PESHAWAR, Jan 10: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged the federal government to abandon its plans of fencing and mining parts of border with Afghanistan and sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, HRCP vice-chairperson Kamran Arif said the government’s announcement that the plan could be reviewed was a welcome sign.
"HRCP is appalled that the draconian plan, which violates humanitarian standards and international agreements, was proposed at a high level. This is especially true since the authorities are fully aware that divided tribes and even families based on the Pakistan-Afghan border regularly move across it for gatherings or tribal events, and require no visa to do so," said Mr Arif.
He said it was shocking that the authors of the plan forgot that children regularly played in areas along the border, which had not been demarcated at many places.
“Apparently the terrible danger posed to these children by death and fearful injury, including loss of limb, that landmines are known to cause is not enough to persuade the authorities to avoid placing deadly weapons across wide stretches of Pakistan's territory,” he said.
As in many other matters, it took pressure from the outside world to induce them to think, he said.
It was also obvious that the issue of cross-border militancy and accusations in this regard made by Afghanistan could not be dealt with through such crude methods, said the HRCP official, adding that militancy needed to be tackled through holistic policies “which address the socio-economic issues and the notions of injustice that are spurring it on.”
Allegations being made by Kabul and the increasingly tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan could only be resolved through a continuous process of talks, he said.
He called upon the Pakistan government to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty which was already ratified by 151 countries of the world.
“It must also bring to an end its ignominious status as one of the few countries still manufactures landmines by ending this process and destroying its large existing stockpiles so that no further victims can be claimed by these terrible weapons which have inflicted immense suffering on so many people in the region and elsewhere in the world,” he said.
