ISLAMABAD, March 14: Pakistan must give more powers to its civilian law enforcement agencies in the battle against militancy and not rely on the military which is appeasing militants, according to a think-tank.

The United States has long supported the Pakistani military, with billions of dollars in aid, especially since Pakistan threw its support behind US efforts to defeat Al Qaeda after the Sept 11 attacks in 2001.

But the International Crisis Group (ICG) said civilian security and investigation agencies were essential for stability and tackling militancy, but they lacked the resources and authority to meet their potential.

“The international community, particularly the US, must ... help strengthen civilian control over all areas of governance, including counter-terrorism, and the capacity of the federal government to override the military’s appeasement policies,” ICG president Gareth Evans said in a report obtained on Saturday.

The military has ruled for more than half Pakistan’s 61 years of history and the ICG has long been critical of its support for Islamists.

Pakistan backed militants who fought Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan in the 1980s and it supported the Taliban until the Sept 11 attacks. Pakistan denies any support for the Taliban since 2001. Links with groups fighting in occupied Kashmir were officially severed when those groups were banned soon after then.

Nevertheless, the ICG said the military continued to support Kashmiri groups and appease other militants. It cited as an example a peace deal in the Swat valley.

“Civilian control of all areas of governance, through a sustained democratic transition and strengthening of civilian institutions, is crucial for stability,” the group said.

The police cannot even access mobile phone records, the starting point of many investigations, without clearance from the military’s main intelligence agency, the ISI Directorate, it claimed.

November’s attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai presented an opportunity to reshape Pakistan’s response to militancy, the group said. Efforts should not rely on indiscriminate force, including military action, and arbitrary detentions but on police investigations, arrests, fair trial and convictions, it said.

“This must be civilian-led to be effective,” it said.

Referring to a power struggle between the country’s two main political parties that threatens to bring turmoil, the group said: “Instead of confronting each other, these parties must cooperate on reforms to buttress civilian institutions.”—Reuters
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