[sacw] sacw dispatch (21 Nov.99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
21 November 1999
--------------------------------------------
#1. The trial of Nawaz Sharif
#2. Will Pakistan go fundamentalist?
#3. Abuses of Child Detainees in Pak. Custody
#4. Across The Borders (An Expedition of Hope And Confidence)
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#1.
The Hindu
Monday, November 22, 1999
Op-Ed.

THE TRIAL OF NAWAZ SHARIF
By Paula Newberg

With Pakistan's Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to try
the deposed Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, for treason, the military is
setting the first public test of its proclaimed commitment to just rule.
How Pakistan judges Mr. Sharif will become a benchmark for how the world
judges that country. And in a sad nod to the repetitions of flawed
history, it may also expose a suspiciously widening hole near the heart of
U.S. commitments to human rights and democracy.

The death sentence that a treason conviction carries would signal a
profound end to a contentious period in Pakistan's experiment with elected
leadership. Commentators are likely to compare Mr. Sharif's trial to the
earlier conviction of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Imprisoned by
his own army chief, Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, in 1977, he was hanged two
years later after a highly controversial, politically-tainted judgment
that compromised both the military leadership and the courts.

The international community shunned Pakistan after Bhutto's death, that
is, until the escalating war in Afghanistan seduced the West into a malign
alliance that cemented army rule for a further decade. Today, Pakistan
confronts a similar situation. The European Union and the Commonwealth
have lengthened their distance from the new military Government and have
demanded a clear timetable for elections. But the U.S. has decided that
other foreign policy objectives-terrorism, narcotics and nuclear
weapons-demand American acquiescence to the coup d'etat, despite laws to
the contrary.

Pakistan's history of weak Governments led by military strongmen suggests
that a firm rights agenda is necessary to anchor a cautious U.S. policy
toward Gen. Musharraf's agenda.

=46irstly, like Gen. Zia, Gen. Musharraf has placed the Constitution ``in
abeyance'' but retained-theoretically-fundamental rights. This conundrum
is really a contradiction in terms. Without a Constitution, however
flawed, no court can protect citizens: habeas corpus becomes privilege,
not right. Gen. Zia stifled the courts after they ruled against his
actions; similar temptations always exist under army rule. Only when a
legitimate Constitution is given primacy of place in the political order
can rights guarantees truly exist.

This issue is particularly salient because Gen. Musharraf has repeatedly
promised press freedom. Pakistan's press often lives in a nether world of
seemingly voluntary self-censorship-Mr. Sharif was particularly skilled at
blaming reporters for exposing his inadequacies. Journalism is a
life-threatening profession in Pakistan; scores of reporters have died in
the course of duty in recent years. But free speech cannot exist in a
constitutional vacuum; it has meaning only within the ambit of a full
measure of fundamental rights. Otherwise, newspapers, journalists and
their sources exist in a perilously uncertain environment of occasional
privilege and likely sanction.

Secondly, to the delight of the international community and most
Pakistanis, Gen. Musharraf has promised transparency and accountability.
But accountability thus far means a familiar system of punishment for
those who refuse to repay loans and taxes. Gen. Musharraf is scoring
points with Pakistanis who suspect that national wealth too easily escapes
the nation's borders, and with foreign lenders who rate Pakistan as a
serious risk in international markets.

Commendable as this programme is, it is radically incomplete. Corruption
in Pakistan is legion and widespread. It has long infected virtually all
levels of Government, politics and business. Welcome as the retrieval of
stolen cash is likely to be-Mr. Sharif was last elected on a similar
platform-it is a small drop in an ocean of far different, and potentially
greater, malfeasance.

Accountability is not simply a regime of punishments, but a system of
governance. Every time Pakistani leaders establish special speedy courts
to convict presumed offenders-another Sharif tactic that the Army has
recently endorsed-the justice system becomes an endangered species. Such
tactics weaken political society so thoroughly that elections barely
resemble the democracy they promise, and virtually guarantee the failure
of civilian Governments that try to follow military rule.

An army can exercise power, but provides a poor substitute for governance.
Government by edict-without recourse to popular vote and public opinion,
in the absence of balanced institutions, enforced at the barrel of a
gun-may provide order, but it evades the real meaning of law. Without
transparent constitutional limits on the arbitrary powers of the State,
and the legitimate authority to enforce individual rights, accountability
is reduced to minor posturing.

Thirdly, sounding a note of religious toleration, Gen. Musharraf has
called for an end to sectarian strife. Punishing those responsible for the
thriving business in sectarian political assassination is an unequivocal
good-provided, of course, that even accused assassins get a fair day in
court. But the complex contours of this problem are tightly bound to a
flawed foreign policy that draws inspiration from sectarian chauvinism,
money from entrenched, parochial interests and breath from a striking
combination of civilian and military blindness and insensitivity.

The same forces that link Pakistan to Afghanistan's Taliban and Kashmiri
Mujahideen have fostered vicious domestic duels between Sunnis and Shias,
and between militant Muslims and non-Muslims, for more than 15 years. Army
rule in the 1980s abetted sectarianism to divide civilian constituencies.
Today, the movement of men, material and money among all these
groups-across borders and peoples, often bypassing Governments and
armies-has created a parallel universe of terrorist operatives, narcotics
traders and private militia that challenge Pakistan's sovereignty.

Reducing sectarianism means disarming freelance fighters and puncturing
their ballooning causes. But Pakistan's army has staked its regional
reputation on the Taliban success in Afghanistan-an especially arduous
task in the face of international sanctions against Afghanistan. It
remains committed to the same jingoist policies in Kashmir that were so
unsuccessful against India this past spring. As long as the army validates
wider policies that sustain prejudice, it sounds a death knell for the
minority rights that democracy and tolerance require.

The U.S. is wrapped in this wide net of Pakistan's foreign and domestic
policies today. It may find itself in temporary agreement with Pakistanis
tired of corrupt civilian politicians, but neither this short-lived
harmony, nor the press of urgent regional business, justifies the
appearance of complicity with military rule. Moreover, the U.S. agenda is
unlikely to succeed when the anti-constitutional structure of military
rule shifts its overriding concerns to a Pakistani sideshow.

America's long relationship with Pakistan proves, time and again, that
collaborating with dictators breeds discontent, discord, instability and
intolerance. If short-term concerns jump ahead of rights principles that
inform American policy, the U.S. will sacrifice the goals and objectives
that it believes form the explicit basis of its foreign policy. This is a
test that neither the U.S. nor Pakistan should fail.

(Paula Newberg, an analyst of South Asian Affairs, is the author of
several books on politics in south Asia.)

________________

#2.
=46OREIGN REPORT
http://www.foreignreport.com
Issue 2569
18 November 1999

WILL PAKISTAN GO FUNDAMENTALIST?
Unanswered questions about the new government in Islamabad

WHAT does Pakistan's new 'Chief Executive', General Pervez Musharraf,
plan to do with the country now that he controls the levers of power?
=46or some years, the Pakistani generals have been sounding increasingly
Islamist and have supported the Taliban Muslim extremists in
neighbouring Afghanistan. Will Musharraf speed up this process or slow
it down? FOREIGN REPORT examines the outlook and makes some
predictions.

_________________
#3.
CHILD DETAINEES BEING TORTURED IN PAKISTAN
Study Finds Pattern of Abuses in Custody

(New York, November 18, 1999) -- Children accused of committing
criminal offenses in Pakistan are routinely tortured by police, Human
Rights Watch said today. Many of these children go on to spend months or
even years in overcrowded detention facilities awaiting the conclusion
of their trials.

Research and interviews for the 147-page Report, "Prison Bound: The
Denial of Juvenile Justice in Pakistan," were conducted before the
October military coup which deposed the government of Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif. Human Rights Watch has no evidence that the treatment of
juvenile detainees has improved since the coup.

The treatment of children in detention violates Pakistani law, as well
as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly ten years ago this Saturday and ratified
by Pakistan a year later.

Despite a law that requires police to bring criminal suspects before a
judge within twenty-four hours of arrest, children may spend as long as
three months in detention before seeing a judge. Children share their
cells with adults while in police custody, and like adult detainees, are
routinely subjected to various forms of torture or ill-treatment,
including being beaten, hung upside down, or whipped with a rubber strap
or specially-designed leather slipper.

In May 1998, Ghulam Jillani, a thirteen-year-old boy, died after
prolonged torture in a police station in the northern town of Mansehra.
Riots following Jillani's funeral prompted provincial authorities to
arrest the head constable of the Mansehra police station and order a
judicial investigation into the boy's death. But far more often, police
abuses against child detainees go unreported and unpunished.

Human Rights Watch said that children who are tortured have no impartial
authority to whom they can report their grievances.

"Pakistani authorities have to address this justice crisis for
children," said Lois Whitman, executive director of the Children's
Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "It's a matter of the utmost
urgency. Such treatment cannot remain the norm."

More than 3700 children were in Pakistan prisons at the end of 1997.
About 90 percent were awaiting the conclusion of their trials=F3a process
that can take months or even years due to the delayed submission of
police investigation reports and the frequent adjournment of hearings.

The few children who are ultimately convicted tend to receive harsh,
retributive sentences. In February 1998, there were fifty-five children
on death row in Punjab province. Death sentences
imposed on juveniles are usually commuted on appeal, although Pakistan
is one of only six countries that are known to have executed juvenile
offenders during the 1990s. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
explicitly prohibits imposing the death penalty on children under the
age of eighteen.

Most of the facilities in which children are held suffer from severe
overcrowding. The juvenile ward of Lahore District Jail, which Human
Rights Watch researchers visited, holds nearly three times as many
children as it was designed for. Children in the jail sleep without
mattresses on bare cement floors, or on raised cement blocks that serve
as beds. Most prisons offer few educational or vocational training
opportunities, other than religious instruction. Although prisons in
Pakistan's major cities have segregated wards for juveniles, children
are housed with
adults in some of the country's smaller jails. Human Rights Watch also
gathered credible accounts of sexual abuse of juveniles by prison guards
as well as the involvement of guards in supplying illegal drugs to
inmates, including children.

Two of Pakistan's four provinces, Punjab and Sindh, have laws providing
for the establishment of juvenile courts and vocational training
schools, but these have largely not been implemented. Only in the city
of Karachi, which has both a functioning juvenile court and a separate
juvenile institution, are the rudiments of a juvenile justice system in
place.

Human Rights Watch called on the Pakistani authorities to establish
independent bodies to hear and investigate complaints of abuse by police
and prison personnel, and to ensure the strict separation of adults and
children deprived of their liberty. Authorities should also provide
sufficient teaching staff and modern vocational training in each
facility housing juveniles, and prohibit imposition of the death penalty
on children under the age of eighteen.

The report will be available at http://www.hrw.org on November 18, 1999

_________________

#4.
ACROSS THE BORDERS (AN EXPEDITION OF HOPE AND CONFIDENCE)

Between March and May 1999, 14 youth leaders of South Asia joined hands
together and drove 18,000 through the interiors of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Nepal and 16 States of India to promote peace and development in
the region. This historic expedition was organised and led by Akhil
Bakshi, President of Yuva Shakti, a Delhi-based organisation of youth
leaders.

The aim of the expedition was: To build an environment of peace and
development in South Asia, realising for all its nations and all its
citizens a degree of economic and social progress that matches their
historic contribution to culture, intellect and liberty.

To generate a vision and an energy which will demonstrate to the world the
superior vitality and strength of the South Asian nations.

To tell the world we are allies in the only war we seek the war against
poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance.

To inspire future endeavours to feed the flame that the expedition will kind=
le.

As the expedition journeyed through these lands, the members shared their
thoughts, views and dreams with hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens
at over 1000 public meetings and civic receptions in villages, schools and
colleges. The expedition presented an Agenda for Friendship titled
=ECTogether Towards Tomorrow=EE to the Heads of States of these countries.

'A peaceful environment in South Asia can only be achieved if the people
themselves lead the way by going s step further than their governments.
Hands Across The Borders is a people's initiative in this direction,' says
the leader of the expedition, Akhil Bakshi., who had earlier led the
Central Asia Expedition along the old Silk Route through Central Asia,
Chinese Turkestan and Tibet and the Azad Hind Expedition, in the footsteps
of the Indian National Army, from Singapore to Delhi.

Bakshi envisaged this expedition as a mass contact programme. The idea
struck him three years ago while driving one night in the Garo Hills of
Meghalaya during the Azad Hind Expedition. Over the next few months, the
proposed expedition was discussed with a cross section of people and the
response was immense and exciting. He visited Pakistan and Bangladesh-and
discussed the expedition with friends from Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka and
found that his concept of "Hands Across the Borders" was one shared by a
vast number of South Asians.

Our 14-member team comprised of youth leaders, social activists and
development workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India.
Messages of support were received from the Prime Ministers of these
countries. The Expedition carried Goodwill Messages from the Head of the
Governments of India and Bhutan addressed to their counterparts in other
countries.

The expedition addressed thousands of meetings. The constant refrain in
these meetings was: the nations of South Asia have a shared past, a shared
heritage. We are united in our problems as we are united in our immense
potential. This makes us natural allies. We can not wish geography away
even if we wanted to. We have already wasted 50 precious years seeing
enemy in friends, fighting phantoms and ghosts. The last half century has
been one of mutual suspicion, bitterness and conflict. We must work
towards a future full of peace and happiness. The coming century beckons us
to make a new start, to embark on a new course based on peace not
conflict, dialogue not confrontation, healthy cooperation not destructive
competition.

Akhil Bakshi elaborates: =ECWe want the people of South Asia to realise the
significance of this common mission: the urgency to lift our masses out
of poverty, ignorance and despair. Throughout South Asia, a subcontinent
rich in resources and in the spiritual and cultural achievements of its
people, millions of men and women suffer the daily degradations of poverty
and hunger. 500 million South Asians live in absolute poverty. 230 million
South Asians lack protection from disease. 620 million have no access to
safe drinking water. 800 million lack decent sanitation 50% of the world's
illiterates are in South Asia. 90% of the world's blind are in South Asia.
And each day the problems grow more urgent.

If we are to meet a problem so staggering in its dimensions, our approach
must itself be equally bold. The Expedition's approach was outlined in the
concept of "Together Towards Tomorrow"-a vast cooperative effort
unparalled in magnitude and nobility of purpose, to satisfy the basic
needs of South Asian for homes, work, health and schools.

One of the points mentioned in our charter was "reduction of defence
spending".

One battle tank costs $ 4 million-enough to vaccinate 4 million children.

One Mirage 2000 costs $ 90 million-enough to educate 3 million children in
primary schools.

One submarine costs $ 300 million-enough to provide clean drinking water to
60 million people.

If we are successful, if our effort is bold enough and determined enough,
then the close of this millenium will mark the beginning of a new era in
the South Asian experience. The living standards of every South Asian
family will be on the rise, basic education will be available to all,
hunger will be a forgotten experience, the need for foreign aid will have
passed,-and though there will still be much to do-all South Asian nations
would have entered a period of self-sustaining growth.=EE

The Agenda For Friendship titled "Together Towards Tomorrow" was presented
by the expedition, on behalf of the youth of South Asia to the Prime
Ministers of Nepal and Bhutan and to the Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh. Mr Jigme Thinley, the Head of the Government of Bhutan
offered to invite the expedition members to Thimpu for the SAARC Summit
being held in the year 2001. The SAARC Secretary General, Mr Rodrigues,
said that he would place the Agenda for consideration at the next SAARC
Summit being held in Kathmandu in November 1999.

The Agenda appeals to the leaders of South Asia to show vision and
political courage and freeze all conflicts for the next ten years, reduce
defence spending by 5% a year and divert savings for development works;
fulfill the basic needs of the masses during this period; utilise our
combined knowledge in areas of space and nuclear scinece for the benefit
of all people of South Asia; expand employment opportunities for youth by
lifting all barriers to free trade; evolve a joint education system; allow
unrestricted travel; and establishment of a South Asian Sports Academy
and a South Asian Development Corps.

According to Sonam Tashi, a young agricultural scientist and the expedition
member from Bhutan,"In South Asia, we are also united in our problems. So
our future is also one. We will sink or swim together. Our people and
leaders must realise this fact."

Suraiya Begum, representing Bangladesh, runs a NGO for destitute women and
children in distant Phulna. "Travelling through the length and breadth of
South Asia I have observed how similar all of us are. Why ? India seems to
be a part of Bangladesh " I says Suraiya.

Representing Sri Lanka was Asoka, who works near Colombo for Sarvodhaya
Shramdana Organisation, a movement inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi
and Vinoba Bhave. "For me it has been an opportunity of a life time. Being
a devout Buddhist, I worshipped at the Golden Tooth Relic in Kandy, the
Mahabodhi Tree in Anuradhapura, the temples at Kancheepuram, Tirupati,
Jagannath Puri, Sarnath and Kashi; the Gurudwaras at Patna, Anantpursahib
and Amritsar; the chiilas and mazaars of Sufi saints in Bangladesh, Ajmer
and Fathepur Sikri; churches in Dharamsala and Dadra, Nagar Haveli; and
meditated in Guru Padmasambhava's cave in Bumtang in Bhutan and the
Ashrams in Sabarmati and Shirdi. This expedition has made me aware of the
shared heritage of the people of South Asia.," says Asoka reflecting on her
experiences.

Veteran film personality Sunil Dutt has been on road with the expedition
all along- through thick and thin. "I am a soldier of peace," he says.
"When Akhil Bakshi gave the call for the people of South Asia to join
hands and collectively work for peace and development, I decided to
support his initiative." Throughout the long journey, Dutt captivated
large audiences with his emotional oratory that touched the hearts of the
people. "Dutt Sahib and his deep commitment to the humanist cause enhanced
the creditability of our mission," remarks Bakshi.

Two days before the expedition was to enter Pakistan, the Kargil conflict
flared up and, after waiting for a week, our mission was temporarily
brought to a halt. The course of events that followed showed how important
it is for the people of South Asia to launch a common struggle for peace
and development.

When asked if the aims of the expedition will be met, Bakshi narrates the
story of a French Marshall who asked his gardner to plant a certain tree.
The gardner objected saying that the tree was slow-growing and would take
a hundred years to bear fruit. "In that case," said the Marshall, "we have
no time to loose. Let us plant the tree this afternoon." Likewise,
suggests Bakshi, we all must plant our saplings of peace today. 'On behalf
of the youth of South Asia, I can say with confidence that we have had
enough of warmongers. We would like our great role in history to be that of
peacemakers,' says the optimistic expedition leader. The prayers of all the
people of South Asia are with him.
(The organiser of the above expedition can be contacted at the below address=
:
Akhil Bakshi
972, Sector 17
Gurgaon - 122001
India
abakshi@n...)
_____________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.