ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Human Rights Watch executive director Brad Adams has said the military has an "excessive role" in Pakistan, which ultimately "leads to human rights violations".

Speaking at a press conference on the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan premises on Saturday, Mr Adams expressed concern over the state of human rights in Pakistan, particularly about the deteriorating rule of law, government's increasing intolerance of press freedom, arbitrary arrests and disregard for the due process of law.

Mr Adams, who is on a visit to Pakistan, saw an inconsistency in the military's involvement and the rule of law. "Wherever military interferes in civilian matters, it always results in violation of human rights, he said. "The 1999 coup has pushed the country back by many, many years. The role of the military has to be curtailed if you want better human rights."

He said this pattern had been noticed in the Philippines and Thailand as well.

Mr Adams expressed a particular "over-arching concern" over the declining rule of law in Pakistan, saying that "the judiciary works under tremendous pressure". He said Pakistan had lawyers and judges "who might be as good and competent as you will find anywhere else in the world. But the question is: Are they being allowed to work independently?"

He believed that there had been an erosion of the due process of law in recent years. He quoted the example of six judges who were removed just because they refused to take oath under the PCO.

"This sends a message for others to follow the official line," he added.

He said that in his meetings with lawyers, the legal community was found to have little faith in courts whenever the other party was the state. People were generally detained for much longer than was permissible by law. "This is not acceptable," he said, adding that if the law was inadequate, it should be changed. "It's a general practice to produce the accused (in the court) within 48 hours. You could make it longer here but the law should then be implemented."

He expressed concern over the denial of transparent trial to PML-N president Javed Hashmi. "I would not like to comment whether he is guilty of the charges that have been levelled against him, but a trial in prison is no trial," he said. "It's a mockery of justice." He believed that there was no problem of security in holding an open trial.

Mr Adams also referred to the media in Pakistan, and said he had been told that newspapers were sometimes coerced into self-censorship. "We are told that they sometimes get phone calls that are intimidating," he said. Quoting incidents of excesses, he cited the case of journalist Amir Mir whose car was set ablaze sometime ago. But there had been no prosecution. He said he would not comment about the charges against journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, but the fact that he was produced in court after six weeks spoke volumes about the case. He was particularly concerned about journalist Mubashar Zaidi's plight. He was working within the limits of law when he, along with a Los Angeles Times reporter, sought an interview at a madressah. His identity card was later displayed on the state-run television.

"Some say the media is free in Pakistan, others say it is not," he said, adding: "Still others say it is better than before. Well, that's not the standard. The issue is that you can't have the past as a yardstick. It's like saying that I beat my wife five times earlier and now I do it only two times. It's about principles and not the severity of excesses."

The Human Rights Watch, he said, has condemned the treatment being meted out to prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. "We firmly maintain that the rule of law must be followed, whether this be in the United States or Pakistan. There should be no mistreatment of people in custody; they should be allowed to meet their families.

He said the US had seriously compromised its role as a protector of human rights, particularly in denying the rights of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. He was also critical of the US in allowing similar violations of human rights during its war on terrorism in Afghanistan, which would be documented in a HRW report soon. He said the US conduct had negatively impacted on human rights because other violators now took refuge behind the argument that "if the superpower can do it, why can't we do it?"

He believed that the practice of honour killing was most ignoble.

Mr Adams expressed the hope that the government would support the draft law tabled in the National Assembly against this practice.

He was particularly emphatic that his organization was not singling out Pakistan. "We have been equally critical of the practice of dowry in India," he said. "We have similar concerns against the Hudood Ordinances in Pakistan. It's like an 'Alice in Wonderland' situation when the women subjected to rape are charged for adultery."

About military farms in Okara, he said: "We have substantial evidence suggesting violations of human rights by the Rangers."

He said in his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, he was assured that the matter would be looked into. "We are pleased that the chief minister showed his willingness to investigate incidents of excesses," he said while expressing his disappointment that the interior minister, in another meeting, "rejected outright that the Rangers might have committed any excesses".