SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2286has been passed on the subject. There are many social and legal obstacles to successfulprosecution, and convictions are rare.PAKISTANOn October 12, 1999, the elected civilian Government of former Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Army Chief of StaffGeneral Pervez Musharraf. In consultation with senior military commanders, GeneralMusharraf designated himself Chief Executive, and suspended the Constitution,the Parliament, and the provincial assemblies. The office of the President, which ismainly ceremonial, was retained. General Musharraf appointed an advisory NationalSecurity Council, which included both military and civilian advisers, and acivilian cabinet. The government bureaucracy continued to function; however, at alllevels, the functioning of the Government after the coup was ‘‘monitored’’ by militarycommanders. In May the Supreme Court ruled that the Musharraf Governmentwas constitutional and imposed a 3-year deadline—starting from October 12, 1999—to complete a transition to democratic, civilian rule. On December 31, local electionswere held in 18 districts on a non-party basis; however the Government has not seta timetable for national elections. Corruption and inefficiency remained acute in allbranches of government. The suspended Constitution provided for an independentjudiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to executive branch and other outsideinfluences, and suffers from inadequate resources, inefficiency, and corruption. TheSupreme Court demonstrated a limited degree of independence; however, the overallcredibility of the judiciary remained low, and General Musharraf took steps to controlthe judiciary and to remove his regime from judicial oversight.The police have primary internal security responsibilities, although paramilitaryforces, such as the Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary, provide support in areaswhere law and order problems are acute, like Karachi and the frontier areas. Provincialgovernments control the police and the paramilitary forces when they are assistingin law and order operations. In August the Government announced a devolutionplan that included some increase in local political control of the police; however,the Government had not implemented this plan by year’s end. During some religiousholidays, the regular army is deployed in sensitive areas to help maintain publicorder. After the coup, the army played a role in enforcing exit control restrictionsat airports and border crossings, reportedly as part of the Musharraf regime’santicorruption accountability campaign. Members of the security forces committednumerous serious human rights abuses.Pakistan is a poor country with great extremes in the distribution of wealth. Education,especially for females is poor and only 33 percent of the population arejudged literate by a very low standard. Cotton, textiles and apparel, rice, and leatherproducts are the principal exports. The economy includes both state-run and privateindustries and financial institutions. The suspended Constitution provided forthe right of private businesses to operate freely in most sectors of the economy andthere continued to be a strong private sector. The per capita annual income is $490(PRs 29,400).The Government’s human rights record was poor, and the Government committednumerous serious abuses; however, there were improvements in some areas, particularlywith respect to freedom of the press. Citizens continued to be denied theright to choose or change their government peacefully. Police committed numerousextrajudicial killings; however, there were fewer such killings than in 1999. In Karachithere were fewer killings between rival political factions during the year; however,many of these killings reportedly were committed by or with the participationof the security forces. Police abused and raped citizens. While the officers responsiblefor such abuses sometimes were transferred or suspended for their actions, noofficer has been convicted and very few have been arrested. In Karachi there weresigns of progress in redressing police excesses; however, in general police continuedto commit serious abuses with impunity. Prison conditions remained extremely poor,and police arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens. The Government used arbitraryand sometimes incommunicado detention against leaders of the Sharif Governmentand their families; several major political leaders remained in jail or in selfimposedexile abroad at year’s end. Case backlogs led to long delays in trials, andlengthy pretrial detention is common. The judiciary is subject to executive and otheroutside influences, and corruption, inefficiency, and lack of resources remained problems.The Government took steps to control the judiciary and to remove itself fromjudicial oversight. On January 25, General Musharraf ordered all Supreme Court,Shariat court, and provincial High Court justices to swear to uphold the post-coupVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00130 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1