SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2287Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), which suspended the Constitution and legislativebodies and prohibited the superior courts from making any decision againstthe Chief Executive ‘‘or any person exercising powers or jurisdiction under his authority.’’Six Supreme Court justices, including the Chief Justice, and nine otherprovincial court justices resigned in protest. The Government’s anticorruption campaignviolated due process. In October 1998, the National Assembly (NA) voted fora 15th constitutional amendment, which would have required the Government toenforce Shari’a (Islamic law) throughout the country. However, General Musharrafabandoned his predecessor’s attempt to enact the amendment. In April the SindhCourt found Nawaz Sharif guilty of treason and other charges; however, the courtimposed a life sentence instead of the death penalty sought by the Musharraf Government.The court acquitted Sharif’s six codefendants. In October the Sindh HighCourt upheld Nawaz Sharif’s conviction. However, on December 9, the Governmentcommuted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s prison sentence and exiled himand 18 of his family members to Saudi Arabia for 10 years. The Government infringedon citizens’ privacy rights. The press was able to publish relatively freely;however, several journalists practiced self-censorship, especially on sensitive issuesrelated to the military. There was not a systematic harassment campaign againstnewspapers or commentators critical of the Government during the year; however,the broadcast media remain a closely controlled government monopoly. The Governmentrestricted freedom of assembly. During the year, the Government sporadicallypermitted several large antigovernment demonstrations; however, it prevented otherprotests and arrested organizers, reportedly for security reasons. In March the Governmentinstituted a country-wide ban on strikes, processions, and outdoor politicaldemonstrations. The Government maintained some limits on freedom of association.The Government imposed some limits on freedom of religion, particularly forAhmadis. The Government also imposed limits on freedom of movement. GeneralMusharraf spoke out against some of the human rights abuses of the previous regimeand held a conference on human rights in April; however, the Governmentmade minimal progress toward achieving the goals set at the conference.Significant numbers of women were subjected to violence, abuse, rape, and otherforms of degradation by spouses and members of society. The Government publiclycriticized the practice of ‘‘honor killings’’ but failed to take corrective steps, and suchkillings continued throughout the country. There was considerable discriminationagainst women, and traditional social and legal constraints kept women in a subordinateposition in society. Violence against children, as well as child abuse, andprostitution, remained serious problems. Female children still lag far behind boysin education, health care, and other social indices. Governmental and societal discriminationagainst religious minorities, particularly Ahmadis and Christians remainsa problem, and the Government failed to take effective measures to counterprevalent public prejudices against religious minorities. Religious and ethnic-basedrivalries resulted in numerous killings and civil disturbances. The Government andemployers continued to restrict worker rights significantly. Debt slavery persists,and bonded labor by both adults and children remained a problem. The use of childlabor remained widespread, although it generally is recognized as a serious problem,and industrial exporters have adopted a number of measures to eliminate childlabor from specific sectors. Trafficking in women and children for the purpose offorced prostitution was a serious problem. Mob violence and terrorist attacks remainedproblems; however, the number of incidents declined slightly during theyear.RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTSSection 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing.—Police committed extrajudicialkillings. The extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects, often in the form of deathsin police custody or of staged encounters in which police shoot and kill the suspects,is common. Police officials generally insist that these deaths occur during attemptsto escape or to resist arrest; family members and the press insist that many of thesedeaths are staged. Police personnel have been known to kill suspected criminals toprevent them from implicating police in crimes during court proceedings. After anattempt was made on then Prime Minister Sharif’s life in January 1999, as manyas 40 Sunni Muslims associated with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, the putative instigator,may have been killed in police encounters. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan(HRCP) reported that there were fewer reports of extrajudicial killings duringthe year than there were in the previous year. In September a journalist reportedthat 19 persons died in police encounters or as victims of torture in the first 9months of the year. Amnesty International (AI) estimates that at least 100 personsVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00131 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1