Musharraf’s trial a test case between civilian, military supremacy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is presently going through a cold war between its civilians and the military as General (retd) Musharraf’s high treason trial has become a test case on whether the country is heading towards civilian supremacy and the rule of law.

“It’s a transition from military supremacy to civilian rule and rule of law,” a top PML-N leader told The News on condition of not being named.

He added that if the government gives a safe exit to Musharraf then how could you justify trying thousands of others, including former President Asif Ali Zardari, ex-Prime Ministers Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Amin Faheem.

Key PML-N leaders agree that Musharraf’s treason trial has become the main irritant between the civilian and military leadership.

Despite top PML-N leaders, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan, having confidence and trust in General Raheel Sharif, rarely does anyone in the party deny tensions in the civilian-military relationship.

It is said that some influential pro-Musharraf elements are putting pressure on General Raheel to get Musharraf off the hook at any cost.

The PML-N, which has always been demanding Musharraf’s trial under Article 6 for twice abrogating the Constitution, today stands divided on the issue.

Amongst the senior PML-N leaders, many are now in favour of letting Musharraf go abroad to save the system. A small minority, however, insists that letting Musharraf off the hook means seriously compromising the transition to civilian supremacy and badly denting the struggle for rule of law and constitutionalism.

Informed sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants to leave Musharraf’s fate to the legal course and believes that any concession by the executive of the former dictator would mean compromising the rule of law.

The sources said that for the same reason, the prime minister decided to challenge in the SC the SHC decision of removing Musharraf’s name from the ECL in 15 days.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan are said be the leading voices in the PML-N demanding leniency in Musharraf’s high treason trial.

These voices fear that Musharraf’s case may lead to the cropping up of serious misunderstandings between the civilian and military leadership which may endanger the future of democracy as was pointed out by Mahmood Khan Achakzai in the National Assembly.

Many politicians and media observers believe that certain pro-Musharraf elements are allegedly behind the recent but sudden emergence of the anti-government, anti-system alliance of the PML-Q and PAT and the possible joining in of Sheikh Rashid to exert pressure on the PML-N government.

As highlighted by editorials in leading newspapers, a campaign has been launched recently to suggest that the PML-N government has failed to deliver and unless removed Pakistan will collapse. These editorials term this view as “nonsense” and rightly point out what they call the “so-called sins” of the NS government which prominently include Musharraf’s trial.

It is suggested by the PML-Q-PAT, Shaikh Rashid and others, including some in the media, the last one-year rule of Nawaz Sharif has been the worst in the history of Pakistan. They argue that the government must be removed and the system be overhauled to save the country from collapse.

The last one-year rule of the federal and provincial governments may not be up to the mark, but it is generally believed and even authenticated by the international agencies that Pakistan has improved as against what it was under the previous regime. Transparency International reported less corruption in Pakistan and there have been no mega scandals of corruption during the last one year. The World Bank, IMF and other international institutions see an improvement in Pakistan’s economy.

Accountability and governance have been the weak areas of the government but still, they have not been as bad as was the situation during the previous regime.

With the recent emergence of the thoroughly known trio—the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, Allama Tahirul Qadri from Canada and Sheikh Rashid of Lal Haveli—warnings are being issued by the likes of Raza Rabbani, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, I A Rehman and others that if the present system is derailed it would be a serious blow not merely to the system but to the Federation and its unity.

7 years later, Blackwater guards go on trial

WASHINGTON: After years of delays, four former guards from the security firm Blackwater Worldwide are facing trial in the killings of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 18 others in bloodshed that inflamed anti-American sentiment around the globe.

Whether the shootings were self-defense or an unprovoked attack, the carnage of Sept. 16, 2007 was seen by critics of the George W. Bush administration as an illustration of a war gone horribly wrong.

A trial in the nearly 7-year-old case is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Wednesday, barring last-minute legal developments. Prosecutors plan to call dozens of Iraqis to testify in what the Justice Department says is likely to be the largest group of foreign witnesses ever to travel to the U.S. to participate in a criminal trial.

The violence at the Nisoor Square traffic circle in downtown Baghdad was the darkest episode of contractor violence during the war in Iraq, becoming one more diplomatic disaster in a war that had many.

Iraqi officials, who wanted the guards tried in a local court, were outraged. In the trial, defense lawyers will focus on the guards´ state of mind in a city that was a battleground.

Car bombs and insurgents were daily perils for the Blackwater teams. As part of its work with the State Department, Blackwater had a team of 15 intelligence analysts who produced daily threat updates, colored maps of a city riddled with bomb blasts.

"The core disputed issue in this prosecution is self-defense — whether the defendants believed that deadly force was necessary to defend themselves and their teammates from an insurgent attack, and whether that belief was objectively reasonable," lawyers for the guards said in court filings.

Reasonableness shouldn´t be judged on "hindsight analysis in a courtroom seven years and thousands of miles removed from the event," the lawyers argue in the filings.

In the aftermath of the shootings, Blackwater Worldwide provided the government with photos of the guards´ vehicles pocked and streaked with bullet marks.

On Capitol Hill, one theme in politically tinged congressional hearings was that hiring large numbers of security guards, and letting them operate outside the military chain of command in a war zone, was a recipe for disaster.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince declared: "I believe we acted appropriately at all times." The Nisoor Square shootings spelled the death knell for his company. Formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, the company is under new ownership and Prince is no longer affiliated with it.

The company was sold to a group of investors who changed the name to Academi. (AP)

Musharraf trial consolidates political forces

ISLAMABAD: Musharraf and his coterie’s effort to drag the institution of army to save the former dictator’s skin has backfired as political forces are getting to a grand consensus that any confrontation with the military would be avoided without any compromise on Musharraf’s high treason case, which has now become the real test of the rule of law in Pakistan.

Though Musharraf was desperate to get the army and the government at each other’s throats, it ended up in the government and the political parties’ firm decision that there would be no compromise on the rule of law.

It is now greatly realised in the government circles and among the political circles that giving a safe passage to Musharraf would not serve democracy, rule of law and the Constitution but would encourage and pave the way for martial law in the future. His trial by the independent judiciary, it is said, would uphold the rule of law besides serving as a real deterrence against any future dictatorial rule in the country.

To avoid any misunderstanding between the military and the civilian institutions, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already asked his ministers and party leaders to be careful in their statements. The government would ensure that no disrespect is shown by anyone to any institution, including the Pakistan Army.

Regarding the Musharraf’s case, it has been decided to leave it to the court of law. However, no underhand deal would be made to pave the way for the release and flying abroad of Musharraf.

According to a key government source, any deal in the Musharraf case would mean undoing the post-March 9, 2007 struggle and achievement for the rule of law in the country. Regarding Musharraf’s wish to drag others, including corps commanders and other key military officers of his time in the high treason case, the government sources said that the high profile accused had the right to prove before the court of law his claim that he did the November 3 act on the advice and in consultation with others.

To Musharraf’s disadvantage not only all his civilian associates have already distanced themselves from the November 3, 2007 action but there is not even a single document anywhere in the government to prove that Musharraf had consulted others or had abrogated the Constitution on the advice of someone else.

Musharraf says that he had acted on the advice of the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz but the summary sent by the latter to the former did not suggest an abrogation of the Constitution. The said summary was sent to Musharraf as president but he acted as the army chief to hold the Constitution in abeyance.

Musharraf had claimed in his November 3 extra-constitutional order that he had consulted the prime minister and the cabinet. However, it has been proved that neither a cabinet meeting was convened nor the issue was ever discussed by the cabinet.

The FIA team which probed the matter and held Musharraf alone responsible for the November 3 act was though not allowed to see the GHQ record; the sources said that even in the GHQ neither any such documentary evidence was called nor any corps commanders meeting was convened to discuss the issue.If Musharraf and his legal team think otherwise, the onus would be on them to bring concrete evidence to prove the prosecution’s case wrong.

Musharraf treason trial a ‘milestone’: ICJ

ISLAMABAD: The indictment of General Pervez Musharraf on charges of treason marks a milestone for Pakistan’s judiciary, which must ensure his trial fully complies with international standards, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said in a briefing paper released on Monday.

“General Musharraf’s treason trial is unprecedented in Pakistan’s political and legal history,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Asia Director. “This is an opportunity for Pakistan’s judiciary to demonstrate that no one is above the law and that everyone accused of an offence has the right to a trial that is, and is seen to be, impartial, independent and expeditious.”

In its briefing paper, the ICJ highlights the legal framework and political context of the high treason trial against Pakistan’s former president and Army General, Pervez Musharraf, in a Question and Answer format.

“This trial marks the first time a senior Pakistani military figure could be held to account for trampling on the rule of law and human rights in the country,” Zarifi said. “General Musharraf should be facing a proper trial for the many human rights violations that took place during his rule and under his command. But this case is at least a start.”

There are also serious allegations that widespread gross violations of human rights, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture, were carried out by the security forces while General Musharraf was the head of State and the military, yet no case has been instituted in relation to these gross violations of human rights thus far. “Every effort must be taken to ensure that General Musharraf’s rights as an accused are protected and that the trial complies with Pakistani and international fair trial standards. If convicted of high treason he should be sentenced to life imprisonment, rather than the death penalty.”

Mobile Companies to Start Trial 3G Services Just in Days

Telecom operators in Pakistan are going to commence trial 3G services in Pakistan with-in few days, confirmed us a source who had information about the development.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had announced that mobile operators in Pakistan will be granted free trial license for 3G so they may test and fine tune their services before the license auction.
After the announcement, operators had requested PTA for NOC for commencing the trial services. PTA in response had asked FAB to allocate the required spectrum to cellular companies so they may start offering trial 3G services. FAB has now all the necessary approvals from cabinet division and mobile phone companies are set to launch trial 3G services.
It merits mentioning here that such testing of 3G services are for trial and non-commercial basis, i.e. operators will not offer high-speed 3G broadband services to customers. Instead they will internally hard test the infrastructure and equipment to get prepared the proper launch after the auction that is planned in April 2014.
It maybe recalled that government has announced the auction of three 3G and two 4G licenses in April. IM for the auction is expected today or tomorrow at most, which will reveal an exact date of the auction.
Masses will able to enjoy 3G (and probably 4G too) with-in two weeks after the license auction in April.