ISLAMABAD, May 23: The Amnesty International has expressed grave concerns over the United States’ targeting and killings of civilians inside Pakistan and the arrest, detention and disappearance of Pakistanis by their own government in the name of war on terror.
In its report on the State of the World Human Rights-2006, released at a press conference held at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club here on Tuesday, the Amnesty International has highlighted how the world’s poor and disadvantaged paid the price of the war on terror.
Speaking at the press conference, AI Secretary-General for Pakistan Iqbal A. Detho said the attack carried out by US forces in Damadola village of the Bajaur Agency, in which civilians including women and children were bombed, was a gross violation of human rights committed by the United States inside Pakistan in the name of war on terror.
He said dozens of people were arbitrarily arrested and detained in the context of war on terror by Pakistani authorities. Several of them disappeared and some were handed over to the US custody without trying them in the local courts.
“Disappearances were also reported from Balochistan. Blasphemy laws continued to be used to persecute members of religious minorities. The state took no action to prevent honour crimes or punish perpetrators,” Mr Detho said.
He said the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), which provided protection to children within the justice system, was temporarily reinstated. The JJSO, although formally extended to tribal areas, was not implemented there. In Fata, dozens of children, some under the age of five, were imprisoned on three-year sentences under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) for crimes allegedly committed by members of their families.
The report, which highlights the state of human rights in 150 countries, said that 241 people were sentenced to death in Pakistan and at least 31 were executed, a majority of them for murder.
Many well-off convicts were able to escape punishment under provisions of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance that allow heirs of murder victims to accept compensation and pardon offenders.
