Nawaz Sharif trial 'fairly fair': Amnesty

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 20 Amnesty International believes that ``on the whole'' the Nawaz Sharif trial process before an anti-terrorist court (ATC) in Karachi ``looks to be fairly fair''. Addressing a seminar at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Dr. Angelika Pathak, a London-based Amnesty researcher on Pakistan, said the international human rights body opposed death penalty in principle.

Dr. Pathak said she and a colleague were in Pakistan to assess the prevailing human rights' situation in the wake of the military takeover on October 12, 1999. In the last few months the number of deaths in police custody and extra-judicial killings had gone down.

The Amnesty researcher made a special reference to death penalty imposed on children. Quoting statistics from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Dr. Pathak said that as many as 50 juveniles (under 18) were facing the penalty. Other information suggested that the figure could be as high as 100 children in the Punjab province alone. Asked about the concerns relating to the current regime, she said the detention of persons belonging to the previous Government had been raised along with the issue of judges of the Supreme Court being forced to take a fresh oath of office.

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Section  : International
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