SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2301The Penal Code mandates the death sentence for anyone defiling the name of theProphet Mohammad, life imprisonment for desecrating the Koran, and up to 10years in prison for insulting another’s religious beliefs with the intent to outragereligious feelings (see Section 2.c.). The Anti-terrorist Act stipulates imprisonmentwith rigorous labor for up to 7 years for using abusive or insulting words, or possessingor distributing written or recorded material, with the intent to stir up sectarianhatred. No warrant is required to seize such material. While the Anti-terroristAct was partially suspended in 1998, the Sharif Government promulgated newAnti-terrorist Ordinances in October 1998 and in April 1999.In March police in Hyderabad registered criminal cases against Kulsoom Nawazand 15 other PML leaders for making ‘‘provocative’’ speeches at a party conventionheld the previous day.The competitive nature of politics helps to ensure press freedom since the mediaoften serve as a forum for political parties, commercial, religious, and various otherinterests to compete with and criticize each other publicly. Although the press doesnot criticize Islam as such, leaders of religious parties and movements are not exemptfrom public scrutiny and criticism. The press traditionally has avoided negativecoverage of the armed forces, and the Office of Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR) has served to hold press coverage of military matters under close restraint.Officially the ISPR closely controls and coordinates the release of military news andaccess to military sources. After the 1999 coup, journalists reported no attempts bythe ISPR agencies to influence editorial content.Detailed public discussion of the military as an institution is hampered severelysince any published discussion, let alone criticism, of the defense budget is proscribedby law. However, in 1997 this code of silence was undermined when a NationalAssembly committee discussed defense appropriations and corruption in defensecontracts in open session, thereby making possible (and legal) newspaper coverageof the same issues. Discussion of the defense budget continued during theyear, especially in the English-language press. Personnel changes among seniorarmy officers in September were widely discussed in the press and newspapers publishedcalls for extending the accountability process to include former military officers.Government leaks are not uncommon, but are managed carefully, and often aremade to underpaid journalists who are on the unofficial payrolls of competing interests.Reports of intimidation, heavy-handed surveillance, and legal action to quietthe unduly curious or nondeferential reporter were common in the past; however,these reports have declined significantly since the coup. The Government has hadconsiderable leverage over the press through its substantial budget for advertisingand public interest campaigns and its control over the supply of newsprint and itsability to enforce regulations. Human rights groups, journalists, and opposition figuresaccused the Government of attempting to silence journalists and public figures;however, there were fewer such complaints during the year. On July 1, the Governmentended its monopoly of newsprint supply and did not initiate new efforts to collectback taxes from selected newspapers. On August 28, the Government announceda draft ordinance for freedom of information, which would require everygovernment office to designate a freedom of information officer who would be responsiblefor providing replies to written applications within 21 days. However, theact excludes all classified documents and does not define what constitutes classifiedinformation. By year’s end, this ordinance has not been enacted. On December 30,the Government declassified the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, whichcriticizes the conduct of political and military leaders during the 1971 war withIndia.On April 29, a newspaper reported that police attacked and arrested 150 journalistsfrom Islamabad and Rawalpindi during a peaceful protest (see Sections 1.d. and2.b.). In May journalists in Abbotabad accused the local army monitoring cell ofharassing Shuja Ahmad, president of a local organization of journalists. On August22, several unknown assailants attacked Mazhar Tufail, a journalist from the Awamnewspaper (see Section 1.c.). The journalist claimed that his assailants were governmentagents who wanted information on his activities. On August 30, police inDadu, Sindh arrested and charged with theft four journalists who reportedly criticizedthe police; authorities released the journalists after 4 days (see Section 1.d.).On July 10, police personnel entered the Lahore Press Club during a press conferenceand arrested the leader of the All Pakistan Traders Alliance, Umer Sailya.During the press conference, Sailya had criticized Musharraf and the military. InOctober a team of army monitors demanded immediate access to the premises of theDawn newspaper and threatened to cut off power if refused; this occurred after theeditors of Dawn received an unsigned letter threatening retaliatory action for recentarticles criticizing the Government. However, many reputable journalists stated thatVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00145 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1