Pakistan Election Begins Amid Allegations Of Intimidation And Rigging
Pakistani voters go to the polls Wednesday. Human rights activists, journalists and candidates say the campaign has been tainted. A spate of terrorist attacks has killed civilians and politicians.
Wednesday's election in Pakistan marks the second time in the country's 71-year history that power will be passed from one civilian government to another. But the weeks leading to the vote have been marred by extreme violence. Activists, journalists and candidates say the campaign was tainted, throwing a fragile democratic process into question.
"There were huge complaints about what happened in the lead-up this time around," says Omar Waraich, deputy South Asia director at Amnesty International. "We've had very serious allegations about arbitrary detentions, about restrictions on the media, about attacks on people's rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression."
