VALLETTA: Leaders of the 53-nation Commonwealth on Sunday
warned President Pervez Musharraf that retaining his role as leader of the
Army "is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy".
And they said that until he gives up his military role,
Pakistan remained in danger of sliding into repression, despite its recent
progress. In a statement at the end of a three-day summit here, they
welcomed Pakistans progress in restoring democracy since its
reinstatement to the Commonwealth in 2004, and gave it two years to
resolve the issue of Musharrafs dual role.
Pakistan was suspended from the club of mainly former
British colonies in 1999 when Musharraf grabbed power in a military coup,
and he has reneged on a pledge to give up his military role.
Commonwealth leaders "reiterated that until the two
offices are separated, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not
be irreversible", the statement said. The statement "noted that the
holding by the same person of the offices of head of state and chief of
army staff (COAS) is incompatible with the basic principles of
democracy".
The Commonwealth "urged Pakistan to resolve this issue as
early as possible, and not beyond the end of the current presidential term
in 2007 at the latest". Pending resolution of the issue, Pakistan would
remain on the agenda of the bodys democracy watchdog, the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group.
Apart from progress in rebuilding democratic
institutions, Musharrafs rehabilitation into the international community
has been helped by his backing of the US-led campaign against terror,
leading to a purge of Islamist extremists.
Commonwealth leaders also cautioned in the declaration
that anti-terrorism measures must conform to international accords
guaranteeing human rights. The leaders agreed to the final statement
promoting "dialogue, tolerance and understanding among civilisations" as a
key anti-terrorism tool.
"States must ensure that measures taken to combat
terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, in
particular human rights law, refugee law and international humanitarian
law," the 103-point final declaration said.
Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told reporters that
no nations policies or measures were singled out in the summits
discussion on how to combat terrorism. Tough interrogations and lengthy
detention of terrorism suspects, often in isolated locations, have
prompted human rights advocates to criticize key approaches in the
anti-terrorism strategy of the US administration.
The Commonwealth leaders condemned terrorism in all its
forms, and stressed that "targets and deliberate killing of civilians
through acts of terrorism cannot be justified or legitimised by any cause
or grievance".
Counterterrorism efforts must "also take into account the
conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism", their declaration said.
The Commonwealth has no legal powers to enforce any of its positions, but
officials expressed hope that the consensus of so many leaders from around
the world accounting for roughly a third of the globes population
will carry some moral weight.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that
during the informal talks, he emphasised that attention must be paid to
social and economic circumstances when forging anti-terrorism
strategy.
Most of the meetings discussions were dominated by
concerns that many of the Commonwealths members, including African
nations and Caribbean and Pacific island countries largely dependent on
agriculture, would not get a fair deal in next months World Trade
Organisation talks in Hong Kong.
Commonwealth leaders issued a separate declaration
Saturday night to pressure the European Union to greatly reduce farm
subsidies as a way to level the playing field for poorer countries in
world markets.
The European Union must offer to cut agricultural
subsidies if next months global trade talks in Hong Kong are to deliver
"early and substantial dividends" for the developing world, the trade
statement declared.
The declaration held out the US trade proposal as a
model. That proposal calls for substantially higher cuts in tariffs for
agricultural products than the EU does. "It is still going to be very
difficult to move the EU, but the Americans have made a very big offer,"
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said after the Commonwealth issued
its appeal to the EU. "It is more generous than most people expected."
Caribbean nations were lobbying for compensation to
cushion their economies in the next few years from the effects of a
landmark EU accord earlier in the week to slash sugar prices by 36
percent. The WTO forced the EU to enact sugar price reform after
Australia, Thailand and Brazil lodged complaints.
Europes policies of generously subsidising its farmers
have been a major hurdle in the talks aimed at opening markets to
producers from poorer countries. At a news conference, Guyanas President
Bharrat Jagdeo denounced as "grossly unfair" an EU decision to set aside
some euro6 billion (about $7.7 billion) for European producers and
processors and only euro40 million ($47 million) for Caribbean, Pacific
and African sugar producers.
Jagdeo said he lobbied Blair, whose country holds the
rotating EU presidency, to press for a fairer deal from the European Union
for Caribbean countries. "Hes going to try his best. Hes not making any
promises," Jagdeo said about Blairs response. Blair said failure to
achieve significant progress in the WTO negotiations would be
disastrous.
Commonwealth officials said there were plans to hold the
next biennial summit in Uganda in 2007 despite concerns by Australia, New
Zealand and others about the arrest of the main Ugandan opposition figure
after his return from exile.
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