Communication Flows in International Economic Law:

Military Dictatorships Under Sham Democracies in International Economic Relations

 

The phenomenon of military dictatorships is an abhorrence universally understood and condemned. International Law eschews such regimes through its human rights belly. Foreign relations laws of advanced democracies have built-in apparatus for economic sanctions targeting certain actions such regimes are prone to. For example, several Generalised Systems of Preferences are conditional on observance of certain types of human rights domestically – often not practiced in such regimes of national governance. UN Security Council sanctions have featured several military dictatorships targeting actions of such regimes to deter un-constitutional transitions. All civilised conscience decries military dictatorships – which is quintessentially ‘glorified’ rule through thuggery. Another form of military dictatorship – one that is even more heinous – is national governance through military dictatorship by stealth. It operates behind the scenes in an opaque and unaccountable fashion, promoting its whims whilst undermining the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, transparency, democratic institutions, human rights and due process through a sham of a legal process. This modus operandi is to be found in present day Pakistan1 – an engagement openly acknowledged, accepted indeed facilitated by the current Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan in a recent interview given to the BBC.

 

Asif H Qureshi

Editor-in-Chief