Rehman Malik Relied on Punjab Police Report on Bhutto Murder Briefing Sindh Assembly

NADEEM MALIK

It seems as though not much has been achieved in the Benazir Bhutto murder case as Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday not only admitted that planners of the murder are still at large, but also insisted that more time is required to collect further evidence.
Malik shared this and other details of the investigation of the former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party chairperson’s murder case while briefing the Sindh Assembly session. He blamed Baitullah Mehsud, the Haqqani network and the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for planning the murder and said 27 terrorist groups helped in executing the plan. (Dawn)

Reported News Details of the CID Reports
The United Nations Inquiry Commission, headed by Heraldo Munoz, was informed by the CID officials of Punjab Police during the course of its investigations that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had been masterminded by the slain Ameer of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Commander Baitullah Mehsud and the bomber, who exploded himself outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, was one Saeed alias Bilal, a resident of South Waziristan Agency.
According to official documents provided to the UN Inquiry Commission by the CID Punjab, a group of 12 militants was actually dispatched to the garrison town of Rawalpindi, a day prior to Benazir Bhutto’s December 27, 2007 election rally, to physically eliminate the PPP leader, who was touring Punjab in connection with her party’s election campaign. The FIR of the Benazir Bhutto murder case was registered by the Rawalpindi police under sections 302/324,435,436,120-B/4/5ESA,7/ATA while investigations were carried out by the Additional Inspector General CID Punjab Chaudhry Abdul Majeed.
According to the CID documents, four of the 12 militants tasked to kill Benazir Bhutto belonged to Madrassa Haqqania in Akora Khattak near Peshawar, which is also referred to as Darul Uloom Haqqania. The Madrassa is being run by Maulana Samiul Haq, the pro-Taliban Ameer of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Three of the 12 TTP militants have been shown in the CID documents as already killed, including the suicide bomber. Of the remaining nine accused, five have already been arrested by police while the remaining four are still at large.
Additional Inspector General of the CID Punjab, Malik Mohammad Iqbal, when asked if the Punjab CID still owns its findings into the Benazir Bhutto murder case, said the assassination inquiry was actually conducted by a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which was headed by the then additional DIG CID and representatives of the Rawalpindi police.
He said it was a joint probe on the basis of which the challan of Benazir Bhutto murder case had been submitted with a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court, which still holds ground and the trial of the arrested accused is still on.
The three accused shown as already dead include the human bomb Saeed alias Bilal (r/o Waziristan), Nadir alias Qari Ismail (r/o Madrassa Haqqania, Akora Khattak) and Nasrullah r/o Madrassa Haqqania, Akora Khattak). Four other accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder, who are still at large and have already been declared proclaimed offenders include Ikramullah r/o South Waziristan, Abdullah alias Saddam r/o Mohmand Agency, Faiz alias Kiskit, an ex-student of Madrassa Haqqania, Akora Khattak and Abdur Rehman alias Noman alias Usman, an ex-student of Madrassa Haqqania.
The remaining five accused already in the custody of the Rawalpindi police and being tried for the Benazir Bhutto murder include Rafaqat, Hasnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Rasheed Ali and Aitzaz Shah.
According to the findings of the CID, Baitullah Mehsud had given Rs 400,000 to one Qari Ismail, who subsequently dispatched a group of suicide bombers and shooters to Rawalpindi to kill Benazir Bhutto.
The UN Commission was told by some senior CID officials that the TTP militants had planned to target Benazir Bhutto in different cities, wherever she was going in connection with her campaign, until she was finally killed.
According to the CID narrative, 15-year-old Aitzaz Shah from the Mansehra district of the NWFP, and his co-accomplice Sher Zaman, reportedly trained at Miramshah, were the first ones to be arrested after the Benazir Bhutto murder from Dera Ismail Khan by a joint investigation team of the Punjab police, headed by Chaudhry Abdul Majeed. Two more suspects, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat, were later arrested from Rawalpindi. Rasheed Ali was the last one to be nabbed but Aitzaz was the first one to have furnished some vital information to his interrogators pertaining to the Benazir murder.
As the police obtained physical remand of the arrested accused and broadened the scope of investigations, it was learnt that Aitzaz Shah had actually obtained Jihadi training from a well known Deobandi religious school in Karachi — Jamia Binoria, also referred to as Jamia Islamia and known for its pro-Taliban leanings. As per the CID report, after being brainwashed and trained to kill, Aitzaz was sent to South Waziristan from where he had travelled to Darul Uloom Haqqania Madrassa in Akora Khattak. Afterwards, Aitzaz was taken to a Jihadi training centre in Akora Khattak – Wali Mohammad Markaz and tasked with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
According to the CID findings, Baitullah had provided Rs 50,000, a suicide jacket and other necessary items to someone else, but he could not attack Benazir Bhutto. After his suicide bombers’ failure to hunt down the PPP chairperson in Karachi, Peshawar and other places, Baitullah Mehsud had assigned Qari Ismail of Akora Khattak and given him Rs 400,000 to execute the Benazir assassination plan. After reaching the Rawalpindi bus stand on December 26, the assailants had stayed at a Quaid-i-Azam colony house. In the evening, they visited the Liaquat Bagh site in a taxi and decided after surveying the area to hit their target from different directions during or after the public meeting.
As per the assassination plan, Saeed alias Bilal was to carry out the suicide attack in case he failed to shoot down Benazir while Ikramullah was to detonate himself if Saeed failed. Both Saeed and Ikramullah were provided logistics by Hasnain Gul, including an explosive-laden suicide jacket, a pistol and an optical device.
The assailants had reached the Committee Chowk in a taxi and later gone to the Liaquat Bagh via Iqbal Road and College Road. An unarmed militant went inside the Liaquat Bagh to give his accomplices updates about the movement of Benazir Bhutto, especially about her arrival and departure from the venue of the rally. As per the CID claims, the assailants had first attempted to enter the Liaquat Bagh to carry out a suicide attack close to the stage, but they had failed in their designs, chiefly due to foolproof security arrangements.
The UN Commission was further informed that several suicide bombers and sharp shooters were waiting for the PPP leader at the crime scene outside the Liaquat Bagh after their failure to enter the venue. Going by the CID account, the assailants had started chasing Benazir Bhutto as soon as she came out of the Liaquat Bagh and it was none other than the fearless PPP chairperson, who actually provided them with a golden opportunity to target her, when she decided to come out of her bullet proof vehicle Toyota Land Cruiser from its sunroof to wave to her cheerful supporters. That was the time gunshots were fired, aiming at Benazir Bhutto. As Saeed alias Bilal failed to hit Benazir Bhutto, he blew himself up, killing the PPP leader and 23 others, mostly on the spot. However, the Dopatta, which Benazir Bhutto was wearing at the time of the blast, could not be traced despite frantic efforts by the investigators.
Narrating the motivation of the crime, the CID findings say the accused had said during interrogations that they were annoyed over the pro-West approach of Benazir Bhutto who had returned to Pakistan at the behest of some foreign powers and, therefore, they feared a strong government action against the militants if she was allowed to come to power after the elections.
However, the fact remains that much before coming to power after the 2008 general elections; the PPP leadership had rejected the confession made by Aitzaz Shah and his other accomplices about their involvement in the Benazir Bhutto murder.
The then PPP spokesman and now presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar had described Aitzaz’s confession a cock and bull story intended to reduce pressure on the Musharraf regime, saying the arrested youth, who has already been declared a juvenile by the court, had been made to narrate exactly the kind of things the Pakistani authorities wanted to hear, backing up their earlier conclusions reached within hours of the Benazir Bhutto killing.
The trial of the five accused in Benazir Bhutto murder case was deferred on August 22, 2009 by the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court following a federal government request to transfer the case to the Federal Investigation Agency so as to enable it to arrive at a definitive conclusion. Subsequently, on August 25, 2009, the federal government had formed a high-level team to re-investigate the Benazir murder.
The Special Investigation Group of the FIA was assigned the task to fix criminal liability on the assassins and planners of the gun-and-bomb attack on Benazir Bhutto. It was announced that the SIG’s investigation would be parallel to the probe being carried out by the United Nations Inquiry Commission.
“The main reason for the fresh probe is that the inquiry report to be prepared by the UN Commission can’t be presented before any court of law as desired by the UN. The government requires a separate investigation report for a proper trial against the criminals in the court”, a senior FIA official had said on August 25 in Rawalpindi, adding that the United Nations report would have no legal standing and it could not be used for prosecution.
When this correspondent tried to take version of Jamia Binoria, Karachi, no responsible person was found. However, the person present there termed the Punjab police-CID report malicious and baseless. Expressing similar sentiments, a person in Madrassa Haqqania, Akora Khattak, said this report is part of the campaign to discredit religious schools.

Islamabad Tonight – 27th December 2011 Senator Dr. Safdar Ali Abbasi PPP and Naheed Khan PPP in fresh episode of Islamabad Tonight

Islamabad Tonight – 4th November 2010 :5 Ws of Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination 5 Ws of Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination – such as Who, What, Why, Where, How, When Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi in Islamabad Tonight with Nadeem Malik

UN report on Bhutto murder finds Pakistani officials ‘failed profoundly’

15 April 2010
Security arrangements by Pakistan’s federal and local authorities to protect assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto were “fatally insufficient and ineffective” and subsequent investigations into her death were prejudiced and involved a whitewash, an independent United Nations inquiry reported today.The UN Commission of Inquiry, appointed last year by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the request of the Pakistani Government, reached no conclusion as to the organizers and sponsors behind the attack in which a 15-year-old suicide bomber blew up Ms. Bhutto’s vehicle in the city of Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007.

But it found that the Government was quick to blame local Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and Al-Qaida although Ms. Bhutto’s foes potentially included elements from the establishment itself.

“A range of Government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Ms. Bhutto and second to investigate with vigour all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack, but also in its conception, planning and financing,” the Commission said.

“Responsibility for Ms. Bhutto’s security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal Government, the Government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi District Police. None of these entities took necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary, fresh and urgent security risks that they knew she faced.”

General Pervez Musharraf was president at the time of the suicide bombing in Rawalpindi. The report said the then federal Government lacked a comprehensive security plan, relying instead on provincial authorities, but then failed to issue to them the necessary instructions.

“Particularly inexcusable was the Government’s failure to direct provincial authorities to provide Ms. Bhutto the same stringent and specific security measures it ordered on 22 October 2007 for two other former prime ministers who belonged to the main political party supporting General Musharraf,” it stated.

“This discriminatory treatment is profoundly troubling given the devastating attempt on her life only three days earlier and the specific threats against her which were being tracked by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence agency),” it added, stressing that her assassination could have been prevented if the Rawalpindi District Police had taken adequate security measures.

Turning to the immediate aftermath of the attack, the Commission found that police actions and omissions, including the hosing down of the crime scene and failure to collect and preserve evidence, inflicted irreparable damage to the investigation.

“The collection of 23 pieces of evidence was manifestly inadequate in a case that should have resulted in thousands,” it said. “The one instance in which the authorities reviewed these actions, the Punjab (provincial) committee of inquiry into the hosing down of the crime scene was a whitewash. Hosing down the crime scene so soon after the blast goes beyond mere incompetence; it is up to the relevant authorities to determine whether this amounts to criminal responsibility.”

It also found that City Police Officer Saud Aziz impeded investigators from conducting on-site investigations until two full days after the assassination and that the Government’s assertions that Mr. Mehsud and Al-Qaida were responsible were made well before any proper investigation had started, pre-empting, prejudicing and hindering the subsequent investigation.

“Ms. Bhutto faced serious threats in Pakistan from a number of sources,” the Commission said. “These included Al-Qaida, the Taliban and local jihadi groups, and potentially from elements in the Pakistani establishment. Notwithstanding these threats, the investigation into her assassination focused on pursuing lower-level operatives allegedly linked to Baitullah Mehsud.”

It stressed that investigators dismissed the possibility of involvement by elements of the Pakistani establishment, including the three persons identified by Ms. Bhutto as threats to her in her 16 October 2007 letter to General Musharraf. It also noted that investigations were severely hampered by intelligence agencies and other Government officials, which impeded an unfettered search for the truth.

“The Commission believes that the failures of the police and other officials to react effectively to Ms. Bhutto’s assassination were, in most cases, deliberate,” it declared.

The three-member panel, which was headed by Chilean Ambassador to UN Heraldo Muñoz and included Marzuki Darusman, former attorney-general of Indonesia, and Peter Fitzgerald, a veteran official of the Irish National Police, urged the Government to undertake police reform in view of its “deeply flawed performance and conduct.”

It also recommended the establishment of a fully independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate political killings, disappearances and terrorism in Pakistan in recent years in view of the backdrop of a history of political violence carried out with impunity.

Ms. Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is the current Pakistani President.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban commended the commissioners and their staff for completing their challenging nine-and-a-half month-long task “expeditiously and in a professional manner.”

In a later news conference today, Mr. Muñoz stressed that the Commission interviewed more than 250 interviews with Pakistanis and others both inside and outside Pakistan, reviewed hundreds of documents, videos, photographs and other documentary material provided by federal and provincial authorities in Pakistan and others.

In the report, the Commission said it was “by the efforts of certain high-ranking Pakistani Government authorities to obstruct access to military and intelligence sources” but during an extension of its mandate until 31 March it was able eventually to meet with some past and present members of the Pakistani military and intelligence services.

Press Release

8 February 2008

BEGINS

SCOTLAND YARD REPORT INTO ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO RELEASED

The findings of a Scotland Yard inquiry into how Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died after being attacked during a political rally in Rawalpindi were presented to the Government of Pakistan today.

The conclusions of the inquiry were outlined in a detailed report handed over to interim Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz by Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne, accompanied by a senior official from the British High Commission, during a meeting in Islamabad.

The text of the executive summary of the report is as follows:

On the 27th December 2007, Mohtarma Benazir BHUTTO, the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), died as a result of being attacked in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Following discussions between the Prime Minister and President Musharraf, it was agreed that officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) should support the investigation into Ms Bhutto’s death. The primary focus of the Scotland Yard team was to assist the Pakistani authorities in establishing the cause and circumstances of Ms Bhutto’s death. The wider investigation to establish culpability has remained entirely a matter for the Pakistani authorities.

The SO15 team was led by a Detective Superintendent Senior Investigating Officer, and comprised two forensic experts, an expert in analysing and assessing video media and an experienced investigating officer. The team arrived in Pakistan on 4th January 2008 and spent two and a half weeks conducting extensive enquiries. During the course of their work, the team were joined by other specialists from the United Kingdom.

The UK team were given extensive support and co-operation by the Pakistani authorities, Ms Bhutto’s family, and senior officials from Ms Bhutto’s party.

The task of establishing exactly what happened was complicated by the lack of an extended and detailed search of the crime scene, the absence of an autopsy, and the absence of recognised body recovery and victim identification processes. Nevertheless, the evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn.

Within the overall objective, a particular focus has been placed on establishing the actual cause of death, and whether there were one or more attackers in the immediate vicinity of Ms Bhutto.

The cause of death

Considerable reliance has been placed upon the X-rays taken at Rawalpindi General Hospital following Ms Bhutto’s death. Given their importance, the x-rays have been independently verified as being of Ms Bhutto by comparison with her dental x-rays. Additionally, a valuable insight was gained from the accounts given by the medical staff involved in her treatment, and from those members of Ms Bhutto’s family who washed her body before burial.

Ms Bhutto’s only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head. The UK experts all exclude this injury being an entry or exit wound as a result of gunshot. The only X-ray records, taken after her death, were of Ms Bhutto’s head. However, the possibility of a bullet wound to her mid or lower trunk can reasonably be excluded. This is based upon the protection afforded by the armoured vehicle in which she was travelling at the time of the attack, and the accounts of her family and hospital staff who examined her.

The limited X-ray material, the absence of a full post mortem examination and CT scan, have meant that the UK Home Office pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary, who has been consulted in this case, is unable categorically to exclude the possibility of there being a gunshot wound to the upper trunk or neck. However when his findings are put alongside the accounts of those who had close contact with Ms Bhutto’s body, the available evidence suggests that there was no gunshot injury. Importantly, Dr Cary excludes the possibility of a bullet to the neck or upper trunk as being a relevant factor in the actual cause of death, when set against the nature and extent of her head injury.

In his report Dr Cary states:

• “the only tenable cause for the rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effects of the bomb-blast.”
• “in my opinion Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb-blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle.”

Given the severity of the injury to Ms Bhutto’s head, the prospect that she inadvertently hit her head whilst ducking down into the vehicle can be excluded as a reasonable possibility.

High explosives of the type typically used in this sort of device, detonate at a velocity between 6000 and 9000 metres per second. This means that when considering the explosive quantities and distances involved, such an explosion would generate significantly more force than would be necessary to provoke the consequences as occurred in this case.

It is also important to comment upon the construction of the vehicle. It was fitted with B6 grade armour and designed to withstand gunfire and bomb-blast. It is an unfortunate and misleading aspect of this case that the roof escape hatch has frequently been referred to as a sunroof. It is not. It is designed and intended to be used solely as a means of escape. It has a solid lip with a depth of 9cm.

Ms Bhutto’s injury is entirely consistent with her head impacting upon the lip of the escape hatch. Detailed analysis of the media footage provides supporting evidence. Ms Bhutto’s head did not completely disappear from view until 0.6 seconds before the blast. She can be seen moving forward and to the right as she ducked down into the vehicle. Whilst her exact head position at the time of the detonation can never be ascertained, the overwhelming conclusion must be that she did not succeed in getting her head entirely below the lip of the escape hatch when the explosion occurred.

How many people were involved in the immediate attack?

There has been speculation that two individuals were directly involved in the attack. The suggestion has been that one suspect fired shots, and a second detonated the bomb. All the available evidence points toward the person who fired shots and the person who detonated the explosives being one and the same person.

• Body parts from only one individual remain unidentified. Expert opinion provides strong evidence that they originate from the suicide bomber.
• Analysis of the media footage places the gunman at the rear of the vehicle and looking down immediately before the explosion. The footage does not show the presence of any other potential bomber.
• This footage when considered alongside the findings of the forensic explosive expert, that the bombing suspect was within 1 to 2 metres of the vehicle towards it rear and with no person or other obstruction between him and the vehicle, strongly suggests that the bomber and gunman were at the same position. It is virtually inconceivable that anyone who was where the gunman can clearly be seen on the media footage, could have survived the blast and escaped.

The inevitable conclusion is that there was one attacker in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle in which Ms Bhutto was travelling.

In essence, all the evidence indicates that one suspect has fired the shots before detonating an improvised explosive device. At the time of the attack this person was standing close to the rear of Ms Bhutto’s vehicle. The blast caused a violent collision between her head and the escape hatch area of the vehicle, causing a severe and fatal head injury.

John MacBrayne QPM

Detective Superintendent

Counter Terrorism Command

1st February 2008

Filed under: CURRENT AFFAIRS

Until the Arab spring movement and its legion of revolutionaries came to clash with President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, demanding an end to decades of autocracy and repression, the Americans considered Yemen’s autocrat a “bulwark” against terrorism, a strategic ally in the region in the fight against al-Qaeda, the well-known Islamic organization.
When it became clear that Yemenis were determined to depose the aging dictator, no matter the amount of blood his armed forces were willing to shed, the White House started to shift its rhetoric, calling for reforms and a transition to more “democratic institutions.”

The “beautiful friendship” which united the 2 countries started to melt away at the pyre of people’s anger, threatening to damage America’s foothold in the region.
Although many democracy militants have accused the United States of America of siding with dictators for it served their middle-eastern policies, accusing them of protecting and in the case of President Saleh harboring war criminals; one could wonder whether America is not playing a much sinister game of plots and betrayals.
One does not need to go back to far up in the history book to remember another well-known autocrat whose friendship was discarded when he failed to fulfill his purpose. Mohamed Reza Shah of Iran was abandoned by his “American friends” and almost sold back to the Ayatollahs when he failed to live up to the White House foreign policies’ expectations.
Could the Obama’s administration turn against Saleh and hand him over to those who are clamoring for his arrest? Could Yemen’s infamous statesman become the new Shah of Iran in his desperate search for political asylum?
One cannot draw away from the remarkable symmetry in between the two deposed leaders. One ran away for his allegiance to the West angered his people so that he feared they would execute him, another was forced to relinquish the power America’s helped him to master for 3 decades. Both turned to the United States and were denied entry, both insisted, both were eventually allowed.
One was betrayed, one is awaiting his fate.

Mohamed Reza Shah of Iran

The very countries which are claiming to be promoting Democracy and Freedom across the Globe, saying that they will always side with those who seek to emulate western standards, are the very ones who crushed the little hope Iran had at becoming a successful democratic state.
Because Iran’s emancipation stood in the way of their economic interests, the United States and Britain decided to assert the Shah’s absolute power over his people.
When Mohamed Mosadeqq, the founder and leader of the National Front of Iran was elected Prime Minister by the Parliament, he immediately announced the nationalization of Iran Oil industry, shutting out the immensely lucrative Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which at the time was one of Britain main economic pillars.
The British then convinced the Americans of the need to overthrow Mosadeqq and re-establish the Shah of Iran as the only authority in the country, arguing that the move would serve both nations interest in the region.
Iran strategic geo-political position and its vast Oil reserves represented too much of an asset for western hegemony to let something such as democracy get in the way.

After a “coup d’état” known as the “operation Ajax” failed, the Shah was pressured into issuing a decree stating Mosadeqq’s demotion. Subsequently the Shah fled to Iraq, then Italy for he feared for his life. He later came back under the protection of his allies.
2 decades later, the Shah was ousted by his people as his attempts to westernize and secularize Iran had anger the people and the political class to such an extent that they sought his execution.
In exile and ill with cancer the monarch turned to the United States of America for safety only to be denied asylum. After he insisted for he said he needed urgent medical treatment, the Pentagon agreed to allow him in for a limited period of time. It turned out that the visit of the Royal coincided with an attack against the American Embassy in Tehran and the kidnapping of some 400 American nationals.
Caught in the middle of much controversy, shun away by his former friends, a terminally ill Shah sought refuge in Latin America to finally come to die in Egypt where he is buried.

Ali Abdullah Saleh

In the wake of the attack on American soil by al-Qaeda in 2001, President Saleh realized that if he had any chance of surviving the military wave which was threatening to come his way he had to quickly seal an alliance with the Western giant.
The Yemeni-American fight against terrorism was born.
And if Saleh manipulated his new “friends” by playing up their fear in exchange for financial support the alliance cost him dearly on the political front.
As Drones attacks became more frequent and civilian casualties mounted, Yemenis started to speak of treason, accusing the autocrat of allowing foreign forces to enter Yemen air space in exchange for cash.
The seeds of revolt were planted.

And although it took Yemen nearly 2 decades to finally mobilize the needed momentum to rise up against the state apparatus, Saleh’s opponents proved impossible to stop.
Having witnessed first-hand the power of the people in Egypt, the White House decided to operate differently in Yemen, preferring to prepare the autocrat’s exit according to a specific set of terms rather than let the mob overtake the presidential palace and potentially ruin any hope of further cooperation on the al-Qaeda front.

But if Saleh successfully secured his political and financial safety as well as that of his extended family, his troubles might not be over yet.
Just as Yemen is preparing to welcome a new president, Saleh who was victim of a bomb attack in 2011 at the very heart of his presidential compound has since been suffering from ill-health, requiring extensive medical attention.
As the Shah did before him, Saleh asked to be allowed to travel to the United States to undergo some much needed medical treatment, only to be refused. Following weeks of intense negotiations and much political controversy, the White House finally agreed to allow Saleh in, providing that his visit be brief and strictly confined to the hospital.

And as the Shah before him, his countrymen are already gathering, demanding that he’d be deported to the International Criminal Court of Justice for crimes against humanity and his assets frozen for having pillage Yemen’s riches.
Only weeks after Yemen’s parliament granted him immunity, Saleh runs the risk, like the Shah did, of being sold out to his opponents for he no longer serves his purpose and has become somewhat of a liability. And since United Nations, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon declared that no immunity would stand in a court of law when it came to war crimes and gross violations to human rights, the White House could in all good conscience leave the autocrat to suffer the fate he deserves.

I. A. Rehman, Director HRCP:

National Dialogue on Challenges to Democracy and Role of Civil Society in Pakistan

Joint Declaration: Any attempts to dislodge parliament will be resisted

LAHORE, January 23, 2012: Civil society representative  and concerned  citizens (Intellectuals, legal activists, journalists, women, students trade union activists, religious minorities and academia) of Pakistan from all over the country shared their deep concerns over the current political situation and crises, while talking at a national consultation held in Human rights Commission of Pakistan’s office in Dorab  Patel  Auditorium, Lahore today. The meeting was organized by the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, to  discuss and analyze the current political situation and challenges to democracy, democratic institutions and system. The panelists were Mr. I.A. Rehman, Secretary General, HRCP, Ms Hina Jillani, advocate, Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Director Shirkat Gah, Mr. Mohammad Tahseen, Executive Director South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, Prof. Sarfraz Khan, KPK, Mr. Jami Chandio, Sindh, Mr. Kaisar Bengali, Former Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh.

Resolution passed unanimously:

We, the representatives of the Civil Society including non-governmental organizations, labour organizations, academia, women’s rights bodies, and media persons from all over the country (including FATA and Gilgit Baltistan) express deep concern over the current political situation in the country where a crisis is being manufactured on irrelevant grounds ostensibly to subvert the Parliament and to destabilize the democratic dispensation. We unanimously resolve to resist all such attempts through mobilizing citizens of Pakistan.

We AFFIRM our conviction that the principle of parliament being the supreme authority in the land is inviolable and it must not be compromised under any circumstances. At the same time we emphasize that the right of accountability of democratic institutions vests with the people of Pakistan, who shall assert this right in the most effective democratic manner whenever the need so arises.

We REAFFIRM our adherence to the principles of independence of judiciary from the executive but also from individual and institutional biases. We also note with concern that judicial processes are being deliberately used for undermining the role of the parliament as the arbiter of national security and sovereignty. This trend must be strongly discouraged and the courts should not fee compelled to over stretch their domain at the cost of judicial credibility. We EMPASIZE that various institutions of the state must function within their defined constitutional parameters and complement each other rather than work at cross-purposes, to the determent of public interest.

We assert that Sovereignty belongs to the people who have agreed to exercise it through their representatives in a federal, parliamentary, and a democratic system. Any attempt at arbitrarily altering this arrangement is tantamount to an attack on the sovereignty of the people.

We DEMAND from elected parliament and its other institutions to attend to people’s basic needs and give priority to people’s political, social and economic rights as guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan.

We APPEAL to the people of Pakistan to stand united and firm in support of democracy and to resist all attempts aimed at its subversion. The people of Pakistan have made great many sacrifices for the cause of democracy and they should not let any vested interests trample their right to have a democratic and an elected representative system run the country.

We agree to form a national platform for the protection and promotion of democracy and the rights of the people of Pakistan. We PLEDGE to mobilize civil society organizations for this purpose. We will continue to engage with people and all other like-minded political forces in the country, who believe in sovereignty of people and elected parliament. We will hold provincial conventions by mid-February and mobilized for simultaneous public actions for achieving these objectives. We agree to hold a week of action for saving democracy throughout the country and will mobilize citizens to articulate their resolve for democracy and rights of the people.

(ends)

Part one

Armageddon, two years on….

Men searching for survivors among dead bodies

Haiti’s conventional image rarely extends beyond succinct summations of a corrupt, dangerous, impoverished and unstable place plagued by a litany of tragedies: man-made and nature-engineered. Perhaps then, it should surprise no one that the tarnished image prevailed, even two years after the cataclysmic devastation.

The reconfigured political landscape some observers characterized as very precarious and fragile in 2009 was completely decapitated on Jan. 12, 2010 when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake cratered the country. Robert Perito, director of Haiti Working Group (HWG), conceptualized Haitians’ cyclical psychological shock to the Columbia Journalism Review (CRJ) a year ago. “Just when we thought things were going well and we’d turn the corner and everything looked good,” he said, “This comes out of nowhere.” Since its 2006 inception, HWG– a program of the United States Institute for Peace—began monitoring Washington’s policy-making on Haiti and encouraging public discussions in its development and U.S.-Haitian relations.

Although Perito’s statement might surprise many Haitians whose frame of reference amounted to abysmal failures from their government, it was not misplaced. In fact, many reports from several economists, studies and political analysts canvassed a soaring sense of optimism that was uncharacteristic of Haiti’s recent history. In “Haiti: From Natural Catastrophe to Economic Security,” a 2009 report economist Paul collier prepared for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, he noted that in spite of its lengthy history of socio-economic fragility, Haiti had “far more fundamentals that the fragile states with which it was conventionally grouped.” Affirming Collier’s findings, the Center for American Progress argued in “Haiti’s Changing Tides,” comparing to the past several decades, the battered country was “experiencing one of the best combinations of open political space and physical security.”

Crumbled Haitian Palace Source: The Atlantic

The flow of optimism did not stop there though; Haiti’s leap in its estimated Gross Domestic Product from 0.8 percent in 2008 to 2.9 percent in 2009 reinforced economists’ perceptions about its potential economic emergence. Furthermore, economist Tyler Cowen’s “The Haitian Renaissance of 2010,” posted on his blog Marginal Revolution moments before the earthquake, perceived the macroeconomic data as the writing on the wall: the beginning of the end for Haiti’s downward spiral. While many skeptics disagreed, arguing the data analyzed was insufficient to make broad generalizations, experts agreed on one thing; the earthquake dispelled all theories. “The state has been completely emasculated,” said Haiti native Robert Fatton Jr. who teaches politics at the University of Virginia. “If you look at what happened with the earthquake, there’s nothing; there’s no state,” statement corroborated in excruciating details by countless survivor accounts, including renown Journalist Erilande Sully’s who worked for Le Matin, a Haitian weekly and the country’s second oldest newspaper at the time.

Armageddon’s torturous legacy….

On Jan. 12, 2012, agonizing testimonies of the dreadful day blanketed Haiti like minacious dark clouds, flooding the nation’s consciousness with overwhelming grief, including Sully’s agony captured during an interview he granted to the Foreign Policy Association (FPA).

Shoeless, Sully and his colleagues laughed outside about their building rocking from side to side, something they neither experienced before nor understood. Only a few seconds earlier, he sat in his office, took his shoes off and put his feet on his desk, in search of inspiration for his next assignment. Suddenly, leaping out of his chair, “It sounded like a tank of war was trying to run over our building,” said Sully, “Like a big tank was shooting on our building, so– without hesitating– I ran,” admitting to never thinking about his shoes. Once outside their dancing building that withstood the earthquake, they joked about Sully’s bare feet and quickness, unaware of the massive devastation taken place within that short period.

However, for survivor Pierre Chery interviewed on the eve of the second anniversary of the earthquake, it was no laughing matter. “Thirty-five seconds was enough to turn everything upside down,” he said, reflecting on his struggle for survival. “Seconds have never been so long,” he added during an interview with Le Matin. Even two years after Armageddon, “Goudou-Goudou,” as Haitians referred to the killer-quake, hunted its countless victims, especially Raphaela whose permanent scars painted a scenario of despair and grace. “I was pulled from under the rubble three days later,” she recounted. “And at some point, I lost all hope of survival; it was a painful moment.” To her, the eventual rescue was a miracle. “Today,” she said, “I consider my life as a divine gift.”

Moments later, it dawned on Sully and company; the laughter dissipated. Port-au-Prince, virtually a war zone, was reeling six feet under, so they scrambled around trying to reach family members, recalled Sully. “When we saw the destruction that was all around us, we realized it was something serious and it shocked me,” he said. The only terms he felt would describe what he witnessed were complete chaos and disaster of catastrophic proportions.

“Petionville was turned upside down. People were running in all directions, as if the people were not themselves,” he said, hesitating. “Like they’ve all gone crazy.” He saw people emerging from thick fogs of dust, completely disfigured. “Some people crawled out of collapse buildings covered in blood, while others desperately tried to remove people from under the rubble,” added Sully. “You realized that it was as if the end of the world was upon us.”

By then, the journalist could not locate any of his colleagues also scattered in the cloud of confusion, trauma, and helplessness, as he described the chaotic scenes. “No one was in control of the people and there were no functioning media to communicate with them,” said sully, moving his hands up, down, up again and in all directions to paint the vivid imagery. The radio, a primary communication medium for the Haitian population, nearly 50 percent of which is illiterate, was muted, as many stations caved to the earthquake’s molestation. “There was no cell phone, so you could not reach your people,” he added, slowly shaking his head.

Rescuers save a frightened little boy

On a parallel plane, amputee Dithna struggled to fight back her tears, as—through her eyes—journalists relived her ordeals. She was sitting on her porch when Goudou-Goudou’s deafening noise caught her by surprise. “The house began to shake with me,” she said. “Even before I had time to save myself, the house collapsed.” After spending two days under the rubble, the worse was yet to come for Dithna. “My neighbors, in order to save me, were forced to cut my leg that was trapped under chunks of concrete,” she added, sobbing. For her part, Marie Marthe admitted losing everything to Goudou-Goudou’s fury. “I’m totally dependent on others,” she exclaimed in a tone reporters described as somber and hopeless. However, it is the memories of her son who perished in the earthquake that made this second anniversary most unbearable for the 67-year-old survivor. “That was an unprecedented event; the experience was painful,” said Marthe. “Something that no one should have to relive.”

Sully agreed: reliving Jan. 12, 2010 would be disastrous, especially since 2-year-old memories manifestly haunted him even today. Those sporadic decrescendos racing up from Vallee de Bourdon to greet him on his way home, and then went silent, followed the reporter everyday since. “You just knew what they were,” he asserted. “To hear the cries of people trapped under the rubble and while you’re walking over the valley, you hear them and then they stop.” It became evident the journalist could not escape the dying voices, as he subconsciously covered his hears while retracing the event. “That moved me to tears”, he continued. “I’m listening to people crying; I’m hearing them screaming, but you can’t do anything for them nor can they help themselves.”

Those unpleasant echoes transcended him and affected him immensely since he could not reach out to help his dying brethren, he explained. Nevertheless, Sully hoped the monstrous human sacrifice was not meaningless. In addition to the current administration declaring 2012 the year for reconstruction, he found solace in this declaration made by Right to Housing Collective during its peaceful march on the earthquake’s second anniversary.

“Remember, you are marching today for those who couldn’t be here. To say to them, we haven’t forgotten; we’ll never forget. And to those that are still here, we will take a stand for the rebuilding of Haiti.”

The world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement
with China for cooperation in the development and use of atomic energy
for peaceful purposes, which will help to meet the Kingdom's increasing
demand for energy and cut its growing dependence on depleting oil
resources.

 

The deal was signed in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday in the
presence of King Abdullah and visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen
Jiabao.

The agreement seeks to establish a legal
framework to strengthen scientific, technological and economic
cooperation between Riyadh and Beijing,
while the two sides
reaffirmed their desire to place the highest priority on nuclear safety
and environmental protection, the Arab News reported quoting officials.

Another agreement to expand cooperation in the
field of academics and library affairs was signed by the Riyadh-based
King Abdulaziz Public Library (KAPL) and Beijing University
.
The pact will broaden the scope of cooperation between the two premier
institutions and allow KAPL to open its branch in the Chinese capital.

Asked about details of the talks Wen had with King Abdullah, Chinese
Embassy spokesman Li Lianghua said the talks with the monarch was
preceded by Wen's meetings with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani and Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The talks with
King Abdullah covered the whole gamut of bilateral issues and regional
development, said another Chinese official.

He said the two countries pledged to work together to promote political
and commercial relations as well as boost links in energy, trade,
infrastructure, culture, press and security fields.

"China has also welcomed a move to organize a
high-profile symposium in Beijing in mid-2012 to discuss relations
between China and the Muslim world with special reference to Beijing's
relations with Muslims in the past and the future perspectives of
Islamic-Sino ties," he added.

The pledge for a closer partnership was made during the wide-ranging
talks between King Abdullah and the Chinese Premier. Speaking on the
occasion, Wen said: "The two countries strengthened high-level exchanges
and promoted mutual trust in recent years despite the fact that
international and regional situations became complicated and volatile."

He said both countries had treated each other as equals with respect,
and their cooperation had been fruitful since the establishment of
diplomatic ties 22 years ago.

READ MORE

Indian fishermen released from Pakistani prisons, waiting to go back

Below, my article on the India-Pakistan prisoners issue published in Aman ki Asha on Jan 11, 2012, followed by a correction from Sen. Iqbal Haider and further clarification from B.M. Kutty. Also please do read Shivam Vij’s thought-provoking and thorough report ‘Why is Gopal Das free and not Dr Chishty?‘, published in Aman ki Asha, and Anahita Mukherji’s report in The Sunday Times of India about how the Indian prisoners were treated in Pakistan (surprisingly well) - Warm memories of time in Pak jail.

Looking a New Year gift horse in the mouth

Pakistan’s release of 183 Indian prisoners on Jan 7, 2012 is a welcome step but it also highlights the ongoing issues faced by cross-border prisoners

By Beena Sarwar

On January 8, 2012, 183 Indians crossed the Wagah border from Lahore, bundled up against the bitter cold, many in shawls gifted to them in Pakistan, eager to return home after being released from Pakistani prisons.

Much hard work, persistence and the humanitarian view taken by the Lahore High Court lie behind their release, termed “a New Year gift” from Pakistan to India.

The story of this particular prisoner repatriation started in October 2011, when advocate Awais Sheikh filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court seeking the release of two Indians, Satinder Paul and Karale Bhanudas, who remained in Pakistani prisons despite having completed their sentence.

On the Lahore High Court’s order to provide details on foreign nationals held in Pakistani prisons, Superintendent Jail submitted a list of 74 foreign nationals in prison, including 33 Indians, who had completed their terms of imprisonment.

Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Ijaz Ahmed Choudry in his order of Nov 14, 2011, directed the release the two prisoners on whose case the petition was based, as well as all foreign prisoners who had completed their terms.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs cleared six Indian civilian prisoners for release. However, two of them, Sakhi Muhammad and Bhavesh Kanti Parmar, were not released for “unknown reasons”, says Awais Sheikh.

Released Indian prisoners waiting to complete formalities at Wagah. Photo: TOI

On Jan 7, 2012, Pakistan released 183 Indian prisoners, including Satinder Paul Singh, Sanjeet Kumar, Nasim and Sama Yousaf, and 179 Indian fishermen. They were brought to Wagah border on Jan 8th morning. The First Secretary of Indian High Commission along with three other ICH officers and an officer of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, Islamabad, were also present.

It took them five hours at Wagah to complete the legal formalities at Customs, during which time advocate Awais Sheikh also remained with them. They finally crossed the border at 6.00 p.m.

“It was an unforgettable scene,” says Sheikh. “I bid them a hearty farewell with my best wishes. My apologies to them all for being kept in jails even after the completion of awarded sentence. I wish that sanity would prevail and I pray that my voice reaches the governments of both countries”.

Justice delayed

There are still 276 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails. “Of these, 83 have already served their sentence but cannot be released because Indian authorities have not confirmed their nationality,” explains Justice Zahid. Foreign prisoners can only be freed after respective embassies confirm their identity.

This is also the case in India, which currently has 440 Pakistani fishermen in custody, according to former Pakistan law minister Iqbal Haider. He says that the nationalities of 285 of these prisoners have been determined, but “no assistance can be provided to the remaining 164 until their citizenship is established.”

Officials at India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) say that India and Pakistan don’t want to detain fishermen from the other country. “Once they cross the border, the legal process begins. The process of verifying nationalities involves visiting a fisherman’s village to confirm his identity. Often the addresses given are incomplete or very remote. It may take a long time to get there,” said an MEA official.

But rights activists say that this verification process, which takes six months to a year, only starts after the prisoners have completed their terms.

The process of verifying a prisoner’s nationality should begin the moment he is arrested by India or Pakistan. “The process should be complete at the time of a prisoner’s release so he does not remain in jail after serving his sentence,” says Jatin Desai.

Justice Zahid blames both countries for the delay in releasing innocent fishermen who inadvertently cross national borders while fishing. “These fishermen are usually given a six-month to a year’s jail sentence. By the time they are sentenced, they have already served the term,” he maintains. “If both governments show interest, the process could be completed in less than a month.”

Both the Indian and the Pakistani Supreme Courts have ruled that keeping a prisoner even for a day after he completes his jail term is illegal.

Iqbal Haider has appealed to the Pakistani and Indian governments to release all foreign prisoners over 60 years of age, and to expedite their respective trials by providing them with legal facilities.

Until such steps are not implemented, the issue of cross-border prisoners will remain unresolved. In humanity’s name, if not to gain the goodwill of thousands of affected people, both governments must cut the bureaucratic red tape and existing, outdated protocols – the sooner the better.

Fishy business

Indian fishermen at Wagah border, bundled up against the cold they're unused to, in their native Gujarat. Photo: Times of India

Both countries routinely arrest each other’s fishermen for transgressing maritime boundaries. Released fishermen are routinely repatriated via Wagah border, from where they have to make the tedious overland journey home.

“Gujarat and Karachi are so close to each other, and yet Gujarati fishermen released in Karachi have to travel all the way to Wagah border, and then from Amritsar to Gujarat. Many are from remote villages, and it takes even longer to reach,” says senior Mumbai-based journalist Jatin Desai, who is joint secretary, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy. “Why should they not be sent back by sea, along with their boats?”

Around 481 Indian fishing boats lie rotting in Karachi harbour. “Each boat costs around 30-40 lakh Indian rupees. Most fishermen are very poor and an entire fishing village chips in to buy a boat,” observes retired Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid.

Justice Zahid, chairman of the Committee for Welfare of Prisoners and a member of the Indo-Pak Joint Judicial Committee comprising eight retired judges – four each from India and Pakistan examining the issue of cross-border prisoners – points out that “even if both countries release all the captive fisherfolk, others will continue to be arrested.”

He suggests setting up a joint committee of officials from India and Pakistan stationed aboard a ship between the two countries to decide cases of fishermen accidentally straying across the maritime border. “The matter can be settled in the sea itself.”

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum President Muhammad Ali Shah, hoping that India will also release the Pakistani fishermen in Indian jails, suggests that both countries should allow each other’s fishermen to catch fish at a small scale in 50 nautical miles in other’s waters, rather than criminalising this transgression.

A year ago, India and Pakistan agreed to set up a task force with two members each from Pakistan and India to improve the situation. “Pakistan has already nominated its members but India is yet to do so,” says Jatin Desai.

Indian and Pakistani peace activists in a joint press statement of October 2011 had urged their governments to release the fishermen and their boats. Both governments “need to recognise the fact that these traditional fishermen go to the mid-sea for their livelihood. Arresting them and confiscating their boats means depriving their families from the livelihood, and causing them extreme distress,” said the statement… “The issue of fishermen needs to be seen from the humanitarian, not security angle.”

The POWS issue

Not included in the list of prisoners to be released were the two Sikh prisoners. One of them is Sarabjit Singh convicted for bomb blasts in Pakistan in 1990 even though the FIR does not mention his name but that of a Manjeet Singh (Surjit Singh says he is the victim of a mistaken identity; see report ‘Why is Gopal Das free and not Dr Chishty?’ by Shivam Vij). The other prisoner, who has languished for four decadese, is Surjit Singh, a jawan of India’s Border Security Force (BSF), taken prisoner of war in 1971 and given up for dead in 1974. In April 2011, he was found to be alive, in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, after Khushi Mohammad, an Indian prisoner released by Pakistan on his return mentioned the names of some of his compatriots still in Pakistani prisons.

Both Sarabjit and Surjit have now spent decades in prison, far beyond life imprisonment terms. Pakistan must repatriate them immediately, as human rights activists and lawyers on both sides are demanding.

In addition, both countries must look into the issue of the ‘forgotten’ prisoners of war.

In June 2011, Brian MacMahon, a former master mariner from India, now based in Australia, appealed to the Presidents of India and Pakistan to make efforts to locate and release the POWs on either side, and if they were no longer living, to provide information and their remains to their families in order to get some closure on their missing loved ones.

He cited the example of Australia, which has brought home the remains of every one of its servicemen missing in action 38 years after the conflict in Vietnam (which ended in 1971).

‘Missing’ Indian POWs who have been ‘sighted’ in Pakistan over the years include Major S. P. S. Waraich , Capt Kamal Bakshi, Subedar Assa Singh, and Wing Commander H. S. Gill. The ‘discovery’ of Surjit Singh ignites hope that they and their other colleagues may similarly be alive and undocumented in a Pakistani prison.

In September 2004, then Defence Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that an estimated “17 army officers, two junior commissioned officers and 19 other rank officers are currently in Pakistani jails.”

There are Pakistani POWs in India too. In June 2010, The Daily Mail Today, New Delhi, reported that 18 Pakistan Army personnel taken as prisoners of war in 1965 and 1971 were still in Indian custody, as confirmed by the Indian Ministry of Defence. This is “contrary to all norms of humanity as well in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention… these POWs also include two Majors who went missing during the wars” (June 24, 2010).

Given the number of cases where missing presumed dead armed forces personnel have been found alive in one prison or another, isn’t it time for both countries to make concerted efforts to get these men back – if for no other reason, then in the name of humanity?

Update – with apologies for the oversight, which was entirely inadvertent – I wrote the piece using the most recent accounts  at hand.

Jan 14, 2012: From Senator (R) Iqbal Haider, Senior Advocate Supreme Court

Dear Beena,

I hope you would not mind, my adding to your information that it was in pursuance of the Orders passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Constitution Petition No.48/2010 filed and conducted by me, “pro bono”, on or about 30th July 2010, on behalf of Pakistan Fisherfolks Forum and PILER that the Supreme Court had ordered that all cases of fishermen crossing the border should be heard expeditiously, preferably within a period of six weeks and that all the prisoners under the Foreigners Act should be released and repatriated forthwith, if they have completed their sentences. In pursuance of these Orders of the Supreme Court more than 442 Indian fishermen prisoners were released and repatriated in one go.

This has started the process of further release of large number of Indian prisoners from Pakistan and Pakistani prisoners from India.

When our delegation comprising Mr. Kuldip Nayar, Mr. Mahesh Bhatt and Mr. Jatin Desai from India and Mr. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Mr. Karamat Ali and the undersigned from Pakistan were received by Mrs. Soniya Gandhi, the Head of Ruling Congress Party, on or about 9th September 2010, to reciprocate our efforts for release of Indian fishermen, Mrs. Gandhi was kind enough to immediately order release of all Pakistani Prisoners who have completed their sentences and if their nationalities have been identified. As a result hundreds of more prisoners of the two countries have been released since then.

The recent release of 179 Indian Fishermen from Malir Jail Karachi was consistently pursued with Pakistani authorities by our team of Mr. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Mr. Karamat Ali, Mr. Mohammad Ali Shah of Fisherfolk and the undersigned. It was due to the consistent efforts of this team that these prisoners were finally released on 7th January’ 12 from Malir Jail Karachi. Any proceedings in the Lahore High Court were not instrumental in release of these Indian Fishermen from Malir Jail Karachi.

I do sincerely appreciate and admire efforts of all members of the Bar or members of the civil society for putting hard work persistently for release of the prisoners as well as for much needed improvements in the relations between our two countries. Warm, cordial, peaceful and open border relations between Pakistan and India is the need of the people of this subcontinent.

The aforesaid is just to put the record straight.

Jan 14, 2012: From B.M.Kutty, Secretary General, Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), PILER Center, Karachi:

Dear Iqbal Haider Saheb,

Thank you very much for clarifying how the process of release of India-Pakistan fishermen by the two governments started and how it is still going on, thanks to the untiring efforts of rights activsts like you, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Muhammad Ali Shah, Karamat Ali and others. . Let us also remind ourselves of the fact that  PILER and PFF had been involved in it since 1997 when the first batch of about 500 plus fishermen were released from both sides. Unfortunately, the seemingly unstoppable exercise of arrest and release of poor fishermen on both sides goes on and on. God save the fishermen!!

Japan Coast Guard arrested Zhong Jinyin Dec. 20. The Chinese fisherman was escorted to a port in Nagasaki. (Reuters)

Japanese prosecutors indicted a Chinese fishing boat skipper for fishing illegally in Japanese waters, a local official said Friday. The arrest is the latest in a long series of events surrounding the tense Chinese-Japanese maritime relations.

Zhong Jinyin was arrested in Japanese waters Dec. 20, the second arrest in the area in less than two months. Since he was clearly in Japanese waters, this case should be pretty cut-and-dry. But such cases have led to diplomatic nightmares in the past, such as when Japan arrested a Chinese fisherman near disputed islands in the East China Sea last year.

The two Asian neighbors are still recovering from the fallout from last year’s incident, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda agreed to set up a high-level meeting with China on maritime affairs in order to reduce tensions earlier this week in a meeting with China’s National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo.

Despite the agreement for more cooperation, both countries’ stances have become more confrontational in recent days.

Nobuteru Ishihara, Secretary General of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and son of controversial Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, said Japan should consider building a military base on islands disputed with China during a visit to Washington earlier this month.

Days later, China sent its 3000-ton Haijian 50 to patrol the disputed waters.

Japan also finalized a $4.7 billion deal last week to buy 42 of Lockheed Martin’s F-35A fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of F-4s. Concerns of increasing Chinese assertiveness was undoubtedly factored in Japan’s decision to buy the fighter jets.

During Noda’s visit to China, the two countries reached a deal that will encourage the use of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen in bilateral trade, instead of the U.S. dollar. Ideally this should increase financial ties between the two countries and ease maritime tensions as well as others.

It is an outrage and a violation of freedom of expression that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) continues to block Baloch Hal in Pakistan at a time when this voice needs to be heard across the country now, more than ever.  Reproduced below, BH editorial pegged on the target killing of Dr Baqir Shah (emphasis added):

Editorial: War Against Baloch Doctors

Balochistan: Doctors sit in protest at the murder of their colleagues. Photo: Baloch Hal

The late police surgeon was somewhat an easy target for terrorists for a host of reasons. His situation could enable any murderer to immediately vanish in thin air because of the circumstances that shrouded the late doctor. He gained enormous national and international media attention after conducting the postmortem of five foreigners who were killed on May 17 in what is now remembered as the infamous and tragic Kharotabad incident.

Dr. Shah impressed everyone with his absolute honesty and professionalism when he contested the unconvincing official description of what had actually happened in Kharotabad. He contradicted the version of the events as narrated by the Frontier Corps (FC) and the police.

Police in Quetta say it is premature to say whether or not Dr. Shah’s murder was a case of targeted killing. Such assertions are simply meant either to delay investigations or exempt the government from its accountability. What have the law enforcement agencies been doing in the past two months regarding the murder cases of two other Baloch doctors? It is not a coincident that all doctors being killed in Balochistan are Balochs. While we do recognize the government’s limitations given its poor and slow investigation apparatus but does it mean that the law enforcement authorities have utterly failed to make an inch of progress in chasing elements who killed Dr. Mazhar Baloch, the provincial president of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on October 15? Whether these killers linked to each other and share a common hit-list of Baloch doctors and professionals remains unknown but still guessable.

In another similar case two weeks ago, on December 16th to be precise, Dr. Naseem Baloch, the chief medical officer of Gwadar’s District Headquarters Hospital, was shot dead by unidentified persons.

These killings have triggered a wave of insecurity among Baloch doctors and also tremendously infuriated the already enraged Baloch population. Besides the common Baloch in the streets even professional doctors and seasoned politicians are holding the government and its certain shadowy wings responsible for this wave of fatal violence. Even some Baloch members of the the provincial cabinet have criticized their own government.

During a session of the Balochistan Assembly on December 17th, one could see the level of legislators’ powerlessness that they walked out the assembly session against the killing of Dr. Naseem Baloch.

“The provincial government allocates Rs11 billion for the maintenance of law and order, but still police and other law enforcing agencies have failed to give an output or a positive result,” said Asadullah Baloch, minister for agriculture who is also the secretary general of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Awami), “The senior police officers must be held accountable for their failure to protect the life and property of the people”

The Pakistan Medical Association and Baloch Doctors’ Forum (BDF) have jointly announced three days of mourning and a strike in Quetta’s Bolan Medical College Complex and the Civil Hospital. Yet, the strike is likely to have a deeper impact in the Bloch-dominated districts where it may prolong for more than three days. The BDF has also highlighted the cases of two disappeared Baloch doctors, Dr. Din Mohammad Marri and Dr. Akbar Marri whose families hold the state intelligence agencies responsible for their disappearance.

Doctors in any society deserve profound respect for their commitment to serving the humanity. In a backward area like Balochistan, where the health indicators are extremely murky, very few young men and women manage to accomplish their medical education. They strive tirelessly for at least seven years to get a degree in medicine. The first thing most of the non-local medical students (do) who study on reserved seats at the province’s lone medical college, Bolan, quit Balochistan as soon as they complete their eduction. Only some  professionally committed doctors, who surely receive a number of better offers and opportunities to go to Europe and USA for a better personal and professional life, turn down these attractions and agree to serve in the conflict-stricken province of Balochistan.

Hence, it is total senselessness to subject doctors to enforced disappearance for several months and deny him the primary human right of free trial. International human rights groups and Doctors Without Borders should quickly take up the issue with the provincial and federal authorities to ensure the recovery of the missing Baloch doctors.

Doctors like Mr. Shah are role models for our society because they selflessly cure the ailing humanity and also firmly and professionally stand against all pressures intended to urge them to compromise on their professional integrity.

Chief Minister Raisani’s intervention and approval of an inquiry into the murder is a welcome decision although dozens of such investigation committees formed in the past have culminated into stark failure. Yet, we wonder what apologies to Balochistan from leaders like President Zardari or Imran Khan mean when elements responsible for Baloch genocide are not exposed and brought to justice.

(MALIK SIRAJ AKBAR)
Editor-in-Chief
The Baloch Hal

Part 1 – Many Barrels of a Gun

South Asia is often described as the most dangerous place on earth and the most promising emerging market – both in the same breath. The year 2011 illustrated in ample measure the implausible irony.

The killing of Osama Bin Laden was described as the biggest international news of the year 2011

The biggest international story of the year, according to The Associated Press’ annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors, was the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Pakistan on May 2.

Coming close on the heels of a serious diplomatic row between the US and Pakistan over the issue of Raymond Davis, an alleged CIA operative, killing three men in the busy streets of Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore in late January, Pakistan brought frequent – and hugely unwelcome – spotlight to the South Asian region during the year.

The year of turmoil, which was preceded by the country losing hosting rights of many sporting events including South Asia’s biggest sporting event, the ICC Cricket World Cup, ended with one of the most public spats in recent history between the democratically elected government and the omnipotent Pakistan military.

In a spat that could spell serious trouble for the fragile democracy of the nation, President Asif Ali Zardari is alleged to have sought US assistance to quell a possible military coup in the aftermath of Osama’s killing. Called the ‘Memogate Scandal’, for the unsigned memo – allegedly crafted by former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani – that was used to convey the Pakistani request to the US administration, the matter has taken the scalp of Haqqani and dragged both Zardari and chiefs of military and Pakistan’s secret service agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to nation’s supreme court.

Conflicts like these have in the past acted as the precursor to military rule in the country, which the nuclear-armed nation has been under for more than half the period of its independence from British rule in 1947. Though the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, decisively denied on December 22 the possibility of any extra-constitutional measure against the democratic system, a cursory glance at the nation’s volatile history informs that the military usually manages to have its way.

Unfortunately, Pakistan was not the only South Asian nation where dead bodies talked the most during the year. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal grappled with the aftermath of armed conflicts of recent history, even as India played host to a fleeting visit by terror in 2011.

A tribunal, headed by Nizamul Haque Nasim and known as ‘International Crimes Tribunal’, was formed in March 2010 in Bangladesh to hold trial of those accused of their involvement in ‘crimes against humanity’, including genocide, murder and rape during the nine-month ‘Liberation War’ – the period between declaration of Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in March 1971 and attaining freedom with India’s military help against Pakistan in December 1971. Many unofficial accounts put the figure of dead people at three million and those of women raped at 200,000. Hundreds of thousands of other, the then, East Pakistanis ended up as refugees in India.

Following up on the formation of the tribunal, the nation took its first step towards addressing that dark chapter of its young history when the police arrested three top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in June 2010, two of which were cabinet ministers in the 2001-06 Bangladesh National Party (BNP) administration of the present opposition leader and then prime minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khalida Zia.

Khaleda Zia, in a statement to press, said that the tribunal is “nothing but a servile, rubber-stamp organisation” out to victimise the government’s political opponents.

The tribunal began its first trial in October this year when it charged Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a top authority of Jamaat-e-Islami and allegedly one of the leaders of a pro-Pakistan mercenary group, with involvement in the killing of more than 50 people, torching villages and forcibly converting Hindus to Islam.

Sayedee, who denies the charges, could be given the death penalty if found guilty.

International observers have cautiously welcomed the trials. With neutral researchers noting that about 1800 people collaborated with the Pakistani army in committing the ‘war crimes’, many more arrests in the case are expected.

In another case involving war in the SAARC region, to the south-west of Bangladesh, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) of Sri Lanka submitted its final report to the government on November 20. Established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 to look into alleged war crimes committed during the final days of the 26-year-old civil war in Sri Lanka that ended with the defeat of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the hands of the Sri Lankan army in May 2009, the LLRC – expectedly – exonerated the Sri Lankan government of any wrong doings between 21 February 2002 to 19 May 2009.

The commission is not recognised by most of the international rights groups because of its failure to satisfy the fairness and transparency criteria. But the Sri Lankan government, which has steadfastly resisted vociferous global support for external accountability mechanisms such as the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Expert, said that the LLRC report is impartial and objective, and would be presented verbatim at the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March 2012.

Up north in the Himalayas, the erstwhile monarchy and the presently constitution-less fledgling democracy of Nepal struggled, for another year, to draft a new constitution and pave the way for a stable democracy.

On November 28, members of parliament extended the Nepalese parliament’s term for a fourth and final time to allow the drafting of a new constitution that adheres to a peace accord brokered between political parties and the Maoist rebels, after the civil war ended in 2006.

Formed in 2008 after Nepal relinquished its monarchy, the current 601-member parliament, or Constituent Assembly (CA), was given an initial two-year mandate to write a new constitution for the young republic.

But three years since, the CA has not been able to produce even a first, consolidated draft. The previous three extensions of the assembly – first for a year and then two of three months each – failed to resolve differences between the various political parties on issues like federalism, presidential or prime ministerial formats and election procedures.

But the nation made some progress in what it called the ‘regrouping process’, entailing the re-integration of the cadre of Nepal’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the mainstream Nepalese society. PLA was the military wing of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) when the party was at civil conflict with the Nepalese monarchy.

19,500 PLA combatants who were living in a total of seven cantonments in different parts of the country after the commencement of the peace process in 2006 began appearing before a committee on November 18 to register their choice of either joining the Nepal army or taking a voluntary retirement.

The process is seen is one of the only successes of Nepalese democracy since the abolition of constitutional monarchy in 2006.

India, the SAARC nation that has the biggest stake in the Nepalese peace process, meanwhile continued to answer its own geo-political needs – supporting the Maoists in Nepal, while going after the group in India and gunning down one of its biggest leaders, Kishenji.

Indian analysts, however, point out that there is no contradiction in the approach, as while the Nepali Maoist are now firmly in the Himalayan nation’s mainstream polity, the Indian rebels are still caught in the time warp of trying to overthrow the government to establish their own ideological republic – through the barrel of a gun.

The South Asian giant, however, faced none of the security-related anxiety of the other SAARC nations mentioned in this year-end wrap; barring a jolting bomb blast outside a court premises in New Delhi. But it was kept on the tenterhooks by another kind of challenge – that of popular anger.

End of Part 1

If a country’s government is democratic and classically liberal, men and women are generally treated as equals. However, if men and women are treated equally, does this mean a government is democratic? No. Example: Tunisia.

Under Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, women were, broadly speaking, given equal treatment. They were entitled to receive an education, pursue a career, dress as they pleased, smoke and consume alcohol. While Tunisian women who are less educated and financially well-off tend to be more conservative, many middle-class women make an important contribution to the country’s professional elite. Despite the rights afforded to women, Tunisia’s government was plagued by rampant cronyism, widespread corruption, and a president who looked only to tighten his grip on power. We saw how that turned out.

Now that Tunisia, the initiator of the “Arab Spring,” is in a governmental transition, many women are nervous that their freedom will be usurped by the new government. The constituent assembly elections held in October resulted in the success of al-Nahda, Tunisia’s Islamist party. Claiming 89 out of 217 seats, al-Nahda was the clear winner. However, as al-Nahda did not receive enough seats for an absolute majority, it formed a coalition government with the secular Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol parties.

A Tunisian casts her vote in la Marsa near Tunis, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 (Credit: AP Photo/Hassene Dridi)

Under the Ben Ali regime, Tunisia was a secular state and political Islam was suppressed, often brutally. Following the regime’s demise, many welcomed a moderately Islamist government. In a poll conducted last May by the International Republican Institute, 54 percent of respondents approved of a secular government whereas 40 percent disapproved. Given the valued role religion plays in the lives of Tunisians, the election results are hardly surprising.

Rachid Ghannouchi, the Secretary General of al-Nahda, has pledged that his party will not restrict the rights of women and will pursue a moderately Islamist system of governance, much like that of Turkey. However, in a region where pledges of democracy and freedom often go unfulfilled, skepticism is warranted.

Following the collapse of the regime, Tunisians welcomed the political activity. Out of this rose the Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia (AST). Founded last April, AST promotes a radical interpretation of Islam without explicitly endorsing violence. AST has refused to engage in the democratic process, which it characterized as a violation of God’s primacy.

In the past few months, hardliners have taken their purist interpretation of Islam to universities. A few weeks ago, Salafists stormed a university in Tunis demanding that women wear the niqab (a full face veil) and that classes be segregated. Additional reports indicate that Tunisia’s new openness has encouraged radical Islamists to become more vocal in their ideology.

As one oppressive regime is ousted, Tunisians are free to be more politically active. A vibrant civil society is one of the main characteristics of a democracy, and Tunisians have rightfully taken advantage of opportunities for political engagement. However, the embrace of new liberties should not come at the limitations of others. Tunisia’s new government must ensure that for democracy to thrive, all Tunisians must be treated equally under the law.

On World AIDS Day, UN officials say end to epidemic is within reach
In his annual World AIDS day message, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Momentum is on our side. Let us use it to end AIDS — once and for all.” U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to redirect $50 million in already approved funding to fight HIV/AIDS. Writing in the Huffington Post, former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Susan Blumenthal outlines a plan for achieving an AIDS-free generation.

Resistance to AIDS drugs is shown among Asian children
Years of scientific effort, financial investment and health campaigning have yet to yield a cure for AIDS, but they have combined to provide a basic treatment. Today, World AIDS Day, advocacy groups urged that more attention be given to young HIV patients, especially those in Asia, where children as young as five are becoming resistant to AIDS drugs.

Would-be teen bride is hospitalized in Afghan acid attack
The recent acid-throwing attack on a teenage Afghan girl and her two sisters has again focused attention on the fates of child brides. The 17-year-old girl in the Kunduz province, north of Kabul, was apparently supported by her family in rejecting the match with an older suitor, who is suspected in the incident.

Guatemala battles femicide
Guatemala continues to struggle against gender-based violence, victimization and femicide, the killing of women usually by a spouse or other family member. The number of women killed in Guatemala this year is on track to equal the 2010 rate, which was down slightly from 2009.

Aid agencies warn of Somalia humanitarian disaster
Aid organizations are raising an alarm over an unfolding humanitarian disaster in Somalia after al-Shabab militants ordered 16 major agencies out of the country. The move came as aid agencies were attempting to resettle tens of thousands of famine-affected Somalis who had sought refuge in the capital Mogadishu.

Using biogas for cookstoves
A novel project in rural South Africa is training women to build bio-digesters, devices that produce biogas from cattle dung, to be used in lieu of charcoal and firewood to power cookstoves. The pilot project, to which the United Nations Development Programme is a partner, is intended to serve as an example of how communities cannot only live off the grid, but reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Are sexual assault trends changing in DR Congo?
Some health care workers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are seeing a change in the cases of sexual assault, with fewer victims naming military forces as perpetrators. The numbers of assaults have yet to post a significant drop and military forces do continue to be accused of widespread abuses including mass rapes.

UN reports on abuses in Syria
Syrian authorities have killed at least 256 children, and sexually tortured male detainees, during the past eight months as they have tried to violently put down anti-government protests, according to the findings of an investigation by an independent commission of the United Nations Human Rights Council. “Children were also tortured, some to death,” concludes the report, released Monday, which chronicles what it calls “gross violations of human rights” during the government’s crackdown.

India’s malnutrition efforts are falling short
India is struggling to improve child malnutrition levels despite agricultural growth and overall economic expansion, and is unlikely to achieve significant gain without a coordinated national policy, development experts warn. India was able to decrease the rate 3% between 2000 and 2006, significantly less than experts would expect in a country experiencing rapid growth. 

A crackdown on child marriage in Bangladesh
Communities across Bangladesh are beginning to act decisively against the practice of child marriage in response to coordinated efforts by aid groups and local authorities. Prevention efforts include public awareness campaigns and the creation of local income-generating activities to help keep girls in school.

In Ghana, novel anti-malaria program emphasizes drug access
Mobilize Against Malaria has created a network of more than 1,000 small medicine retailers, so-called licensed chemical sellers, that are instrumental in an innovative campaign in Ghana to promote prevention and early treatment of malaria. The group, started in 2007, targets pregnant women and children under five in areas without access to a pharmacy or hospital in an effort to fight malaria, which accounts for nearly 40% of Ghana’s outpatient illnesses.

Nigeria pursues anti-malaria battle with bed nets
Nigerian authorities and the international aid community have partnered to distribute free insecticide-treated bed nets in a bid to reach universal coverage. Malaria kills 300,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria annually.

Economic growth is not the sole factor in women’s health issues
A country’s economic growth can significantly affect women and girls through greater spending on public health and infrastructure. Countries such as China, India and Indonesia have failed to make major impacts on women’s and girls’ health despite rapid economic growth, while rising food prices, malnutrition and poor sanitation continue to disproportionately affect females.