Feb 28, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb 28: The US State Department blamed Pakistan on Monday for allowing widespread violations of human rights -- ranging from rapes and deaths in police custody to suppression of individual and political rights by the government.
The department's annual human rights report for 2004, released in Washington by Under Secretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, has a large 14,000-word chapter on Pakistan, reviewing the current political and human rights situation in the country.
The report, which is sent to the US Congress as an official document, calls the 2002 referendum "controversial" and notes that domestic and international observers had also termed the subsequent elections "deeply flawed".
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Local police used excessive force and committed or failed to prevent extra-judicial killings. Sectarian killings continued to be a problem. Police abused and raped citizens. Prison conditions remained extremely poor, and police arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens.
Some political leaders remained imprisoned or in exile abroad. Case backlogs led to long delays in trials, and lengthy pre-trial detention was common. The judiciary was subject to executive and other outside influence. Corruption and inefficiency remained severe problems.
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http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/01/top4.htm