(New York) - When U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf on September 22, he should press the Pakistani military ruler to restore civilian rule, hold free and fair elections, and end legal discrimination against women, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch urged President Bush to stop turning a blind eye to Musharraf’s use of torture and “disappearances” in the fight against terrorism and in Pakistan’s political conflicts. The two leaders are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“If Bush is serious about fostering democracy in the Muslim world, how can he support Musharraf’s refusal to end military rule in Pakistan?” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Bush should make it clear that the U.S won’t stand by as it did in the past when Musharraf subverted the Pakistani constitution and staged flawed elections.”
The Pakistani constitution prohibits the chief of the army from holding a political office. Musharraf in 2003 promised to step down as either army chief or president, but reneged the following year. Recent statements by Musharraf and military-backed politicians have made clear that he intends to stay on as army chief and president beyond the date set for elections in 2007. They have also suggested that he could be somehow re-elected president by the outgoing parliament, which may try to extend its term unilaterally by one year to do so in 2008.
Despite many commitments, President Musharraf has thus far failed to end legal discrimination against women. The infamous Hudood Ordinances, among other things, criminalize adultery and non-marital sex in Pakistan. Under this set of laws, thousands of women have been imprisoned for so-called “honor” crimes, including rape and sexual assault against them. The laws have rendered most victims of sexual assault unable to seek redress through the criminal justice system; it deems these women guilty of illegal sex rather than victims of unlawful sexual abuse or violence.
Earlier this month, the Musharraf-backed ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League, reached an agreement with the moderate opposition Pakistan Peoples Party to make procedural changes to the Hudood Ordinances that would allow women charged with adultery to post bail. These reforms would also permit rape victims to file charges under the criminal law instead of religious law, which requires producing four male witnesses to prove rape. But last week Musharraf backtracked on the accord to seek an agreement with the Islamist Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance, which opposes any meaningful changes. As a result, the Hudood Ordinances remain in place.
“If Musharraf wanted to end legal discrimination against women, he could do so by seeking support from the majority of the National Assembly members who favor legal reforms,” said Adams. “Instead, he sought an alliance with the Islamist political parties that have made clear their opposition to women’s rights.”
In response to domestic and international criticism, the government announced on Tuesday that it would submit the bill in its original form to the National Assembly in late September or early October.
“Promises about reform of the Hudood Ordinances have been made and broken many times already,” said Adams. “This is the last chance for the government to show its sincerity.”
Human Rights Watch noted that the Pakistani military is the country’s leading violator of human rights. Under Musharraf, military impunity for abuses has increased dramatically. These abuses include extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and the persecution of political opponents. Pakistan’s military and its intelligence agencies have tortured and forcibly disappeared dozens of people in the volatile southwestern province of Balochistan where they have been facing an armed rebellion by tribal militants operating under the umbrella of the Balochistan Liberation Army.
“Perpetrators of torture must be removed from Pakistan's security forces and prosecuted,” said Adams. “During their meeting in New York, President Bush should tell Musharraf just that the Pakistani military’s rampant abuses must end.”
Human Rights Watch has also investigated a pattern of “disappearances,” arbitrary detention and torture in counterterrorism operations in Karachi, Lahore and other major cities and towns in Pakistan. Some of these cases have involved U.S. law enforcement or intelligence agents. Just as the United States has done with “high value” suspects, Pakistan has continued to “disappear” suspects in the campaign again terrorism and other conflicts. Human Rights Watch urged both Pakistan and the United States to take concrete measures to end the practice of using enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture as part of counterterrorism efforts.
“The counterterrorism partnership between the U.S. and Pakistan should start to follow the rule of law rather than the law of the jungle,” said Adams.
