HUMAN RIGHTS FEATURES

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A human rights agenda for the US President

President Bill Clinton who visits India, Bangladesh and Pakistan from 18 March 2000 has a hard act to follow. President Carter who visited South Asia in 1977 is now universally acknowledged as having shaped US human rights policy. The creation of a co-ordinator for Human Rights in the State Department, later upgraded to Assistant Secretary of State was a great leap forward. The State Department’s human rights reports were first submitted to the US Congress in 1977. President William Jefferson Clinton has new challenges. As Rebecca Moore writing in the Washington Quarterly in 1998, on US human rights policy, succinctly puts it, "Truly integrating human rights into the foreign policy equation means reconciling human rights with other foreign policy objectives and looking carefully at how all aspects of our foreign policy influence human rights."

Regional security, stability, proliferation of nuclear arms and economic liberalisation are likely to dominate the agenda of the US President’s visit. South Asian States are often considered "democratic". There is certainly some political freedom in South Asia. However, as Fareed Zakaria writing in Foreign Affairs in 1997 stated there has also been a rise of what he termed as "illiberal democracies." Democratically elected governments that " are routinely ignoring constitutional limits on their power and depriving their citizens of basic rights and freedoms."

The functioning of the Government authorities in New Delhi, Dhaka and Islamabad borders on their being "illiberal." New Delhi and Dhaka have less than perfect democracies. Islamabad is once again under the jackboot. All of them can take in their stride, international concern on soft issues like child labour and empowerment of women. The raising of concerns on civil and political rights abuses in what is perceived as national security areas is a no go area. Self-censorship by the local media on human rights issues in perceived national security areas only exacerbates the situation.

Successive US administrations have according to Rebecca Moore, "consistently argued that expansion of democracy abroad serves economic and security objectives at home. In short, democracy building has allowed the United States to remain engaged in the world without abandoning its basic principles." That is the challenge that President Clinton faces on the eve of his South Asia visit.

Given the potential of conflict between India and Pakistan, Kashmir will remain a key issue. There is little substantive action about the abominable human rights situation in Kashmir. On both sides of the Line of actual Control (LOC) the average Kashmiri is the victim. The Kashmiris in Pakistan Administered Kashmir have been consistently denied their fundamental rights. Pakistan has nothing to write home about its human rights record in Pakistan Administered Kashmir. The situation in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir has deteriorated in 1999 with a sharp increase in extrajudicial killings and torture. Most notably, the leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) have been detained for the last few months under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act without even the barest modicum of judicial scrutiny.

President Clinton must impress upon the Indian Government to provide unhindered access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Joint Interrogation Centres (JIC). New efforts are presently underway to restrict ICRC access only to the prisons in Jammu and Kashmir. The most gruesome human rights abuses like torture and extrajudicial killings take place in clandestine and illegal interrogation centres. The little access that the ICRC had to the official Joint Interrogation centres is now sought to be curtailed.

The ICRC is also denied access to Northeast India consisting of the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The Government of India should be urged to provide the ICRC access to prisons and detentions centres in Northeast India and ratify the Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions relating to non-international armed conflicts.

India has been using National Security Laws indiscriminately to silence peaceful political dissent. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958 empowers a non-commissioned officer to shoot "even causing death" for maintenance of public order. Under the Act, no prosecution could take place without prior sanction of the Central Government. This provides virtual impunity. The Act violates provisions of the Indian Constitution and India's obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The Government of India is presently holding consultations through the Law Commission of India to reintroduce the draconian Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) under a new hat, the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Bill. The CLA will make emergency provisions a part of the normal criminal justice system in India and declare entire India as a "terrorist affected area". This will lead to serious and massive human rights abuses even according to information provided by the India's Home Ministry to the National Human Rights Commission on the application of the now lapsed TADA. On 19 December 1994, out of 76,036 people who had been arrested and detained under the TADA Act by mid-1994, only 1-% detainees were ever convicted of the charges against them. That means that 99% of those under TADA B or 75,200 Indian citizens B have either never been charged with anything, never had a trial, or were acquitted by then.

Human rights defenders and NGOs who have been critical of the Government of India face repression including killings. The Government also uses the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to restrict the receipt of any foreign donations by civil society in India.

President Clinton is the first United States President to visit Bangladesh. He must impress upon the Government of Bangladesh to implement the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) Peace Accord. The signing of the Accord has only been an expression of intent. The challenge lies in its implementation. Prime Minister Hasina has so far miserably failed to implement key provisions of the Accord. There have been a series of arrests of members belonging to Hill Students Council and Hill Peoples Council. South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre is in possession of a list of over 100 indigenous Jumma activists who have been detained since the signing of the Peace Accord.

The Land Commission, which is authorised to settle the appropriation of tribal lands, is yet to start functioning. The returnee Jumma refugees are yet to get back their lands. Wherever, the Government has returned the lands to the tribals, Bengali settlers have refused to vacate them in connivance with the army. The Bangladesh Government has only withdrawn about 40 army camps out of approximately 500 camps. On the other hand, the Government of Bangladesh provides free rations to a large number of Bengali settlers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts while the internally displaced Jummas live in a state of near starvation.

The South Asian Human rights community has welcomed the consultations held by Bangladesh Government with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, various National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia Pacific region and NGOs to establish a National Human Rights Commission in the country. The Cabinet approved the National Human Rights Commission Bill in April 1999. The NHRC Bill is yet to be placed in the Bangladesh Parliament. On the other hand, Government of Bangladesh recently passed another draconian law, Public Safety Act, 2000. Hundreds of people are held in detention under the earlier Special Powers Act, 1974.

On Pakistan, in addition to an early restoration of democracy, President Bill Clinton must raise the issue of rule of law, independence of judiciary and treatment of religious minorities. While the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is welcome, the procedures followed by the NAB violate fundamental freedoms. The NAB is allowed to detain suspects for 90 days without the right to be brought before a court. After the initial period of detention, NAB may detain the accused for another 90 days. In practice, NAB has detained some alleged suspects for more than 90 days. Under the normal rules of criminal procedure, the police may detain a person for no more than 24 hours before bringing the person before a magistrate or judge. The magistrate or judge can then remand the person to the custody of the police for up to an additional 14 days. The NAB has refused accused persons the opportunity to consult with their lawyers, their family members, and other associates. Moreover, the NAB can not pursue investigations against members of the armed forces or the judiciary.

President Clinton must also express concern about the interference of the military with the judiciary in Pakistan. The dismissal of the Supreme Court judges for not taking oath under the directive of General Parvez Musharaf raises questions about independence of the judiciary. While according to the practices of the Pakistani Supreme Court the senior most judge of any court has the Alegitimate expectation" to be the Chief Justice of that court, the military regime has not appointed the senior judge as the new Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. This lack of independence of judiciary raises fears about the fair trial of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his colleagues. Transparency during the trial of Nawaz Sharif and his colleagues is a must and trial procedures must meet international standards.

President Clinton must express serious concern about the trials in Sharia Courts and honour killings of Pakistani women; and treatment of Christian and Ahmediya communities both by the law enforcement officials and fundamentalist elements of the general populace. The extrajudicial killings, which continue unabated in Karachi, remain a serious concern.

President Clinton, more than any one else is aware that new relationships are being forged between the citizen and governments in all parts of the world as fallout of globalisation. It is essential that he is not merely seen but also seen to be heard on human rights concerns when he comes a calling.

-Human Rights Features

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