Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
COMMENT: Killings of Hazaras: makings of genocide? — Mohammad Taqi
“War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace” — The Kite Runner.
Anyone who has read Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, or watched its heart-rending film adaptation need not be reminded that the above quote was an Afghan man’s response to a Russian soldier on the verge of a war crime claiming, “This is war. There is no shame in war.” The man’s son tried to stop him from standing up to the Russian. The Kite Runner remains a poignant parable of what has gone wrong with Afghanistan and Pakistan. That war has ravaged both countries is obvious but the hit that common decency has taken goes almost unnoticed.
Hosseini’s character Amir and his decision, first to not do anything when his friend and half-brother Hassan is subjected to an atrocity and then to keep his father from intervening to stop violence, is a stark reminder that the perpetrators’ strength is compounded by the inaction of the bystanders. In the allegorical work, the epithets and slurs thrown at Hassan — the jovial, loyal and young representation of decency and more importantly Afghanistan itself — are the abyss staring us in the eye.
Unfortunately, the disaster and slurs are not limited to fiction any longer. After the recent massacre of the Shiite Hazaras near Mastung, the parliamentarian from the area — Ayatullah Durrani — suggested on a television show that the victim community benefits by getting Australian asylum. Aslam Raisani, the chief minister of Balochistan, where more than 500 Hazaras — over 90 in the past four months — have been killed, offered to send a truckload of tissue papers to the bereaving families. Many seasoned human rights campaigners have either remained mum or have issued subdued statements literally sanitising the premeditated mass murder underway in and around Quetta. Terms like ‘sectarian killings’, with connotations of a tit-for-tat warfare between equal groups for similar motives, have been deployed.
Mass murders do not happen in a vacuum or out of the blue. There are always indicators of the disasters in the making, which are ignored by the bystanders, euphemised by the enablers and denied by the perpetrators. Prevention of such catastrophes has been a subject of serious scholarship and among the warning signs the most important one is a history of similar atrocities. Professor Barbara Harff had aptly noted: “Perpetrators of genocide are often repeat offenders, because elites and security forces may become habituated to mass killing as a strategic response to challenges to state security.”
The Hazaras first came to the Quetta cantonment in the then British Balochistan from central Afghanistan after the Afghan ruler, Abdur Rahman Khan, prompted by clergymen from Kandahar, issued a decree in 1892 declaring the Hazaras infidels. He ordered them to convert to the Sunni faith and when they refused he followed up on his pledge to exterminate them. A similar edict was issued by the Taliban regime of Mullah Omar in 1998 followed by extermination campaigns such as Mazar-i-Sharif (1998), Robatak Pass (2000) and Yakaolang (2001). The Hazaras have lived in peace and relative prosperity in Quetta and have been considered model citizens of Pakistan. But that was until another series of edicts was unleashed against them by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) — the Pakistani affiliate of the al Qaeda-Taliban combine.
It is in this very specific context that recognising the vulnerability of the Pakistani Hazaras takes on an urgency that no human and civil rights activist can ignore. Over 600,000 members of an easy-to-profile community, largely residing in the Marriabad area near Alamdar Road and the Hazara Town off the old Brewery Road in Quetta have become sitting ducks given the callous government attitude and a determined and well-armed perpetrator. The responsibility of bearing witness, raising concern and proactive advocacy rests now with the media and human rights activists.
Within the human rights community there is reluctance to use the term genocide and a departure from the confines of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, which provides a legal definition of the crime, is considered almost a judicial heresy. In a situation where the legal framework has not kept pace with time and the intervention and prevention of a disaster cannot wait, a working definition provided by John Thomson and Gail Quets may provide a useful start. They had stated: “Genocide is the extent of destruction of a social collectivity by whatever agents, with whatever intentions, by purposive actions which fall outside the recognised conventions of legitimate warfare.”
Even within the confines of the UN definition — based on the efforts of Raphael Lemkin — the atrocities do not have to be state-sanctioned, happen only in war or in peace, or a certain number of the target population have to die before the invocation of the term could be considered. Extermination of the last member of a community does not have to happen — in fact not one person has to be killed — for the crime to become genocide. Any ‘stable and permanent group’ (which can be national, ethnic, racial or religious) is considered a protected group. The responsibility for protection, of course, rests squarely with the state. In its 2007 judgement in the Bosnia vs Serbia case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the first time defined the scope of the state responsibility under the UN convention. The ICJ has set strenuous evidence standards for a state to be held responsible for direct commission of genocide. But it also imposed an equally strict onus upon the states to rein in the non-state perpetrators to prevent genocide.
Nadezhda Mandelstam, a survivor of the Stalinist gulags herself, writes in Hope against Hope, “The relentless keepers of the truth are the genocide’s most powerful opponents...those who fail to witness honestly — who turn away, distort, and deny — are reliable allies of the génocidaires.” Interestingly, Nadezhda means hope in Russian. One remains hopeful that the international and Pakistani human rights organisations and activists would help bear witness, chronicle and report what appear to be the makings of genocide. The Pakistani state, on its part, must remember that failure to avert an imminent catastrophe would land it in very dubious company.
The writer can be reached at mazdaki@me.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/mazdaki
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
CID report on Hazaras’ killing submitted in court
By Amanullah Kasi | From the Newspaper
Ethnic Hazara Shia women hold placards during a demonstration in Quetta to condemn the shootout in Mastung by unidentified gunmen. – Photo by Reuters
QUETTA: The advocate general submitted before a bench of the Balochistan High Court on Tuesday a report of the Crimes Investigation Department (CID) which stated that an important clue had been found in the Mastung massacre, but said that details could not be disclosed because that would affect further investigation.
Twenty-nine members of the Shia Hazara community were killed by gunmen near Mastung on Sept 20.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Abdul Qadir Mengal accepted the counsel’s request that due to sensitivity of the matter the report be kept under wraps.
A report prepared by the Frontier Corps was also submitted which said the Levies Force did not coordinate with them in the investigation.
The court noted that although the government had restored the Levies Force, it was not properly trained to combat terrorism and other crimes and directed the government to take steps to improve the force’s performance.
The court also called for measures aimed at better coordination among different law-enforcement agencies to stop terrorist incidents and other heinous crimes. The hearing was adjourned till Nov 23.
DAWN
QUETTA: The advocate general submitted before a bench of the Balochistan High Court on Tuesday a report of the Crimes Investigation Department (CID) which stated that an important clue had been found in the Mastung massacre, but said that details could not be disclosed because that would affect further investigation.
Twenty-nine members of the Shia Hazara community were killed by gunmen near Mastung on Sept 20.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Abdul Qadir Mengal accepted the counsel’s request that due to sensitivity of the matter the report be kept under wraps.
A report prepared by the Frontier Corps was also submitted which said the Levies Force did not coordinate with them in the investigation.
The court noted that although the government had restored the Levies Force, it was not properly trained to combat terrorism and other crimes and directed the government to take steps to improve the force’s performance.
The court also called for measures aimed at better coordination among different law-enforcement agencies to stop terrorist incidents and other heinous crimes. The hearing was adjourned till Nov 23.
DAWN
PAKISTAN: Re-reading the conflict in Balochistan
October 18, 2011
Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following article from Jinnah Institute, written by Madeeha Ansari.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
-------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-FAT-053-2011
October 18, 2011
An article from Jinnah Institute forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN: Re-reading the conflict in Balochistan
Madeeha Ansari
In a world characterized by violence and volatility, this year’s message for International Literacy Day was ''Literacy for Peace''. In Pakistan, the policy response to the idea would be lukewarm at best; despite the attention received by the ''Education Emergency'' earlier in the year, the national agenda is dominated by other, seemingly more immediate issues. There is little realization of the true transformative power of literacy in regions riddled with conflict and uncertainty. However, the story of KarrarHussainJaffar -- the young Harvard scholar from a minority community in Balochistan– could inspire a new kind of discourse.
Within the bleak context of political turmoil and lack of social development in Balochistan, Karrar’s background as a Shi’ite Hazara placed him at a unique disadvantage.Hailing from a remote valley near Quetta where matriculation is a rarity, he described his hometown as a place where ''nobody wants to see the dream of higher education, because they know that it is impossible.'' His personal journey from Marree Abad, to the Lahore University of Management Sciences, to the Harvard campus in Massachusetts cannot be measured in terms of distance – it is a leap across cultural, traditional and societal barriers. As he put it, the first step was for him to overcome his reservations about English being a ''colonial remnant'', and accepting it as a tool to facilitate progress. After completing his fully funded MPA and PhD in the USA, he plans to return to Balochistan to raise awareness about the importance – and possibility – of education among his people.
Karrar’s decision is based on first-hand experience of what it is to bridge the chasm between Balochistan and the rest of the world. The province stands in isolation within Pakistan itself; there is a clear disconnect between the population there and the rest of the country, particularly in the urban centres. The gap can be illustrated in terms of education; qualitative standards aside, the literacy rate in Balochistan is more than 20 per cent lower than the national average of 57 per cent. While the Balochistan government has pledged 13% of the provincial budget to the education sector, statistics mean little in the context of a province notorious for the phenomenon of “ghost schools”. Effective disbursement of funds also remains a problem – for instance, it has recently been reported that the largest school in Gwadar has not received a single rupee for maintenance and rehabilitation. This level of misgovernance and neglect is particularly dangerous given the complex political situation in the province, in which the absence of alternate narratives makes it vulnerable to forces fuelling cyclical violence.
Amid ominous talk of separatism, Balochistanhas been described by human rights organizations as ''an active volcano that may erupt anytime''. The description is drawn from the examination of a history of grievances harbored by the province against the central government; festering wounds that are renewed by an increasing number of missing persons whose absence is attributed to state agencies.The strong presence of the army and the ISI in the region aims to stamp out separatist forces, only to stoke Baloch nationalism. As a result, the young Baloch nationalist views his (or her) interests to be diametrically opposed to those of Pakistan as a nation and will not concede that secession is not a viable option; that an independent Baloch state cannot be sustained by untapped natural resources and underdeveloped human resources. This mindset makes the youth of the province susceptible to the kind of violent prejudice that has triggered a rise in brutal targeted attacks against non-Baloch teachers and laborers, as well as minority communities like the Shi’ite Hazaras.
UNESCO calls education and armed conflict ''the deadly spirals'', each affecting the other in multiple ways. Apart from the retarding effect of war on social development, educational institutions themselves can become nuclei for the concentration of ''attitudes, beliefs and grievances that fuel violent conflict''. This is evident from the militarization of student groups in Balochistan, including the Baloch Students’ Organization. BSO members now make up an alarmingly large proportion of the ''missing person'' whose cases are pending in national courts. If this is the situation regarding the more educated segment of society, it is a worrisome indicator not only of endemic conflict, but also future instability. The generation on whom it falls to build and create is instead contributing to fragmentation, and the state response is to further exacerbate the situation.
Karrar stands out as an exception among the youth of Balochistan – indeed, among the youth of Pakistan. As an individual, what he will take back to his hometown is not only a nuanced understanding of the greater world, but a sense of belonging to a nation that provided him with opportunity. Expansion and improvement of the existing educational infrastructure in Balochistan is therefore a crucial means of addressing the longstanding grievances and sense of exclusion of the Balochi people. While only an outstanding few can aspire to Ivy League schooling, the right to basic, quality education cannot be limited to a privileged minority. In addition, strengthening scholarship schemes, exchange programs and links with national institutions would help bridge the gaps in communication and trust, between Balochistan and the rest of the country.
''Literacy for Peace'' is not a new concept, but is one that is easily displaced by short-term political tactics. It needs to be recognized that there can be no shortcut for the permanent erasure of long-term resentment and separatist sentiment. Only by opening the channels of communication with the next generation, and providing opportunities to access equal representation, can the young Baloch be integrated as a proud citizen within the federation of Pakistan.
Document Type :Forwarded Article
Document ID :AHRC-FAT-053-2011
Countries : Pakistan
Issues : Freedom of religion
Asian Human Rights Commission
Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following article from Jinnah Institute, written by Madeeha Ansari.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
-------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-FAT-053-2011
October 18, 2011
An article from Jinnah Institute forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN: Re-reading the conflict in Balochistan
Madeeha Ansari
Within the bleak context of political turmoil and lack of social development in Balochistan, Karrar’s background as a Shi’ite Hazara placed him at a unique disadvantage.Hailing from a remote valley near Quetta where matriculation is a rarity, he described his hometown as a place where ''nobody wants to see the dream of higher education, because they know that it is impossible.'' His personal journey from Marree Abad, to the Lahore University of Management Sciences, to the Harvard campus in Massachusetts cannot be measured in terms of distance – it is a leap across cultural, traditional and societal barriers. As he put it, the first step was for him to overcome his reservations about English being a ''colonial remnant'', and accepting it as a tool to facilitate progress. After completing his fully funded MPA and PhD in the USA, he plans to return to Balochistan to raise awareness about the importance – and possibility – of education among his people.
Karrar’s decision is based on first-hand experience of what it is to bridge the chasm between Balochistan and the rest of the world. The province stands in isolation within Pakistan itself; there is a clear disconnect between the population there and the rest of the country, particularly in the urban centres. The gap can be illustrated in terms of education; qualitative standards aside, the literacy rate in Balochistan is more than 20 per cent lower than the national average of 57 per cent. While the Balochistan government has pledged 13% of the provincial budget to the education sector, statistics mean little in the context of a province notorious for the phenomenon of “ghost schools”. Effective disbursement of funds also remains a problem – for instance, it has recently been reported that the largest school in Gwadar has not received a single rupee for maintenance and rehabilitation. This level of misgovernance and neglect is particularly dangerous given the complex political situation in the province, in which the absence of alternate narratives makes it vulnerable to forces fuelling cyclical violence.
Amid ominous talk of separatism, Balochistanhas been described by human rights organizations as ''an active volcano that may erupt anytime''. The description is drawn from the examination of a history of grievances harbored by the province against the central government; festering wounds that are renewed by an increasing number of missing persons whose absence is attributed to state agencies.The strong presence of the army and the ISI in the region aims to stamp out separatist forces, only to stoke Baloch nationalism. As a result, the young Baloch nationalist views his (or her) interests to be diametrically opposed to those of Pakistan as a nation and will not concede that secession is not a viable option; that an independent Baloch state cannot be sustained by untapped natural resources and underdeveloped human resources. This mindset makes the youth of the province susceptible to the kind of violent prejudice that has triggered a rise in brutal targeted attacks against non-Baloch teachers and laborers, as well as minority communities like the Shi’ite Hazaras.
UNESCO calls education and armed conflict ''the deadly spirals'', each affecting the other in multiple ways. Apart from the retarding effect of war on social development, educational institutions themselves can become nuclei for the concentration of ''attitudes, beliefs and grievances that fuel violent conflict''. This is evident from the militarization of student groups in Balochistan, including the Baloch Students’ Organization. BSO members now make up an alarmingly large proportion of the ''missing person'' whose cases are pending in national courts. If this is the situation regarding the more educated segment of society, it is a worrisome indicator not only of endemic conflict, but also future instability. The generation on whom it falls to build and create is instead contributing to fragmentation, and the state response is to further exacerbate the situation.
Karrar stands out as an exception among the youth of Balochistan – indeed, among the youth of Pakistan. As an individual, what he will take back to his hometown is not only a nuanced understanding of the greater world, but a sense of belonging to a nation that provided him with opportunity. Expansion and improvement of the existing educational infrastructure in Balochistan is therefore a crucial means of addressing the longstanding grievances and sense of exclusion of the Balochi people. While only an outstanding few can aspire to Ivy League schooling, the right to basic, quality education cannot be limited to a privileged minority. In addition, strengthening scholarship schemes, exchange programs and links with national institutions would help bridge the gaps in communication and trust, between Balochistan and the rest of the country.
''Literacy for Peace'' is not a new concept, but is one that is easily displaced by short-term political tactics. It needs to be recognized that there can be no shortcut for the permanent erasure of long-term resentment and separatist sentiment. Only by opening the channels of communication with the next generation, and providing opportunities to access equal representation, can the young Baloch be integrated as a proud citizen within the federation of Pakistan.
Document Type :Forwarded Article
Document ID :AHRC-FAT-053-2011
Countries : Pakistan
Issues : Freedom of religion
Asian Human Rights Commission
Govt has received messages for talks from extremist elements: Malik
QUETTA, Oct 18 (APP): Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the government had received some messages dispatched from extremist elements for peace talks and dialogue.Replying to a question about a news story published in the US daily Washinton Post, he said: “The government has received messages from extremist elements,” however, dialogues would start when they disarmed themselves.He was talking to mediapersons at Quetta Airport soon after his arrival here on Tuesday.He said the government was serious for progress in dialogue with militants for the cause of peace in the country and added no talks would be held if extremists continued holding arms in their hands.He said some anti-peace forces were involved in hatching conspiracies and activities to destabilize the country.
To another question, he said he had written a letter to Chief Secretary Punjab to detain Ishaq Malik of a banned organization and arrest his nine associates.
He said now Ishaq Malik had been detained and further action was being taken in this regard.
He said the government was aware about reported flying of NATO jets over Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan and added violation of Pakistani space was being noted with observation of International Set Proceedure.
He said no one would be allowed to cast an evil eye on Pakistan and reaction would be given to any action carried out while violating sovereignty of the country.
He said that he was visiting Quetta on the instructions of the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani. “Issues of pilgrims travel to Iran, sectarianism, border surveillance and other law and order related matters would be reviewed during my Quetta visit,” the Interior Minister said and added today (Tuesday) he would be meeting with representatives of Hazara Community and different religious sects.
He said that Afghanistan Militia damaged Pakistan checkpost on border in Chaman, and said steps were being taken to enhance surveillance in border areas.
He said crimes were not only being reported from across the country but also from abroad adding that strategy was being evolved to check thses incidents.
He said that target killing of citizens in Quetta had been decreased with effective measures taken by the government.
He said that masses had given mandate to the Pakistan Peoples’ Party to govern the country and added the PPP-led government would complete its tenure.
He said the Federal Government was responsible to maintain its writ and the provincial governments to maintain law and order within their jurisdiction.
He emphasized the need to promote community policing for securing peace.
Associated Press of Pakistan
To another question, he said he had written a letter to Chief Secretary Punjab to detain Ishaq Malik of a banned organization and arrest his nine associates.
He said now Ishaq Malik had been detained and further action was being taken in this regard.
He said the government was aware about reported flying of NATO jets over Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan and added violation of Pakistani space was being noted with observation of International Set Proceedure.
He said no one would be allowed to cast an evil eye on Pakistan and reaction would be given to any action carried out while violating sovereignty of the country.
He said that he was visiting Quetta on the instructions of the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani. “Issues of pilgrims travel to Iran, sectarianism, border surveillance and other law and order related matters would be reviewed during my Quetta visit,” the Interior Minister said and added today (Tuesday) he would be meeting with representatives of Hazara Community and different religious sects.
He said that Afghanistan Militia damaged Pakistan checkpost on border in Chaman, and said steps were being taken to enhance surveillance in border areas.
He said crimes were not only being reported from across the country but also from abroad adding that strategy was being evolved to check thses incidents.
He said that target killing of citizens in Quetta had been decreased with effective measures taken by the government.
He said that masses had given mandate to the Pakistan Peoples’ Party to govern the country and added the PPP-led government would complete its tenure.
He said the Federal Government was responsible to maintain its writ and the provincial governments to maintain law and order within their jurisdiction.
He emphasized the need to promote community policing for securing peace.
Associated Press of Pakistan
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