Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Clashes Erupt Following Fatal "Blasphemy" Shooting

Pakistan City Tense after "Blaspheming" Christians Shot, BBC News, 20 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Police reinforcements have been called in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad a day after two Christians charged with blasphemy were shot dead outside court. Clashes broke out in the city, home to a large Christian community, after the brothers were gunned down. Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and Sajid, 24, were accused of writing a pamphlet critical of the Prophet Muhammad; a rights activist said they were framed. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law carries the death penalty. A police officer who was escorting the brothers from a district court on Monday was critically wounded when the unidentified gunmen opened fire and then escaped. At least 10 people were reportedly injured as stone-throwing and rioting broke out in a Christian neighbourhood of the city afterwards. [...] The complainant in the case, a local trader, Khurram Shehzad, alleged that one of his employees was handed a pamphlet by someone at Faisalabad's general bus stand. He said the paper contained disrespectful remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. Police told the BBC the pamphlet had apparently been signed by the two brothers, whose addresses and mobile phone numbers were also given. But Atif Jameel, spokesman for the Pakistan Minorities Democratic Foundation, told the BBC: 'No-one in his right mind would issue a derogatory pamphlet against the Prophet and put his name and address on it.'"

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Clashes in Faisalabad as "blasphemers" shot dead, The Express Tribune, 20 July 2010
Zardari condemns murder of Christian brothers, The Express Tribune, 20 July 2010
Pakistan monitors websites for blasphemy, VOA News, 26 June 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan blasphemy law used to justify "murder": EU, 21 May 2010
Pakistan fails to protect religious minorities from violence, discrimination: Report, 29 April 2010
Govt to alter blasphemy law, 25 February 2010
Religion, politics and governance in Pakistan, 23 February 2010
2009 Department of State report on religious freedoms in Pakistan, 16 November 2009

Army Accused of 238 Extra-judicial Killings in Swat

Pakistan Army Accused of Extrajudicial Killings in Swat, BBC News, 16 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The Pakistani army has carried out 238 extrajudicial killings of people in the Swat Valley since September last year, says a report from Human Rights Watch. It documents cases where members of the army allegedly took away Taliban suspects, who were later found dead, their bodies riddled with bullets. A military spokesman denied the army had engaged in extrajudicial killings. The army said it had driven insurgents from Swat following a massive offensive against them last year. [...] The HRW report says that while police have also been involved in the killings, most of them have been carried out by the army. It details seven cases where Taliban suspects have been arrested and taken away by the army. Their bodies have later been found with bullet wounds and marks of torture. In one case, the report names a specific unit of the army, the 12th Punjab regiment, as being responsible. According to the report, the regiment detained a resident of the Matta area of Swat, Farman Ali, along with two other men on 28 March this year. The bodies of the other two men were later produced by the military and presented as Taliban militants who had allegedly been killed in a clash with the army. Then Mr Ali's body, with a gunshot wound to the head, turned up in a field on 26 May."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan: Extrajudicial executions by Army in Swat, Human Rights Watch, 16 July 2010

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13 detainees killed while attempting to escape: Army, 15 July 2010
Families claim suspected militants killed in detention, 8 July 2010
Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Millions suffer from Taliban abuse: Amnesty report, 10 June 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010

Families Claim Suspected Militants Killed in Detention

Relatives Question Pakistan Army on Militant Killings, BBC News, 8 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Relatives of 23 suspected militants killed by Pakistani forces in the north-west on Tuesday said they were in custody at the time of their death. Elders in Dir district said most of the suspects were handed over to the armed forces by local village councils. The military said the men were killed in a shoot-out during a search operation in the Maidan area of Dir. The killings came a day after four suicide bombers attacked a military camp in Timergara town. One soldier was killed in the attack. [...] But relatives told the BBC that nearly all the slain suspects had been in detention at the main paramilitary base in Timergara. 'Most of them were school boys. Some got inspired by the Taliban and joined their training camps in Swat but were weaned away by their parents before they could get into real fighting,' Saeed Gul, a local elder and former parliamentarian told the BBC. 'Others were either close relatives of known militants, or had given shelter to militants at some time out of fear or favour.'"

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Torture in custody spreading like cancer in Pakistan: AHRC, Daily Times, 2 July 2010

Related posts:
Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Millions suffer from Taliban abuse: Amnesty report, 10 June 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010
Court to rule on missing Pakistanis, 19 March 2010
High court investigates "disappearances" following 9/11, 22 January 2010

Religious Minorities Face Human Rights Abuses and Attacks: Report

State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2010: Asia and Oceania [pdf], Minority Rights Group International, 1 July 2010

EXCERPT: "In the early part of the year, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, an organization affiliated with the Taliban, agreed to a ceasefire after the government gave the go-ahead for the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) in the NWFP’s Swat Valley. The ceasefire did not last and, in May 2009, the government launched a major military offensive against Taliban positions in Swat. The fighting also spread to Buner, Shangla and Dir districts. Over 2 million people, mostly ethnic Pashtuns, fled the area. Religious minority Sikhs and Christians were also displaced but tended to travel beyond the temporary camps set up in the NWFP [...] There were reports that Pashtun displaced in other provinces were being discriminated against, through excessive demands for security documents based on a presumption that they were Taliban supporters. [...] The Pakistani province of Balochistan, which is home to the Baloch minority as well as to Pashtuns, is currently one of the most explosive parts of the country. [...] Pakistan’s religious minorities continued to face a series of human rights violations and targeted attacks."

Read the full report [pdf] on Asia and Oceania. Pakistan section is on pages 120-123.
Read the full, global report via the Human Security Gateway.

Related articles:
Pakistan sect endures persecution, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2010

Related posts:
Rights groups concerned over govt's deal with Islamists, 17 June 2010
Human Rights Watch seeks repeal of blasphemy law, 4 June 2010
Pakistan fails to protect religious minorities from violence, discrimination: Report, 29 April 2010
Religion, politics and governance in Pakistan, 23 February 2010
2009 Department of State report on religious freedoms in Pakistan, 16 November 2009

Police Struggle to Battle Militants in Pakistan

Police Struggle to Battle Militants in Pakistan, The New York Times, 5 July 2010

EXCERPT: "In Pakistan's heartland of Punjab, the front line force against the surge in Islamic militant attacks is a poorly equipped, incompetent and corrupt police. And that's only part of the problem. Police complain powerful Pakistani intelligence agencies fail to share crucial information, while the province's government remains reluctant to act against influential militant groups. [...] Lahore, the provincial capital and Pakistan's second largest city, is increasingly targeted. Just two years ago it was rarely blighted by bombings. In the last month alone, attacks have killed at least 135 people, including 42 who died last week when two suicide bombers detonated their explosives among thousands visiting the famous shrine of an 11th century Sufi saint. [...] The strength of the police is critical for combating that violence because the government cannot rely on the military to battle militants as it has done in the rugged, northwestern tribal areas. While police have sometimes been commended for extreme bravery in the face of suicide attacks, their reputation is generally poor. Police often extract bribes from citizens, and Transparency International says they are the most corrupt public sector agency in Pakistan. In addition, they are often poorly trained in carrying out investigations and regularly use torture to elicit confessions, Hassan Abbas, a Columbia University professor who previously worked with the Pakistani police, said in a recent report. Even the Punjab police chief admits the force is struggling."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Lahore mosque assault suspects held, Al Jazeera, 5 July 2010
Pakistani police still in dark about Lahore suicide bombings, China View, 4 July 2010
Reprieve aims to expose Pakistan police torture, BBC News, 2 July 2010
Pakistan proposes common police force for SAARC, One India, 26 June 2010

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Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Swat trains community police to keep Taliban away, 24 March 2010
Faulty equipment compromises security efforts, 9 March 2010
Court orders inquiry into past cases of police torture, 5 March 2010
Pakistani police underfunded, overwhelmed, 30 November 2009

Torture Prevalent in Security Forces' Custody: Report

Hegemony of Wilderness Torture Situation in Pakistan [pdf], Asian Human Rights Commission, 25 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Amid the demonstration of the most cruel form of torture by the police, armed forces, the intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces during the last year, from July 2009 to June this year, the government of Pakistan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It is also quite well known in Pakistan that torture prevails both in police and military custody. The primary method by which crimes are investigated is still the use of torture and in almost all police stations torture takes place daily. Dealing with this issue by the development of the police force will now be one of the main obligations of the state. Civil society and human rights organisations must now take greater interest in the attempt to eliminate the use of torture within the policing system. Torture in custody is a very common phenomenon in Pakistan because of the rouged legal system and impotent rule of law."

Read the full report [pdf].
Read the press release.

Related articles:
Pakistan jail head faces charges over missing prisoners, BBC News, 22 June 2010

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Torture risk Halts UK deportation of Qaeda operative, 18 May 2010
Court to rule on missing Pakistanis, 19 March 2010
Court orders inquiry into past cases of police torture, 5 March, 2010
Public dismayed by crisis of governance, 18 January 2010
Pakistan slips five places in Transparency International Corruption Index, 18 November 2009

Pakistan Ranks 10th among "Failed States"

Pakistan Ranks 10th among "Failed States", DAWN, 22 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan was ranked the 10th most failed state in the world, just three places below Afghanistan, in a US survey released on Monday. Somalia tops the 2010 Failed States Index followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad. The index issued by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, a Washington-NGO, ranks India 87th in a list of 177 countries. [...] The report notes that Pakistan has more than once been described as the world’s most dangerous country. Its wild northern reaches remain host to various branches of the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda. More than three million Pakistani civilians were displaced by 'counterinsurgency' operations in 2009 — the largest single movement of people since the Rwandan genocide. [...] The continuing violence in Pakistan’s poorest and most remote regions makes it extremely difficult for food and medical supplies to reach the areas that need it most. Many parts of the country go without electricity and clean water; conditions are notoriously poor in the refugee camps in northern Pakistan. The human rights situation has improved significantly since 2008. The security apparatus indicator has also improved. In Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan local militias exercise significant control over their communities. In the tribal areas, the government’s authority is barely recognized. [...] The indicator for external intervention has worsened since 2008. Pakistan is the second-largest recipient of US foreign aid. The US is also using drone aircraft to attack Taliban and Al Qaeda sites within Pakistan."

Read the full story.
View the full Failed States Index.

Related posts:
Pakistan fifth most unstable country: Global Peace Index, 10 June 2010
Pakistan 10th in 2010 Impunity Index, 22 April 2010
Pakistan among top ten humanitarian disasters: Report, 23 December 2009
Pakistan slips five places in Transparency International Corruption Index, 18 November 2009
Pakistan 159th out of 175 in 2009 Press Freedom Index, 16 November 2009

Court Summons ISI over Disappearances

Pakistan Court Issues "Disappearances" Ruling, BBC News, 17 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the powerful ISI intelligence agency to appear in court to explain what has happened to a missing political leader. Akash Mallah went missing in October 2009 in the city of Hyderabad in the southern province of Sindh. He is believed to be held by the ISI. Pakistan's security agencies routinely detain such suspects for 'anti-state' activities. Most are held without being charged for months and even years. The Supreme Court has already ordered the government to set up a national commission to investigate what has become a major humanitarian crisis. [...] His case is just one of hundreds being heard in the Supreme Court. Most of those arrested belong to nationalist groups in southern Sindh or Balochistan provinces, and some are said to be members of jihadist organisations. Human rights groups maintain that such detentions have been used to intimidate nationalist groups."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
SC summons ISI inspector in missing activist case, The News Internatioanl, 18 June 2010
The valley at the centre of the Kashmir insurgency, BBC News, 10 June 2010

Related posts:
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, June 14 2010
Former ISI major a recurring link in terrorism investigations, 08 June 2010
Former ISI officials accused of training Taliban, 5 March 2010
Civil service need urgent repair, 16 February 2010
Challenges of Pakistan's governance system, 26 October 2009

Rights Groups Concerned over Govt's Deal with Islamists

Coddling Pakistan's Islamists, Foreign Policy // The AfPak Channel, 17 June 2010

EXCERPT: "[...] The JUI-F had threatened to walk out of the weak coalition government unless its demands were promptly met. And what a list of demands. Chief among its priorities was the release of more than 300 JUI-F prisoners picked up from various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for their alleged support or active involvement with the Taliban. [...] The government also agreed to appoint one of Rehman's men to head the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional body that advises parliament and the government on Shari'a law. A conservative JUI-F cleric from Baluchistan, Mohammad Khan Sheerani will chair the body after its current chief, the charismatic, moderate Mohammad Khalid Masood, steps down in the next few days. Pakistan's rights community was quick to criticize the move. [T]he Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was 'seriously concerned that such nominations would strengthen forces of obscurantism and strongly suggests that CII positions should not be given away as a reward for political services of dubious value.' [...] Members of the Women's Action Forum (WAF), a non-governmental organization which has in the past brought public attention to examples of Islamist extremism against women, also expressed 'serious reservations' over the expected appointment of the JUI-F cleric, claiming that his membership in a political party disqualified him from what is considered a non-political scholarly post. Mullahs and ministers don't mix, the NGO said in statements published in the Pakistani press, highlighting the historic example of former leader General Zia al-Haq, who Islamized Pakistani society back in the 1980s at the expense of women and minorities."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
MMA can't be revived until JUI-F quits govt: Siraj, Daily Times, 17 June 2010
Rehman Malik wins back JUI-F's support, The Express Tribune, 8 June 2010
HRCP alarmed over likely choice to head CII, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 14 June 2010

Related posts:
Govt to free 300 "terror associates" to save coalition, 14 June 2010
Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami, 2 June 2010
Pakistan fails to protect religious minorities from violence, discrimination: Report, 29 April 2010
Religion, politics and governance in Pakistan, 23 February 2010
Pakistan likely to become more Islamist, anti-US: Report, 12 January 2010

Millions Suffer from Taliban Abuse: Amnesty Report

Amnesty: Tribal Pakistan Is a 'Rights-Free Zone', BBC News, 10 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Millions of Pakistanis live in a 'human rights-free zone' in the country's north-west, Amnesty International says. Residents of tribal areas face Taliban abuse and get no protection from the government, the rights group alleges. In a report, it says the Taliban secured their rule by killing elders and torturing teachers and aid workers. A Pakistani foreign office spokesman rejected Amnesty's findings, saying his government was 'fully committed' to improving human rights in tribal areas. 'We are not denying that there are problems there,' spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters in Islamabad, but he said the government was 'sparing no effort' to ensure people's rights were protected. The 130-page Amnesty report, As if Hell Fell on Me, was based on nearly 300 interviews with residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the surrounding areas. It says more than a million people have been displaced by fighting between the Pakistani military and the Taliban in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. The report also says available information suggests that at least 1,300 people were killed in the conflict during 2009."

Read the full story.
Read the full report.

Related articles:
Caught in the cross-fire, Al Jazeera, 10 June 2010
4 million living under Taliban rule in Pakistan: Amnesty, AFP, 10 June 2010
Taliban and soldiers abusing millions in Pakistan, says Amnesty International, The Guardian, 10 June 2010
Pakistan disputes Amnesty report on Taliban strength, VOA News, 10 June 2010

Related posts:
Human rights violations prevalent in 2009: Amnesty report, 27 May 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010
Military undermines government on human rights, 21 January 2010