An overview of the situation of security and human rights in Pakistan

Pakistan remains in the strong grip of a military regime that began in 1999, despite having an “elected parliament” since 2002. This parliament was, however, elected through elections that cannot be considered free or fair and serve only to lend credibility to the military regime. The military controls all policy matters. There are 56,000 army officers in different civil government and corporation positions, including communications, power and educational institutions, according to information released in the National Assembly.
Although the parliament was restored in 2002, the President of Pakistan still wears a military uniform and has no plans to separate the Army Chief's office from that of the President of Pakistan. Appointments to the higher judiciary are made by the president himself – there is no question of the freedom of judiciary.
Pakistan is one of the forefront countries in the “War Against Terror,” and violations of human rights are increasingly being perpetrated as part of operations and the erosion of liberties that this so-called war entails. There is no rule of law in the country and government agencies have a free hand to arbitrarily arrest and torture anyone they wish. Who ever is tortured or killed in custody or in fake encounters are termed by the state as being “terrorists”. Forced disappearances following arrest significantly increased in Pakistan following the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Such an increase in the use of torture by the military agencies has also been witnessed. Even the country's highest civil judicial bodies are not able to search military facilities, even in cases where the existence of torture cells is suspected.