30 June 2004	Wednesday	11 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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QUETTA, June 29: The Balochistan government on Tuesday released the report of a tribunal which investigated the Quetta Ashura carnage. The report blames lapses on the part of security agencies for the tragic incident.

It also says that a number of participants of the procession were armed. Provincial Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani presented the findings and recommendations of the tribunal at a press conference. Home Secretary Abdul Rauf Khan and Capital City Police Officer Rafi Pervez Bhatti were present on the occasion.

The tribunal was set up by the provincial government to probe into the terrorist attack on the procession in which 40 people were killed and over 150 were injured. The tribunal was headed by the Balochistan High Court judge, Justice Akhtar Zaman Malghani.

The report said the administration took the entire affair as a matter of routine, ignoring terrorist incidents which had occurred in different parts of the country at that time. They neither had any strategy to combat such a situation nor did they work out a plan after the attack to handle the situation, the report added.

The report said that during the investigation, police was able to exactly identify any individual or group who had carried out attack. However, the arms and ammunitions recovered had inscription of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which shows that most probably the attack was carried by members of the banned organization.

The procession was attacked by three people who were Brahvi. The tribunal also described the role of Anti-Terrorist Force and police, and absolved the ATF from the charge of being involved in the firing on the mourners.

It observed that the ATF personnel had apprehended some of the protesters along with arms and handed them over to police, which shows that if the ATF carried out any firing, was not without any justification. They were compelled to do so under the circumstances to protect themselves, it added.

According to the report, Mr Nausherwani said that people who looted, burnt and ransacked property after the terrorist attack were participants of the procession and were armed with different kinds of weapons. Failure of security agencies to prevent the looting and arson was a security lapse, he added.

The tribunal also made recommendations for preventing such incidents in future. The home minister said that it had recommended efforts to promote cordial relations among the people belonging to different schools of thought.

The tribunal also recommended that intelligence and other investigation capacity be enhanced in order to trace and punish perpetrators of sectarian violence and preachers of extremism. It also calls for action against members of banned organizations under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

It says that the route of the procession be described after consultations with notables and ulema of both the sects to minimize security threats and at the start of Muharram, certificates be obtained from owners of buildings situated along the procession route and thorough inspections should be conducted by intelligence agencies.

It further recommended that law-enforcement agencies and other authorities concerned should after consultations with the organizers of the procession, ensure that none of the participants of the procession was armed.

The tribunal also suggested establishment of a central command and control centre with an adequate number of wireless sets for communication with all the forces deployed along the route.

After the devolution of power, ASP/DSP authorized to open fire as a last resort in order to disperse assembly, but in Balochistan this power was entrusted to DAOs and ADAOs under amended ordinance, the tribunal observed and recommended that either this power be re-entrusted to SPs, ASPs/ DSPs or the presence of DAO/ADAO should be ensured on such occasions so that in case of any ugly situation appropriate and timely orders could be given.

The police force deployed on such occasions should also pay attention to the aspects of crowd control in case of terrorist attack and, for this purpose, a sufficient force in the form of reserves equipped with tear gas, a public address system, anti-riot equipment was required, the tribunal further recommended.

Replying to a question the home minister said that the government would fully implement the report and suggestions of the tribunal. He said that action would also be taken against those whom the tribunal had held responsible for the incident.