By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 3, 1998; Page A34

Chanting "murderer, murderer!" and "liar, liar!" about 100 Pakistani Americans protested yesterday across from the White House, where Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was meeting with President Clinton on his first official visit to the capital since taking power early last year.

The demonstrators in Lafayette Square, who came from Washington, Chicago and New York, charged that Sharif's government has abused human rights by detaining, torturing and killing political opponents, especially in the violence-plagued city of Karachi.

They also joined human rights groups such as Amnesty International in condemning the government's moves to strengthen Islamic law nationwide and to suspend civil rights in the Karachi region, where military courts can now hold quick trials for certain severe crimes.

"We want a secular, democratic Pakistan. We totally reject a theocratic, fundamentalist state," said Sayd Adeeb, of Alexandria, who heads a group called the Reform Movement. "If President Clinton stands for democracy and human rights, he must tell Nawaz Sharif to respect them or be treated as a tyrant."

Visiting Pakistani officials have denied that their government is abusing human rights. They said they were forced to suspend judicial rights in Karachi last month because political violence and terrorism have exploded in the city, with more than 600 people killed this year.

The officials also said they have no intention of imposing fundamentalist Islamic rule on Pakistan, even though Sharif is trying to appease conservative Muslim groups by strengthening the role of Islamic laws and courts.

"Our view of Islam is moderate and enlightened," said Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan's minister of information, in a meeting with Washington Post editors and reporters Tuesday. In Karachi, Hussain said, "we have had to take drastic measures, but it has been nothing unconstitutional, nothing undemocratic."

Amnesty International called on Clinton yesterday to "take a firm and moral stand" against repression in his meetings with Sharif. If the Pakistani leader suspends rights in the name of law and order, the group warned, it could fuel violence instead.

The demonstrators said they would picket all of Sharif's appearances here this week, including a reception for local Pakistani Americans. Tens of thousands of Pakistani immigrants live in Maryland and Virginia, many of them professionals in technology and health care.

Most of the protesters belong to the Muttahida Quami Movement, a political party based in Karachi that has been caught up in the bloodshed and recently broke with Sharif's government. They alleged that security forces have seized and brutalized their supporters while blaming them for the violence.

"We condemn all kinds of violence, but they are pushing people to the wall," said Mohammed Younus, a Chicago-based party leader. The crackdown intensified last month, when a top government official in Karachi was shot dead. Pakistani officials have blamed the MQM, but Younus and other members denied the accusation.