INTERFAITH INTERNATIONAL

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

Fifty-fifth session (July 28th -August 15, 2003)

Item 3: Administration of Justice, Rule of Law and Democracy

Speaker – Ms Ambreen Hisbani

Dear Chair,

Interfaith International would like to welcome the appointment of Ms Zurroguea as an special raporteur for Discrimination in Criminal Justice System.

We would also like to welcome Mr. Decaux recommendation on the suppression of trial of civilians by military tribunals and abolition of dearth penalty.

I can’t agree more with the comments of Mr. Decaux this morning the Military Tribunals are denaturing the Justice System globally.

Dear Chair,

The Interfaith International would like to highlight the following three issues under the Agenda 3, which applies to Pakistan.

A. The question of human rights and administration of justice

The Interfaith International wishes to illustrate the chronic situation in Pakistan by referring to following exemplary case.

The first such case is that of Mr. Sharma, a staunch Sindhi human rights activist. This case has also been highlighted by World Peace Council. Mr. Sharma had been associated with non-governmental organisations like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Baanh Beli in Sindh. In its reaction to his valiant advocacy for human rights, and religious minority right of people of Sindh, the Pakistan Military arrested him in February 2000 under the allegation of conspiracy against Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Mr. Krishan Sharma was arrested with out any warrant by military while he was travelling in Sindh in March 21, 2003. Pakistani Army neither informed detainee’s family nor the civil court of the country on what grounds they had arrested Mr. Sharma. After more than three months on immense pressure from media and on the intervention of High Court of Sindh, the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of Pakistan Army submitted a letter saying that he had been arrested under Section-2 (1) (d) of the Official Secrets Act and that he was to be court-martialled, under the allegation of "espionage".

During the court case hearing the Deputy Attorney General, stated that Mr Sharma had been detained under the laws of "the Pakistan Army Act read with the Official Secrets Act" and the court's constitutional jurisdiction could not be invoked for his release and no order in the nature of a written could be issued under Article-199 of the Constitution on a petition made by or in relation to a person, who is for the time being subject to any law relating to the armed forces.

Interfaith International believes that the trial of civilians who have no functional ties to the military by the Military Courts of Pakistan and special in the case of Mr. Sharma is in a complete violation with Pakistani Constitution. This constitution guarantees free and fair trial to all citizens in its Article 4(1) and (2). It is also a blatant violation of provisions on the right to a fair trial and judicial guarantees contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 14), the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 8), the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 6) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 7).

Interfaith is very concerned for the life and physical integrityof Mr. Krishan Sharma. Therefore, we would like to request Sub Commission to intervene in this case.

B. Discrimination in the criminal justice system

Interfaith International is also very concerned at the extent of discriminatory treatment of people of Sindh and Baluchistan and religious minorities at the various levels in the administration of criminal justice, such as police, military, administrative and judicial investigations, arrest, detention, trial and execution of sentences, including the ideologies or beliefs which contribute or lead to racism in the administration of criminal justice.

On 8^th of July 2003 a journalist Mohsin Baber was sentenced under the blasphemy law to life in jail for printing a letter by mistake that was seen as insult to Prophet Mohammad.

In year 2001-2002 eight people from Ahmadiya religious community have been convicted under Blasphemy Law. Three people awarded death penalty and four people got long imprisonment under the same law including Allah Rakhio, Inam Gondal, and Abdul Quddus who belong to small towns of Sindh. Allah Rakhio was awarded 118 ? years of imprisonment. Two Hindu Balochs are still under arrest under the charge of blasphemy.

C. Democracy as fundamental right

The traditional human rights such as civil and political rights and second generation rights such as right to development, right to food, water, education; right of intellectual and spiritual development of the people can only be safeguarded when people are empowered. In the modern world the name of that empowerment is Democracy. This basic and fundamental right of the people of Pakistan, and especially that of Sindh, has been denied since decades of Pakistani history and it is still under threat by the current de-facto military regime.

Despite constant opposition from all the major political parties, trade unions, judges and lawyers’ associations, human rights organizations, and media, the current military-chosen-government is adamant keeping the so-called Legal Framework Order (LFO). LFO is the massive package of constitutional changes, implemented during the three and half years of General Musharaf’s martial law rule of 1999-2002. These changes in constitution legitimize the central role of Pakistan Army in democratic institutions.

General Musharaf would not like to table the LFO in parliament for debate because of the strong opposition from all the major political parties. By doing so General Musharaf is undermining the basic democratic structure of the country.  

LFO has e0mpowered Army and political elites of Pakistan even further. The current set-up in particular is going to deprive the oppressed nations including Sindh and Baluchistan from having any share in the governance of their own provinces or in the federal government.

The majority party in the Sindh Assembly representing Sindh people has been denied to form its government. By sheer force and fraud a minority and alien government has been installed, which is an insult to the intelligence of indigenous people of Sindh. The irony is that even this hand-picked Assembly’s decisions are not honoured.

Let me cite an example to illustrate how powerless the provincial Assembly/government of Sindh is? Despite the adoption of a two unanimous resolutions against the Greater Thal Canal Project by the Sindh Assembly, the so called federal government authorities have issued directives to complete the project in seven months - a month earlier than its stipulated period. Sindh Assembly’s resolutions against this ecological and economic disastrous project of Greater Thal Canal have fallen flat on the deaf ears of Pakistani military regime.

Pakistan’s military regime and it authoritarian form of ‘democracy’ have been undermining all the democratic institutions including Provincial Assemblies and Upper House Senate.

Therefore for the safeguard of people’s empowerment, Interfaith International request the member countries of UN tnot to support Pakistan’s current regime unconditionally. I would specially like to request the European Union, Japan, UK, and United States of America – the major donors to Pakistan, to consider the ongoing exploitation of Sindh by Panjab. Pakistan’s highly centralized federal structure, which is heavily dominated by Punjabi population including Army, have no instrument or mechanism to address the unfairness being done to the oppressed nations of Pakistan i.e. Sindhi and Baluch peoples of Pakistan. Pakistani government must be influenced to restore true democracy, rule of law, administration of justice, and respect for human rights and right to self-determination for its peoples as promised under the international law and the promised agreement which created Pakistan.