May 15 , 2015
News
Arrest killers of Ismailis as soon as possible: HRW
NEW YORK: The Pakistani government should investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the May 13 attack on Ismailis in Karachi that killed 43 people, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
Jundullah, a splinter group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in which six gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Ismailis to a community centre.
The attack highlights the vulnerabilities of Pakistan’s minorities to attack. The Karachi attack indicates that despite the government’s tough rhetoric against armed groups since the December 2014 TTP attack on a school in Peshawar that left at least 148 dead, they remain a potent threat to religious minorities.
“The carnage in Karachi suggests that Shia and other religious minorities are at risk anywhere in Pakistan,” said deputy director Asia at Human Rights Watch Phelim Kine. “Anyone who believed that the government measures put in place after the December attack in Peshawar would resolve the problem of extremist violence needs to think again.”
Extremist groups such as the TTP and Lakshar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a Pakistani Taliban-affiliated organisation, view Muslim minorities as heretics whose killing is therefore justified. The LeJ have targeted in particular the Shia Hazara minority in Quetta, causing hundreds of deaths since 2008.
The government’s response to extremist violence against the country’s religious minorities reflects incompetence, indifference, or possible complicity by the state security forces and other agencies. The authorities have repeatedly failed to apprehend or prosecute members of militant groups that have claimed responsibility for such attacks. While the authorities claim to have arrested dozens of suspects linked to attacks against Shia since 2008, only a handful have actually been charged with any crimes. A series of attacks on Shia houses of worship has resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people since January.
The government’s reaction to the December 2014 Peshawar school attack prioritised measures that undermined human rights while neglecting action against groups linked to such atrocities. Those measures include the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty, which has resulted in 103 executions since December. The government has also implemented a National Action Plan against terrorism that permits the use of military courts for terrorism-related prosecutions, prohibitions on funding of alleged terrorist organisations, and legal penalties for hate speech, without adequate legal safeguards. But despite Prime Minister’s Nawaz Sharif’s pledge that “No armed organisation will be allowed to operate,” the Karachi attack suggests that organisations that target religious minorities continue to operate with impunity.
The government and security forces remain unable or unwilling to hold extremist groups accountable and to protect citizens who are at grave risk, the HRW said. The massacre in Karachi highlights the government’s misdirected approach to combating terrorism.
“Enacting draconian counter-terrorism legislation and carrying out executions and arbitrary arrests deprives citizens of fundamental rights, while failing to make them any safer from attack,” Kine said.
The government should empower civilian law enforcement to effectively maintain law and order, apprehend perpetrators, and prevent future violent attacks of this nature. The use of military and paramilitary forces as primary law enforcement agencies in urban centres such as Karachi is not a solution. The government can start this process by reviewing the National Action Plan to ensure it respects rights and is transparent, the HRW said.Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk