NEW YORK, Oct 11: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s four-year rule has led to serious human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said on Friday in an open letter to the president to coincide with the fourth anniversary of his Oct 12, 1999 coup, the New York-based rights monitor called on the president to return Pakistan to constitutional rule without delay.

The letter accused Pakistani military agencies of harassing political opponents, journalists and former government officials.

It also highlighted a surge in religious extremism and sectarian killings that Human Rights Watch blamed in part on the Musharraf administration’s policy of marginalizing mainstream opposition political groups.

“In Pakistan, the judiciary has been emasculated, political parties rendered powerless, and extremist and sectarian religious parties strengthened under Musharraf’s rule,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division.—AFP