THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN IN 2009 | NO DIFFERENT FROM BEFORE

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) will soon publish an annual report on Pakistan for 2009. The following excerpt are taken from the prepublication report.

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Asian Human Rights Commission Report 2009


"..[T]he serious escalation of conflict between the State and militant Islamic forces, resulting in increased violence and terrorism in the country, accompanied by political wrangling and the continuing weakness of Pakistan’s civilian institutions and mechanisms of the rule of law, have given rise to one of the region and world’s most dangerous security and human rights situations. Added to this is the lack of effective leadership, as embattled President Zardari has been hanging on to power in the face of growing opposition, and the country has found itself facing dire economic circumstances."

"Perhaps the most significant development in 2009 that has a bearing on human rights is the intensification of violence, conflict and terrorism within Pakistan. In previous years, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has pointed to widespread human rights violations and a system of injustice, the weakness of civilian institutions, the strength of the military and ISI intelligence agency and the impunity with which they operate, the problems arising out the country’s parallel judicial systems, as well as the lawlessness and armed conflicts operating in several provinces. These have all contributed to a situation that was vulnerable to overspill from the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan has become another front in violent conflict that is affecting the region, from Iraq, through Afghanistan, to the country in question. While Islamic fundamentalists have been training and operating in Pakistan for a number of years, the number of attacks on Pakistani soil has increased dramatically as 2009 has progressed.

It is impossible to precisely determine the number of people who have died in extra-judicial killings. Security forces are able to kill with impunity in the name of the elimination of terrorism. Foreign forces also indiscriminately kill innocent people through aerial attacks by remotely-controlled Predator drones, US-made unmanned air vehicles, sent in search of Al-Qaeda linked terrorists. In 2009, more than 120 people were killed by these drones, and it is estimated that only 30 to 40 of those killed were militants. Investigative reporter Jane Mayer of The New Yorker magazine has revealed that the number of US drones strikes in Pakistan has risen dramatically under President Obama. During his first nine-and-a-half months in office, Obama authorized at least forty-one CIA missile strikes in Pakistan, a rate of approximately one bombing a week."

"Since corruption, negligence and the preference of personal gain over professional duty has become so deeply embedded into the justice system of Pakistan, it is clear that these systems of (in)justice must be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up in order to facilitate a new order, in which respect and dignity can be realized for all people in all sections of society."

Read more: The State of human rights in Pakistan in 2009