Opinions | Editorials
Curb practice of discrimination
Pakistan should ensure that people are not held on mere allegations.
- Gulf News
- Published: 23:37 July 24, 2008
With power comes responsibility. The Pakistani government needs to maintain a steady system of checks and balances while dealing with the US on the "war on terror". Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani must ensure that a clean slate is maintained in terms of human rights abuse, following allegations of 'enforced' disappearances made by Amnesty International in their recent report.
Efforts must be made to ensure that this practice is curbed, at the very least, and that people are not detained on mere allegations, or in keeping with the US's definition of 'terrorists'. It is believed that more than 85 per cent of people detained at Guantanamo Bay were taken into custody not by American forces, but by the Afghan Northern Alliance and in Pakistan. This practice, according to Amnesty International, has also become a thriving business for bounty hunters - including police officers and local people for the sake of cash rewards.
One way to address this problem is to make the judiciary more pro-active, or at the very least to restore the deposed judiciary which has been investigating these cases earlier. But by all accounts, the onus will be on the government to pilot this project.
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