By Stephen Kaufman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The human rights situation in certain parts of South Asia improved in 2003 thanks to important developments such as the drafting and subsequent approval of Afghanistan's new constitution guaranteeing rights to women and minorities, as well as the relative calm in Sri Lanka following decades of civil conflict. However, the State Department's annual report on human rights voiced concerns about abuses in Nepal, Pakistan and other countries.

The 2003 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices was released February 25, and individual country reports can be viewed in detail at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/index.htm.

Regarding Afghanistan, the report said the Constitutional Loya Jirga, which convened in December 2003, discussed key social issues, including the rights of women and minorities, education, jobs and security. Eighty-nine of the 502 delegates were women, and the final document, approved in January 2004, included clauses guaranteeing the equality of women and men, recognizing Afghanistan's religious and ethnic minorities, and ensuring significant women's representation in both houses of the legislature.

"In addition to keeping a close eye on implementation of the new constitution, in 2004 we are committed to helping Afghans realize their vision for a country that is stable, democratic, and economically successful," said the report.

However, the report also expressed concern over the continuing presence of heavily armed militias and terrorist cells in the country, as well as a revived drug trade that is contributing to a sense of lawlessness and poor security. The report also criticized the government's tight surveillance over the Afghan press, saying that this "poses a strong challenge to public confidence and acceptance of democratic institutions."

Nepal was given a poor human rights rating for 2003, largely due to the ongoing civil conflict between the government and Maoist rebels.

"Numerous credible reports of human rights abuses by Nepalese security forces provoked condemnation and calls for accountability; the Maoists committed worse abuses in their campaign of torturing, killing, bombing, forcibly conscripting children and other violent tactics," said the report.

The report also criticized Pakistan for widespread abuses committed by its security forces, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and excessive use of force. It said Pakistan's government has intimidated and arrested opposition figures.

The credibility of Pakistan's judiciary also remained low in 2003, and the report expressed concern that Pakistan's leader, General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup, had approved a package of amendments to the Constitution that consolidated his power, confirmed his presidency until 2008, and "gave him authority to dismiss Pakistan's national and provincial assemblies without first consulting the Supreme Court."

The report said the government of neighboring India had generally respected the human rights of its citizens in 2003, but noted, nevertheless, the occurrence of numerous human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody, and abuses by Indian security forces such as rape and torture.

"These problems were most visible in Jammu and Kashmir, where judicial tolerance of the Government's heavy-handed counterinsurgency tactics, the refusal of security forces to obey court orders, and terrorist threats have disrupted the judicial system," it said.

The report said there had been "serious discrimination and violence" practiced against indigenous people and certain castes and tribes. The report noted widespread inter-caste and communal violence, including religiously motivated violence against Muslims and Christians. The report also drew attention to widespread exploitation of indentured, bonded, and child labor as well as trafficking in women and children.

As Sri Lanka's government and Tamil rebels continued to observe a ceasefire, the report observed that the government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens," and that there were no reported cases of politically motivated killings or disappearances.

The report also said that there were fewer reports of security forces harassing journalists than in the past, and that the government was taking action against the trafficking of children for sex trade.

However, violence against religious minorities increased in 2003, and institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Tamils remained a problem, it said.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) "continued to commit serious human rights abuses," according to the report. These included arbitrary arrests, torture, harassment, disappearances, extortion, and detention.

"The LTTE denied those under its control the right to change their government, did not provide for fair trials, infringed on privacy rights, used child soldiers, and discriminated against ethnic and religious minorities," it said.

Bangladesh also received a poor human rights rating. Branches of its security forces committed extrajudicial killings, used occasionally lethal force against opposition demonstrators, and routinely employed physical and psychological torture during arrests and interrogations. There were also "credible reports" that the country's police facilitated or were involved in trafficking in women and children.

The report also expressed concern that in February, Bangladesh's parliament adopted legislation that shields their security forces from legal consequences of their actions. Also, the government employed a Special Powers Act and criminal procedure code to make arrests without warrants and to allow for preventive detentions.

Bangladesh's government did allow many human rights groups to conduct activities in the country, but it also brought a number of nongovernmental organizations under intense scrutiny. The report said that violence and discrimination against women continued to pose serious problems, as well as trafficking in women and children for the purposes of prostitution and forced labor.