Pakistan's war on terror threatens democracy, says advocacy group
An advocacy group says Pakistan’s current overly militarized counter-terrorism strategy threatens democracy in the country.
The International Crisis Group said in a report released on Wednesday that the counter-terrorism plan gave too much power to the military at the cost of other institutions like the judiciary and parliament.
"The military's continual undermining of civilian authority since democracy's restoration in 2008 will remain a major challenge to meaningful and sustained reform," the report said.
Pakistan's 2008 democratic transition occurred after former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was forced out due to an uprising led by lawyers and other civil society organizations.
The disparity in civil-military relations has remained a big political issue in Pakistan, which has been ruled by generals for much of its history since it gained independence from Britain in 1947.
The report also strongly criticized the lifting of a moratorium on the death penalty and the strategy of establishing military courts for the speedy trials of terrorism suspects.
"Reliance on blunt instruments and lethal force to counter terrorism risks doing more harm than good when they undermine constitutionalism, democratic governance and the rule of law," the report added.
Pakistan approved the new strategy in the wake of a deadly attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Following the attack, Islamabad also lifted the moratorium on the death penalty in place for about six years.
On December 16, 2014, a group of pro-Taliban militants stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and killed about 150 people, including 132 students. Some 120 students were also injured in the raid.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the Pakistani army’s major military offensive in the North Waziristan tribal area which borders Afghanistan.
The Pakistani army launched a massive operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan in June 2014, after a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with pro-Taliban militants. The army says it has managed to kill nearly 3,000 militants over the past months.
The semi-autonomous tribal regions on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for militant groups over the past years. The al-Qaeda and Taliban militants use the mountainous border area to launch attacks in both countries.
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