[headlines] Pakistan goes to the polls

2008-02-18 11:44:15

On February 18, 2008, Pakistanis will go to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. While this should be an opportunity for Pakistanis to choose a truly representative civilian government for the first time since President Pervez Musharraf's 1999 coup, there are serious concerns that the elections will be neither free nor fair.

Human Rights Watch has documented politically motivated violence, threats and intimidation of opposition candidates and party members; lack of independence of the judiciary; the jailing of many lawyers and activists, many of whom remain detained; a biased electoral machinery; and excessive restrictions on media freedom.

The elections are taking place in a period of tumult, after Musharraf's imposition in November 2007 of a state of emergency, his controversial and illegal November 2007 election as president, his sacking and arrest of many members of the country's Supreme Court, and the December 27 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Human Rights Watch Press release