Human Rights Advocacy
Improve security in tribal areas of Pakistan
Taliban attacks on civilians in the tribal areas have soared since the Pakistani forces pulled out, and the government can't just turn a blind eye to the violence. The killing of a senior health official and the beheading of an Afghan refugee accused of being a US spy by alleged Taliban supporters in the past week were the latest in a series of attacks that underscore the deteriorating human rights situation across the tribal areas.
In September 2006, Pakistan's government signed agreements ending military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and effectively ceded power to local tribal leaders closely allied with the Taliban in the border region of Waziristan. In exchange, tribal leaders made a commitment to close down Taliban and al-Qaeda operations in the area. The deal, initially supported by the United States, has now been branded a failure by US officials as militant activity in the region and cross-border attacks in Afghanistan have increased.
Under pressure from the United States, the Pakistani military had been targeting suspected al-Qaeda training camps and Taliban groups in the tribal belt in operations since March 2004.
“The Pakistani government can't simply refuse to take responsibility for the governance and safety of people in the tribal areas,” said Hasan. “Pakistan cannot look the other way as the population of the tribal areas becomes hostage to increasing violence and human rights abuses.”
Dr. Abdul Ghani Khan, a senior health official working on a polio immunization drive in the Bajaur tribal area, was killed there in a bomb blast on February 16. Government officials told the media that the attack was targeted and the attackers used a remote-controlled bomb. Some tribal elders allied with the Taliban have alleged that the vaccination campaign was a US conspiracy to cause infertility and reduce reproduction rates in the region. Khan was killed after returning from a meeting of tribal elders to persuade them to end their opposition to the campaign.
The situation in the tribal areas has deteriorated significantly since an October 30 missile attack on a seminary in the town of Khar killed 82 people, including several children. At the time, a military spokesman stated that the dead were all militants and denied any civilians had been injured, alleging that the seminary was being used as a training camp for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. Local residents said that only students were present in the seminary, and that the strike was carried out by fixed-wing US drones, which fired Hellfire missiles as local residents gathered to offer the dawn Fajr prayer. Human Rights Watch has previously called on the Pakistani government to allow independent monitors into the area to investigate the attack. The government has blocked such investigations.
Source: Human Rights Watch.
