No reports of whether Pakistan People's Party (PPP) members have been subjected to violence and/or to threats at the hands of members of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and/or Tehrik Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) members/workers in the NWFP, especially in the district of Swat could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, in December 2000, in an effort to put aside their historical differences, the PPP and the PML joined together with several other parties to form the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) (ACCORD May 2001, section II.4.2; HRCP Feb. 2001; Islamabad The News 4 Dec. 2000). ARD's resolution, which was issued 2 December 2000, calls for "the people of all federating units to join hands to defend their fundamental, social, political and economic rights in a democratic, federal, modern and progressive Pakistan..." (Islamabad The News 4 Dec. 2000).

A 9 September 2000 article appearing in The News and quoted in the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) document reported the chief of TNSM as saying, "There is no room for democracy in Islam and those struggling for restoration of this system in an Islamic country should not be considered as followers of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings by upon him)" (ACCORD May 2001, section I.5.3). As well, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reported that in 2000 the issue of Shariah law once again arose as a concern in Malakland agency, including Swat Valley (HRCP Feb. 2001). (For more information on previous incidences around this issue, please refer to PAK35733.E of 7 December 2000). In April 2000, after indications that the NWFP government was re-examining the imposition of Shariah law, TNSM threatened to protest if Shariah was not upheld in the region (ibid). Consequently, TNSM was offered assurance by the Frontier Lieutenant-General that no changes would be made and that 'Qazis' would manage the judicial process in the area (ibid). HRCP went on to note that "the situation in fact meant that people of the area continued to be governed under a set of laws deviating from the Constitution" (ibid).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD). May 2001. Dr. Yahya Hassan Bajwa. "Pakistan Update." http://ecoi.net/pub/ms9/Pakrep01.rtf [Accessed 13 July 2001]

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. February 2001. "State of Human Rights in 2000." (CD-ROM)

Islamabad The News [Islamabad, in English]. 4 December 2001. "Pakistani Political Parties Form Alliance for Restoration of Democracy"

IRB databases

Jane's Intelligence Review

LEXIS/NEXIS

Research Directorate. Country File, January 2000-

World News Connection

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International

BBC

CNN

Dawn

Frontier Post

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Human Rights Watch

Integrated Regional Information Networks

International Relations and Security Network

News International

Pakistan Daily

Pakistan News Service

UN News