SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2294of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for shouting slogans against the Musharraf regimeand the army. During the year, police arrested hundreds of opposition partymembers in order to prevent planned demonstrations from occurring (see Section2.b.).The Government detained several high-profile businessmen in connection withGeneral Musharraf’s anticorruption campaign. In March police detained a leadingAfghan rug merchant; the merchant was released after 2 months. On May 8, armedgunmen seized Amin Lakhani, a leading Karachi businessman. Several days later,the NAB admitted that it authorized Lakhani’s seizure. Lakhani was held withoutcharge for several weeks and questioned about his financial affairs. His brother,Sultan Lakhani, also was seized on May 8 and remained in detention withoutcharge at year’s end.On a number of occasions, police arrested persons prior to demonstrations underthe Criminal Procedures Code ban (see Section 2.b.).Police personnel arrested about 150 journalists during a peaceful protest in April.In August police personnel arrested four journalists who reportedly criticized the police;the journalists were released after 4 days (see Section 2.a.).In past years, persons occasionally were detained arbitrarily because of disputeswith powerful or well-connected persons; however, there were no reports that thisoccurred during the year.The Musharraf Government detained without warrants and without charges severaldozen political figures, military officers, government administrators, and Shariffamily members following the 1999 coup. Nawaz Sharif and members of his family,including Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif; most of the Cabinet; several senioradvisors to the Prime Minister or to the Government; and a number of military andpolice officials were arrested or placed under house arrest immediately following thecoup. On several occasions during the year, police officials prevented Nawaz Sharif’swife, Kulsoom Nawaz, from speaking at public meetings. Many of the officials whowere arrested following the coup were held incommunicado. Nawaz Sharif was heldincommunicado from the time of his arrest until he was brought to court more than1 month later. Most others were released within a few days. In December the Governmentreleased from detention former Minister of Information Mushahid Hussainwho had been held under house arrest since the October coup. As of year’s end, approximately30 politicians and their relatives remained in custody.Several key figures among those initially arrested without charge, includingNawaz Sharif, were held in connection with the ‘‘hijacking’’ on October 12, 1999 ofthe civilian airliner carrying General Musharraf back from a conference in SriLanka; former Prime Minister Sharif reportedly denied permission for the plane toland in Karachi. Along with Sharif’s summary replacement of General Musharrafwith the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, this eventled to the 1999 coup. In the weeks following Sharif’s arrest, he was detained withoutcharge and denied access to counsel and family members (see Section 1.e.). A FirstIncident Report was filed on November 10, 1999, which charged Sharif with attemptedmurder, hijacking, and criminal conspiracy. Former Sharif advisor GhousAli Shah, former Pakistan International Airlines chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi,former Director of Civil Aviation Aminullah Chaudhary, and former Inspector Generalof Police Rana Maqbool were charged along with Sharif. The accused were tobe tried before an Anti-terrorist court. On November 26, 1999, three other individuals—formerPunjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, former senator Saifur Rehman,and former secretary to the Prime Minister Saeed Mehdi—were named codefendantsin the case. Following changes in the Anti-terrorist Act, the formal filing of chargesagainst Nawaz Sharif occurred on December 8, 1999. Sharif was convicted and sentencedto life imprisonment in April. His six codefendants were acquitted; however,they were still in custody at year’s end on a maintenance of public order charge’’(see Section 1.e.).Private jails exist in tribal and feudal areas.Hundreds of MQM activists and legislators (including former Sindh Minister ofLabor Shoaib Bokhari) were arrested in 1998 and remained in custody at year’s end;some of these activists are being held without charge. According to MQM officials,police arrested over 700 MQM officials during the past 2 years (see Section 1.c.).Many persons apprehended by the National Accountability Bureau (see Section1.e.) remained in detention past the ordinance’s stipulated 90 days detention withoutcharge (see Section 1.d.). Siddiq ul-Farooq, a former press secretary to NawazSharif, was arrested under the NAB in October 1999 and held without charge untilMay; at year’s end, he was in detention pending commencement of the proceedingsin his case. On April 4, Mian Manzoor Watoo, the former Punjab Chief Minister andhead of his own PML faction, became the first senior politician to receive a jail termin a corruption case. In late 1999, MQM leader and former mayor of Karachi Dr.VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00138 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1