A sharp increase in sectarian violence in Pakistan in the second half of the year, abuse of press, artists, children, women and minorities have been highlighted in a report of Amnesty International (AI) for 2004.
The AI report, launched on Wednesday, read at least 76 people were killed in sectarian violence, mostly carried out by unidentified gunmen who were believed to belong to officials of organised sectarian groups.
In June, unidentified attackers fired at a vehicle and killed 12 Shiite Hazara police cadets in Quetta. Several investigations were initiated, however, by the end of the year they stalled.
In July, at least 50 Shiite worshippers were killed and over 80 were injured during an attack on a mosque in Quetta. A series of Shiite and Sunni murders followed, mainly in Karachi. During August and September, six Sunnis and seven Shiites were killed in targeted killings in Karachi. In October, tensions ran high after the killing of Azam Tariq, a senior Sunni religious leader. Besides sectarian violence, the report highlights hundreds of arbitrary detentions in the context of the US-led “war on terror”. Human rights abuses against women, children and religious minorities continued and the government overlooked them.
The report says there were severe restrictions on the freedom of expression in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), particularly targeting musicians and artists. “At least 278 people were sentenced to death and at least eight were executed,” the report said.
Referring to arbitrary detentions, the AI report said the government’s continuing support for the US-led “war on terrorism” undermined the state of human rights. Hundreds of people were arrested and deported in violation of Pakistan’s Extradition Act of 1974. More than 500 people including, Pakistanis, Arabs, Afghans and other foreign nationals, were arbitrarily detained and handed over to the United States on suspicion of being members of al Qaeda or the Taliban.
The report said women and girls, especially from poor and religious minority sections of society, continued to be abused at homes and in the custody of the state. At least 631 women and six girls died in “honour killings” in the first eight months of the year. About half of these deaths were reported in Sindh. Many more killings went unreported in Balochistan and the NWFP.
The report said children continued to be brought to court in chains and tried before the judges, not empowered to hear their cases, in breach of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO). Children were also sentenced to death in violation of both the JJSO and international law. There was widespread failure on the part of the authorities to implement the provisions of the JJSO during the arrest, trial and imprisonment of children.
The MMA government in the NWFP introduced a series of measures to curtail the freedom of expression by banning musicians and artists from performing in public. Fazal Wahab Wahab, a resident of Mingora, Swat district, was shot dead by unidentified individuals in January reportedly for writing on political issues. The report claimed Pakistan’s blasphemy law created a climate in which religiously motivated violence flourished.
In February, an accused in a blasphemy law case, Mushtaq Zafar, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen when he was going home from the High Court. The AI report said torture and ill treatment by the police and prison officers was routine and perpetrators were rarely held to account. Several people died in police custody.
In May, Nasim Bibi was held under the Blasphemy law. She was initially granted bail by the Lahore High Court but was later taken back into judicial custody. In August she died in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, the same prison where Yousuf Ali, an accused of blasphemy held in solitary confinement, died in 2002.
The report said that at least 278 people were sentenced to death, bringing the total number of people under sentence of death by the end of the year to over 5,700. Sheema Kirmani, a classical dancer and human rights activist said: “In many third world countries where there are or have been dictatorial regimes, questioning the status-quo is not tolerated. But what is specific to us is that here political suppression is combined with cultural suppression as well.” She said in most countries, the acceptability of art, music, dance, film, theatre etc was not a matter of debate. It was a part of life. “But here as Faiz Ahmed Faiz said in an article on culture, the performing arts have to be practiced in partial secrecy, just as you smoke a cigarette behind the backs of the elders.” Citing a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report, she said nationwide a woman was raped in Pakistan every three hours.