LAHORE, July 2: Human Rights Watch (HRW) Executive Director Kenneth Roth on Wednesday urged President Pervez Musharraf to “do the right thing” by stepping down and paving the way for a government that respects human rights and the Constitution.

In a press conference here, Roth admonished President Musharraf for what he called standing in the way of constitutional rule and said that he (Gen Musharraf ) had not sought a meeting with him during his visit to Pakistan and said he did not consider his re-election as having been legitimate.

In a stark message for the President, Roth said: “Do not stand in the way of Pakistan’s evolution…do not stand in the way of the aspirations of the Pakistani people for a human rights respecting government.” He said that HRW would back any action against Musharraf deemed suitable by the parliament, “except capital punishment”.

Earlier, he lauded Pakistan’s so-called ‘civil society’ for its part in fostering the democratic movement. He said: “Pakistani civil society today had the admiration of the world for the way they have stood in a peaceful manner to move away from military rule. We feel honoured to partner them.”

He lauded the government for the peaceful way it responded to the long march in contrast to the violent crackdown ordered against lawyers by Musharraf regime. He praised the freedom of expression available to the media in Pakistan, describing the press as “flourishing”.

He also praised Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for commuting death sentences of thousands of prisoners to life imprisonment, but urged the government to do more by ratifying the UN moratorium on the application of the death penalty.

“As a first step, Pakistan should drastically reduce the number of offences for which the death penalty is applicable,” he said. He said he had met with Nawaz Sharif and urged him to exert his parliamentary influence to help achieve this goal.