Pakistan has a long history
of extra-judicial killings; not only by Pakistani security forces but also by
permitted US drones strikes. Apparently the Pakistani civilian government, independent
judiciary and the general public are all powerless before the powerful Army.
1971: atrocities in
Bangladesh,1992: operation clean up in Karachi , the military conflict in Baluchistan,
peace operation in KPK; Pakistan Armed forces has been accused of
extra-judicial killings and disappearances of innocent civilians. Pakistan Army
categorically refuses these allegations but human right organizations, court documents,
international observers and the evidence speaks oppositely.
On Oct-28-2013, the
relatives of missing persons from Baluchistan started a 730 kilometer peaceful
long march from Quetta to Karachi for the recovery of disappeared persons. Few
hours before the long march, the frustrated Chief Minister of Baluchistan, Dr. Abdul
Malik Baloch admitted administrative failure over the missing persons.
According to the Chief Minister “he could not resolve missing person issue.”
During hearings of the Baluchistan unrest
case, the Commission on the Inquiry of Enforced Disappearances has itself confirmed
the extrajudicial killings of 530 persons during 2001-2013. The official list
also confirms that over 2,500 persons are missing after their arrest. On one
occasion, the Chief
Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the evidence was
available against Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in some ‘missing’ person cases.
Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) denied the charges and stated that all
cases would be thoroughly examined and any missing person found with the FC
would be revealed.
In September 2009, then US ambassador to
Pakistan, Anne Patterson, sent an assessment to the US State department.
According to reports, an estimated 5000 detainees were picked up illegally by
Pakistani security forces during anti-Taliban operations in Malakand division, KPK.
In 2010, shocking footage emerged that
purported to show Pakistani soldiers (the targeted units 12 Punjab infantry
regiment and the paramilitary Frontier Corps) murdering six men. By
conservative estimates over 300 people had been extra judicially murdered by
Pakistan security forces during Swat operation in 2009, according to US State
department reports. COAS formulated the investigation team and denied the
charges at the same time.
Recently, the metropolitan
city of Karachi witnessed an increase in illegal arrests, torture, kidnapping
and extra judicial murders by law enforcement agencies. Dilshad Ahmed Khan, a worker
of Muttahida Quami Movement was illegally arrested and brutally tortured to
death by Rangers, the para-military force of Pakistan. To no one’s surprise,
the Rangers denied the allegation.
This is not the first time the
Army or other law enforcement agencies were involved in extra-judicial
activities in Karachi. During operation cleanup (1992-2000), over 15000 MQM
workers were extra-judicially killed, 28 missing persons and countless tortured
by Pakistan armed forces. The Amnesty International 1996 report “Human rights crisis in Karachi” urged the
Government of Pakistan to adopt measures to stop the large-scale human rights
violations in Karachi, the capital of Sindh. Once again the law enforcement agencies
rejected those changes.
A recent report by The
Washington Post, based on US classified secret documents, revealed
that U.S. drone attacks in Pakistani territory have been secretly permitted
over years by the government in Islamabad.
According to two leading human rights NGOs, Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch between 400-900
civilians have been killed in over 330 drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004
and 2013. Ironically, for past 10 years Army also denied these
allegations.
The government of Pakistan
and independent judiciary must take action to halt extra-judicial killing and
brutal torture by armed forces and intelligence agencies. Those who committed
atrocities in Bangladesh, Baluchistan, Swat or in Karachi should be brought to
justice. There is no excuse for law enforcement personnel to betray the
public’s trust by rebuttals and false statements. Pakistani Army, Para-military forces and Intelligence agencies should
understand that a bullet in the back of the head is simply not the way to win hearts
and minds.
Twitter ID @fawadrehman
