PAKISTAN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 7 December 2012 PAKISTAN 7 DECEMBER 2012 Contents Preface REPORTS ON PAKISTAN PUBLISHED OR ACCESSED BETWEEN 17 NOVEMBER AND 6 DECEMBER 2012 Useful news sources for further information Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 1.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 1.09 Telecommunications ............................................................................................ 1.10 Public holidays ..................................................................................................... 1.13 2. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................ 2.01 3. HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 3.01 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: MAY 2012 TO NOVEMBER 2012 .......................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ................................................................................................... 6.01 Federal legislature ................................................................................................ 6.05 Provincial governments ....................................................................................... 6.09 Pakistan Administered Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) .............................................. 6.12 Line of Control .................................................................................................... 6.18 Map ................................................................................................................ 6.22 Gilgit-Baltistan (formerly known as the Northern Areas) .................................. 6.23 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY SITUATION ................................................................................................ 8.01 US airstrikes ......................................................................................................... 8.19 Militant activity ..................................................................................................... 8.27 Balochistan (Baluchistan) ................................................................................... 8.38 Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) ...................................................... 8.52 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) (formerly known as the North West Frontier Province – NWFP) ........................................................................................................... 8.62 Pakistani Taliban – an overview .......................................................................... 8.71 Sectarian violence ................................................................................................ 8.82 9. SECURITY FORCES .................................................................................................... 9.01 Police ..................................................................................................................... 9.02 Armed forces ........................................................................................................ 9.13 Other government forces ..................................................................................... 9.17 Intelligence agencies .......................................................................................... 9.20 Human rights violations by government forces ................................................ 9.23 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................................. 9.27 Torture ................................................................................................................ 9.30 Extra-judicial killings ........................................................................................... 9.39 Disappearances ................................................................................................. 9.49 Avenues of complaint .......................................................................................... 9.63 10. MILITARY SERVICE .................................................................................................... 10.01 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 16 November 2012. 7 DECEMBER 2012 PAKISTAN 11. JUDICIARY ................................................................................................................ 11.01 Organisation ......................................................................................................... 11.01 Shariat Courts (Islamic law) ............................................................................... 11.11 Anti-Terrorism Act and courts ............................................................................. 11.16 Military courts and the Army Act ......................................................................... 11.21 Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) ...................................................................... 11.25 Tribal justice system – Jirgas ............................................................................. 11.32 Independence ....................................................................................................... 11.50 Fair trial ................................................................................................................. 11.55 Double jeopardy ................................................................................................. 11.68 Penal code ............................................................................................................ 11.70 Qisas and Diyat ordinances ............................................................................... 11.71 Blasphemy laws.................................................................................................... 11.74 Hudood Ordinances ............................................................................................. 11.79 Code of criminal procedure ................................................................................. 11.89 12. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .................................................................. 12.01 First Information Reports (FIRs) ......................................................................... 12.01 Detention, bail and sentencing............................................................................ 12.11 Convictions in absentia ....................................................................................... 12.17 13. PRISON CONDITIONS ................................................................................................. 13.01 14. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................................... 14.01 15. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ............................................................................................. 15.01 Freedom of political expression .......................................................................... 15.01 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................... 15.09 Opposition groups and political activists .......................................................... 15.15 Politically motivated violence .............................................................................. 15.19 16. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ............................................................................... 16.01 Journalists ............................................................................................................ 16.20 17. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS .................................... 17.01 18. CORRUPTION ............................................................................................................ 18.01 National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) .......................................................... 18.08 National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ............................................................... 18.12 19. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .............................................................................................. 19.01 Demography ......................................................................................................... 19.16 Constitution and legislation ................................................................................ 19.23 Blasphemy laws.................................................................................................... 19.31 Legal procedures for blasphemy charges .......................................................... 19.60 Hudood Ordinances ............................................................................................. 19.62 Anti-terrorist laws ................................................................................................. 19.63 Apostasy ............................................................................................................... 19.64 Interfaith marriage ...............................................................................................