accelerated a crackdown on members of several extremist religious groups. During the year, the last remaining Sharif government leaders in custody were released; however, Mehtab Abbasi and Javed Hashmi, two senior politicians allied to Nawaz Sharif, were detained by the National Accountability Bureau and remained in custody at year's end. Supporters claimed that their arrests were politically motivated. Several major political leaders remained in exile abroad at year's end. Case backlogs led to long delays in trials, and lengthy pretrial detention is common. The judiciary is subject to executive and other outside influences, and corruption, inefficiency, and lack of resources remained problems. The Government has taken steps to control the judiciary and to remove itself from judicial oversight. Some aspects of the Government's implementation of its anticorruption campaign violated due process. In April 2000, the Sindh Court found former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif guilty of treason and other charges; however, the court imposed a life sentence instead of the death penalty sought by the Musharraf Government. The court acquitted Sharif's six codefendants. In October 2000, the Sindh High Court upheld Sharif's conviction. In December 2000, the Government commuted Sharif's prison sentence and exiled him and 18 of his family members to Saudi Arabia for 10 years. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The press was able to publish relatively freely; however, several journalists practiced self-censorship, especially on sensitive issues related to the military. There was no systematic harassment campaign against newspapers or commentators critical of the Government during the year; however, provincial and local governments occasionally arrested journalists and closed newspapers accused of printing offensive material. The broadcast media remain a closely controlled government monopoly. Journalists often were targets of harassment and violence by individuals and groups. The Government restricted freedom of assembly. During the year, the Government sporadically permitted several large antigovernment demonstrations; however, it