In times of civil war human rights are endangered. Pakistan is no different. The only difference is that the war in Pakistan is labelled as ‘war against terrorism’. Irrespective of what it is called we are in a state of war indisputably, and an undeclared emergency has been imposed in a ‘soft coup’. The real power has shifted to Rawalpindi from Islamabad, courtesy indecisiveness and inefficiency of the civilian government. But to be fair with them it has to be underlined that the domain of handling militant non-state actors was always guarded by Rawalpindi.
Let us have a cursory look at facts that support the contention that the country is in a state of war. In Balochistan, territory-wise largest but population-wise smallest province of the country, the fourth militant movement for independence has been going on now for over a decade. Instead of dealing with it politically the establishment has erroneously always opted for a military solution. Even the Baloch who support the government privately yearn for ‘independence’; such is the romance of this slogan. But they are conscious that independence is not in sight even in the distant future, unless the geopolitical situation changes radically.
The establishment tells us that the resistance is petering off. Only the Balochistan Liberation Army led by Dr Allahnazar is left in the battleground but even that is badly bruised. Independent Balochistan sources agree but hastily add that their province is under siege of non-Baloch forces. This shows that a low-intensity war is likely to continue.
A Baloch woman told me that Gwadar, the principal area in the CPEC, has too many check-posts, much to the annoyance of the local people. She had to fly back to Karachi from Gwadar to go to Turbat, although it was only a two-and-half hour drive between the two cities in time of peace. Activists are still kidnapped, and their dead bodies are found all over the province. In this situation human rights are violated with impunity in the name of national security. In this paradigm people are irrelevant, only territory matters. Sad.
In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) the war is against religiously driven terrorists. As they have their ideological comrades spread in all provinces the war has spilled over. The FATA conflict has forced the people of the war-zone to move out. One such internally displaced person from North Waziristan said that he returned home when he was allowed to do so only to find out that everything his family owned had been destroyed in the military operation against the Taliban. A senior Pashtun says that the people from Mir Ali and Miramshah left 11,000 well-stocked shops when they were asked to evacuate at a short notice once the operation started, but on return they found most of the shops demolished and stocks looted. While the people of FATA supported the Operation Zarb-e-Azb to get rid of the tyranny of Taliban, they are bitter about the lack of governmental support for their rehabilitation, and zero compensation for the damages incurred by them.
Almost all human rights activists gathered in Lahore at the annual meet of the Human Rights Commission Pakistan have been supporting war against terrorism. However, they are also worried about the lack of transparency as there is no independent reporting about the operation, and only an official version is made public. Same is the case with most of the ‘encounter’ reports from all over the country. All we hear is the version of the law enforcement agencies’ that terrorists were killed in this and that encounter. Neither the media dares to investigate the background of those killed or injured, nor is it proved in any court that those alleged culprits were terrorists, and that they really opened fire on the police/Rangers. In cases where personnel of law enforcement agencies are injured or killed in the line of duty, the official version has more credibility.
This is not all. Human rights activists are also concerned about the fact that the country is under a de facto emergency. The proclamation of the Protection of Pakistan Act (POPA) and the creation of military courts under the 21st amendment prove the point. Though these laws were unanimously passed by parliament to combat terrorism, a leading lawyer, Asad Jamal, pointed out at the Lahore seminar, “Our detention regime is in violation of Pakistan’s obligations under the international human rights law framework and therefore must be changed.” Human rights champion, Asma Jehangir, says that the extraordinary power acquired by law enforcement agencies makes it imminent that such broad powers are dispensed with transparency and utmost care. She is right because in practice such absolute powers are often used arbitrarily and create hatred against the state, which is indeed counter-productive.
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Zafar Mehmood thinks that the courts should play their role to regulate that these emergency powers are not misused by the enforcers. But the legal course is arduous and lengthy. For instance, if a person is wrongfully arrested under the POPA, he/she can be detained for 90 days. Meanwhile, the ongoing practice is that agencies leak allegations as if they are proven facts. A media trial begins, hanging the alleged person’s reputation without a trial. Even if the accused gets relief from the court it is likely to be way past 90 days. Who will compensate this unlucky person for the trauma, detention period and lost reputation?
The fact is that the number of terrorist attacks has dropped as a result of the operations, but terrorist attacks have now become more lethal. The slick PR campaign by the ISPR has rallied public support. Only those whose human rights are trampled in this war and rights activists are demanding transparency and prompt overseeing of judiciary.
The writer is freelance journalist and author. He can be reached at [email protected]