CASE N° PAK/08 - ASIF ALI ZARDARI - PAKISTAN

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 168th session (Havana, 7 April 2001)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Senator Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/168/13(c)-R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 167th session (October 2000),

Taking into consideration a letter from the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, dated 22 January 2001, as well as information supplied by one of the sources,

Recalling that Mr. Zardari was arrested on 4 November 1996 and has remained in prison ever since, with five different criminal proceedings pending against him; in two cases (Mr. Alam Baloch and Justice Nizam murder cases), filed in 1997 and 1996, respectively, the trial has not yet started,

Recalling that six proceedings under the National Accountability (former Ehtesab) Ordinance involving, according to the authorities, gross acts of corruption and corrupt practices and acts of abuse of authority, have been brought against him, in one of which, the SGS case, he was sentenced on 15 April 1999 to five years' imprisonment, disqualification from holding public office for a period of five years and a fine of US$ 8.6 million,

Noting that the appeal before the Supreme Court in the SGS case is currently being heard; allegations exist that pressure was put on the judge to convict Mr. Zardari for corruption; the tape-recordings and transcripts reportedly proving such pressure were made available to the Supreme Court but have apparently not yet been admitted as evidence; moreover, one of the judges sitting on the Supreme Court in this case was allegedly among those who pressured the trial judge into convicting Mr. Zardari,

Considering that, according to his lawyers, Mr. Zardari has already served the five-year prison sentence handed down on him since (i) under Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the period a detainee spends in detention prior to his conviction must be counted as part of the sentence to be served; (ii) in accordance with Pakistan Prison Rules, prisoners are entitled to remissions which, in Mr. Zardari's case, amount to four years and three months up to 31 December 2000, as a result of which, on 8 January 2001, the Inspector General of Prisons sent a letter to the Home Department informing it that the Senator had completed his sentence once remissions were taken into account,

Considering also that, according to his lawyers, Mr. Zardari was granted bail in all but the "narcotics case" which has been pending since 1998; the judge in that case has not yet decided on Mr. Zardari's bail application, as a result of which Mr. Zardari is now entitled to statutory bail as two years have passed since his arrest (May 1998) without the judge having decided on the bail application,

Recalling that the authorities have consistently affirmed that Mr. Zardari, who suffers from various ailments, receives all the medical treatment he requires,

Considering, however, that his lawyers allege that Mr. Zardari has been denied release on bail on medical grounds, as granted by four Court orders, and has been illegally moved from the Dr. Ziauddin Medical University Hospital (Karachi) to a hospital in Islamabad, where he is kept in solitary confinement in an area declared "sub-jail";; Mr. Zardari is periodically brought over to Fort Attock for court proceedings, and the arduous journeys are highly detrimental to his health,

Recalling that a judicial inquiry concluded in August 1999 that the severe injuries Mr. Zardari suffered on 19 May 1999 while in the custody of the Central Investigative Agency (CIA) Civil-Lines for interrogation were not self-inflicted but rather inflicted on him; considering in this connection that the High Court of Sindh-Karachi set aside the court order granting Mr. Zardari's transfer from judicial to CIA police custody for interrogation purposes, ruling that it was "illegal, without jurisdiction and passed without lawful authority",

Recalling its deep concerns that, instead of bringing the culprits of the ill-treatment of Mr. Zardari to justice, he himself was accused of attempted suicide; considering that the authorities have provided no information or observation in that respect,

Mindful of the fact that Section 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan prohibits torture; that freedom from torture is also guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as are the right to an effective remedy for acts violating fundamental rights, provided for in Article 8, and the right to fair trial by an independent and impartial court, provided for in Article 10; recalling that, as a member of the United Nations, Pakistan is bound to respect the rights set forth in the Declaration,

1. Thanks the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Offices at Geneva for his letter; regrets, however, that it merely enumerates the cases pending against Mr. Zardari without responding to the specific concerns raised by the Council in the resolution it adopted at its 167th session, in particular with respect to the torture suffered by Mr. Zardari;

2. Can but infer from the lack of any information on this point that Mr. Zardari remains charged with attempted suicide and that no action has been taken to bring to justice those responsible for his ill-treatment;

3. Urges once again the authorities to ensure that those responsible for ill-treating Mr. Zardari are promptly brought to justice for the sake of preventing any repetition of such acts, and to drop the suicide attempt charges brought against him as they have been proven to be totally unfounded;

4. Remains concerned at Mr. Zardari's state of health, which four Courts considered serious enough to warrant release on bail; is convinced that the evidence of ill-treatment in custody in itself justifies his release on bail;

5. Would appreciate receiving the observations of the authorities concerning the affirmation that Mr. Zardari is entitled to statutory bail in the only case pending against him in which bail on medical grounds has not yet been granted;

6. Notes that the "SGS corruption case" before the Supreme Court is currently being heard; trusts that all evidence will be truly and adequately taken into account;

7. Notes that, according to his lawyers, Mr. Zardari has already served his five-year prison term in the SGS case, and desires clarification on this point;

8. Remains concerned at the length of the various proceedings under way against Senator Zardari, two of which have not even started although they were brought four years ago, and stresses once more that, under internationally recognised human rights norms, anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge must be either tried without undue delay or released immediately;

9. Requests the Secretary General to bring this resolution to the attention of the competent authorities in Pakistan and to seek the relevant information from them;

10. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (September 2001).

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