ISLAMABAD: The World Justice Project has ranked Pakistan as the third-worst country for law and order out of a total of 142, as Islamabad grapples with surging militant attacks and suicide bombings in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan while rights activists accuse the government of clamping down on freedom of speech and expression. 

The World Justice Project describes itself as an independent, multidisciplinary organization that is working to create knowledge, build awareness and stimulate action to advance the rule of law worldwide. 

In its annual list released on Oct. 23, the WJP said rule of law has once again weakened in a majority of countries surveyed this year. Pakistan was ranked at 140 out of a total of 142 countries in its Order and Security criteria. 

“Security is one of the defining aspects of any rule of law society and is a fundamental function of the state,” the WJP said. “It is also a precondition for the realization of the rights and freedoms that the rule of law seeks to advance.”

Only Mali, ranked at 141 and Nigeria, ranked at 142, were placed below Pakistan in the Order and Security index by the WJP. 

The WJP ranked Pakistan at 129 out of 142 in the overall Rule of Law index. The overall rating is given by considering eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice and Criminal Justice. 

The report ranked Pakistan at 103 for Constraints on Government Powers, 120 for Absence of Corruption, 106 for Open Government, 125 for Fundamental Rights, 127 for Regulatory Enforcement, 128 for Civil Justice and 98 for Criminal Justice.

The WJP said in its press release that a majority of countries had improved on ensuring effective criminal justice but authoritarian trends have continued to set them back on protecting human rights and democracy.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since Nov. 22 in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan ever since its fragile truce with the Pakistani Taliban broke down. Separatist militants in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province have also increased attacks against security forces and civilians in recent months. 

Meanwhile, opposition parties and rights activists have accused the government and Pakistan’s powerful military of using coercive tactics to suppress freedom of speech and their right to protest. Rights activists have also pointed to frequent Internet disruptions in the country, accusing the state of clamping down on people’s right to enjoy digital freedoms.

The government and Pakistan’s powerful military deny these allegations. 
 

ISLAMABAD: Ten Pakistan army soldiers and two from the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were killed on Tuesday as militants attacked a checkpost in the northwestern Bannu district, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has seen a surge in attacks in recent months, which Islamabad says are mostly carried out by Afghan nationals and their facilitators and by Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups who cross over into Pakistan using safe haven in Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul denies the charges, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue.

The remote southwestern province of Balochistan has also seen an increase in strikes by separatist ethnic militants this year. 

Tuesday’s attack was on a joint army-FC check post in the Mali Khel area of Bannu District, with six militants killed in the exchange of gunfire, the army said. 

“The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the khwarij [militants] to ram an explosive laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post,” the statement said.

“The suicide blast led to collapse of portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in Shahadat [martyrdom] of twelve brave sons of soil that include ten Soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of Frontier Constabulary.”

On Monday, seven policemen were abducted from a check post in Bannu district, but the cops were recovered on Tuesday through the efforts of local tribal elders and a massive search operation by police in the unforgiving mountainous terrain.

The TTP, which operates along the Pak-Afghan border, is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.

Islamabad says TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and that the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.