ISLAMABAD, 19 March 2003 — A US-led war on Iraq is likely to fuel extremism and repression in Pakistan, in the same way the “war on terror” has already undermined democracy and the rule of law, a rights group said yesterday.
A US war on Iraq, waged without the sanction of the United Nations, would undermine moderate voices in the Muslim world and encourage regimes allied to Washington to act with impunity, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.
Already, the commission argues that the West’s unquestioning support for military dictatorship in Pakistan — in return for President Pervez Musharraf’s support in the war on terror — has encouraged the army to ignore the rule of law and suppress dissent.
“The international community has given a complete carte blanche to our military dictators,” said commission member Asma Jehangir. “We have become hostage to the will of generals.”
In its annual report for 2002, the rights group reported a sharp rise in extra-judicial killings and torture by the police and accused military intelligence agents of threatening and harassing journalists and parliamentarians who questioned the army’s role. The war on terror was used to justify detention without trial and deportations of foreign terror suspects without legal process, it said, while the authorities were also accused of attempting to undermine the independence of the judiciary.
“This is a year when the government has worked not only with impunity, but this government has worked without shame in oppressing people,” Jehangir said.
Although a general election was held last October, the rights group and foreign observers said the vote was heavily rigged in favor of political parties backed by the military.
