December 11, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 25, 1422

KARACHI, Dec 10: Various NGOs staged demonstrations to highlight the issues relating to human rights violations on the occasion of International Human Rights Day which is observed around the globe on Dec 10.

Speakers at a demonstration, organized by the Joint Action Committee at the Karachi Press Club, demanded that an independent international inquiry be conducted into the Qila Jangi massacre and the culprits be tried and awarded exemplary punishment.

They said hundreds of prisoners of war, including Afghans (Taliban) and their overseas supporters who had come to help them out in their war and were captured at Mazar-i-Sharif and Qunduz, were hoarded into the Qila Jangi in Northern Afghanistan.

They said these prisoners were reportedly killed in cold-blood by the forces of the Northern Alliance and the targeted bombing by the US-led Alliance’s aircraft. They demanded that an independent inquiry be conducted and culprits be brought to justice and tried for war crimes.

They also said that now when the Taliban regime had been dislodged and almost all the cities and other areas had been taken over by the anti-Taliban forces, bombing by the US-led allied aircraft be stopped as it was killing a large number of innocent people, including women, children and the elderly.

They further demanded that UN peace-keeping troops be immediately sent to the Afghanistan to maintain law and order and to ensure that there was no revenge-killing by the new administrators.

They also demanded that reconstruction of Afghanistan, which had been devastated by over two-decades long crisis, and the recent ruthless bombing by the allied forces, be started soon so that over three million Afghan refugees who had been living in the neighbouring countries could return to their homes safely and restart their normal activities.

They said that the JAC had also launched a “peace plaque drive” under which it intended to collect posters, cards etc with messages of peace written on them. It has sent plain cards to various organizations requesting them to write down their messages.

They said this would be an on-going drive to mobilise public opinion from all walks of life and age groups and they would express their views on peace through words and images to voice their concerns regarding peace.

They said the JAC had started the movement about a couple of weeks back and it had already collected over a 1,000 cards, posters, etc some of which were put on display at the demonstration at the Karachi Press Club on Monday. The JAC plans to collect around a million such cards or plaques etc. by the end of the year.

Some of the messages written on the cards, posters and plaques on display at the press club were: “Peace broken into pieces”; “Result of war is human rights violations”; “No to war, yes to peace”; “ Peace necessary for a beautiful tomorrow”; “Stop bombing Afghanistan”, etc.

Dr Haroon Ahmad and Syed Moazzam Ali of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Anis Haroon of the Aurat Foundation and others also spoke.

The JAC comprises the Aurat Foundation, Amnesty International, HRCP, Forum for Peace and Development, Women Action Forum, War Against Rape, Urban Resource Centre, Shirkatgah, Medical Equipment Aid, Idara-i-Amn-o-Insaf, Karachi Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association, Progressive Youth Council Gazdarabad, Orangi Pilot Project, Pakistan Medical Association, HREP, Citizen Silent Majority, etc.

Pakistan Study Circle: Another demonstration was organized by the Pakistan Study Circle and Mother Mary Trust at the Press Club. PSC chief Rahila Tiwana also demanded a probe into the Qila Jangi carnage and punishment to the culprits.

She demanded that when the Pakistan government was demanding that Afghanistan should have a representative government why it was not giving the same right to the Pakistanis. She demanded that elections be held immediately and that 33 per cent of the seats in the assemblies be reserved for the women.

SAHRS demanded: The South Asia Human Rights Society has demanded that the rights of the people of Afghanistan, Indian- held Kashmir, Chechnia and Palestine be restored and the reign of terror that has been let lose on them be stopped.