So far the UK government has responded to General Musharraf's crackdown in Pakistan with words but no action. In formulaic statements Gordon Brown and his ministers have called for the lifting of the state of emergency, the release of those arrested, an end to restrictions on the media and the holding of elections next January. But there is little sign of any willingness to put serious pressure on Musharraf to do any of this.
Annual UK economic aid to Pakistan has increased from £12.8m in 2001 to more than £100m this year. It is set to double over the next four years. On top of that, there's military and counter-terrorism assistance. Much of this aid package is conditioned on good performance on human rights and governance. Yet the aid tap remains firmly on.
Furthermore, the UK has signally avoided calling for the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry, the sacked chief justice who, along with his colleagues on the supreme court, has fought with persistence against Musharraf's one-man rule and sought to expose the abuses of his government. Apparently the UK is relaxed about the appointment of pliant supreme court judges who will rubberstamp an unconstitutional political process, which keeps Musharraf in power indefinitely.
The threat this week to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth unless it lifts the state of emergency by the time of the Commonwealth summit in Uganda on November 23 is little more than a symbolic gesture. Under Musharraf, Pakistan has already been suspended from the Commonwealth and the sky did not fall on his head.
The British government's rationale for a softly-softly approach is the same as its rationale for supporting the military dictator in the first place. As David Miliband puts it, the UK is "very much aware of the terrorist threat with which the government of Pakistan has to grapple" and has reiterated its "support and determination to work in partnership with the Pakistani authorities to counter this menace".
The problem with this argument is that the military government in Pakistan is as much part of the terrorist problem as its solution. The style and methods of Musharraf's unaccountable military dictatorship, including widespread torture and disappearances, and a war of attrition against the Pakistani judiciary, have done nothing to reduce the influence of those who advocate terrorist violence in Pakistan. On the contrary, with every day that Musharraf delays a return to civilian rule, he stokes the flames of violent extremism in Pakistan and beyond.
Under Musharraf, the Taliban and other extremist groups have grown stronger, while Pakistani moderates and progressives have been persecuted. While Musharraf cracks down on liberal civil society and the media, his army is relinquishing more and more territory to Islamist militants in north-western Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan.
Just this month, scores of paramilitary troops and police surrendered their weapons to militants and retreated from yet another town, Kalam, in the Swat Valley of Pakistan's strategically important North West Frontier Province. The pro-Taliban cleric, Mullah Fazlullah, announced "victory" over his pirate FM radio station as militants hoisted their flag on government buildings and installations in the area.
Meanwhile, thousands of police and intelligence officers have been diverted from fighting terrorism to implementing a state of emergency whose main victims are the lawyers, human rights activists and progressive politicians who have spearheaded the restoration of civilian rule.
A return to some semblance of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights is no panacea, but it is a necessary condition for an effective strategy to stabilise Pakistan and neutralise the threat of terrorism. Aid spent propping up an abusive dictator in Pakistan is worse than a waste of taxpayers' money. It should be switched off.
To keep pumping economic and military assistance to Musharraf's military government in the current crisis sends a dangerous message that London does not care about the plight of the beleaguered democrats and moderates in Pakistan. Such a signal gives succour to abusive and unaccountable governments around the world, and hands another victory to the violent extremists in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.
Tom Porteous is London Director of Human Rights Watch.
