‘Taliban families’ expelled from Swat

[Prometheus]

PESHAWAR: About 130 relatives of suspected Taliban fighters have been expelled from Pakistan's Swat valley and are living in a camp guarded by the military, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

The army, which fought to evict the Taliban from the northwestern district last year and which is responsible for security in the area, said the families were expelled by a local council, or jirga, because their relatives failed to surrender.

But Pakistan's leading human rights organisation criticised the move as illegal and called on the government to take action against the jirga.

“There are about 25 families and 130 individuals,” Colonel Akhtar Abbas, an army spokesman in Swat, told AFP by telephone.

“A jirga expelled these people because there is a fear that they are still providing support to the militants and targeted killings started in the area,”the spokesman said.

The families were ordered out after a May 20 deadline on Taliban fighters to surrender expired and the military drove them to the camp “on a humanitarian basis”, said Abbas.

Several recent targeted killings have hit local peace committee members and community elders in the Kabal area of northern Swat, which was considered a Taliban stronghold before the army offensive.

The men, women and children are living in tents at a former Afghan refugee camp at Palai, a barren and mountainous area of the Malakand region, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Peshawar, witnesses said.

Military and civil administration officials told AFP they were providing food, water, a doctor and other supplies to the families.

One local journalist who visited the area said it was impossible to enter or leave the camp without permission from the military and that the premises were heavily guarded by dozens of police and soldiers.

The military told AFP on Tuesday that it would not be possible to visit the camp for at least several days.

Local district coordination officer Javed Marwat said the families were being kept in “protective custody” for their own security because of possible impending military operations in Kabal.

“There was fear and information that these families were providing information or supporting the militants. That is why they have been shifted here and put in a camp,” Marwat told AFP.

Asked whether such custody of displaced persons was legal, Marwat replied:“The situation is very tense and people were angry. There was fear that these people were providing information and support to the militants”.

When contacted by AFP, the information minister of northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain refused to comment.

But the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was unlawful to expel militants' families and asked the government to take action against the tribal council.

“It is against law. A person domiciled in a district cannot be expelled,”said Kamran Arif, HRCP vice president for KP province.

“We are against the law of collective responsibility. If someone becomes a militant, his family should not be punished,” Arif told AFP.

“No lashkar (local militia) or tribal council has the authority to expel or punish anyone and government should take action against it,” he added.— AFP
DAWN.COM | Provinces | ?Taliban families? expelled from Swat

 

[zagahaga]

support the taliban? get out aswell . but to be noted that here talibs do forceful marrages and i think it might be a bad mistake

 

[Mujahid]

GOOD, Kick them out..

 

[hal-fgfa]

but why their families ????

its like we have to kick families of naxals ?? i think no

we have to solve problem but not by this way

 

[wali87]

You don't have to take the headache of solving any problems my friend.

If they are expelled by the local jirga then obviosly they were supporting the taliban as the JIRGA is comprised of local people who actually know whats going on. If they choose to support people who are killing innocent people, then they should definitely be expelled not only from swat but from pakistan.

It is indeed the kindness of the Pakistan Army that they are being given food and shelter along with medical supplies and most importantly, being allowed to live in secured camps.

 

[Musafar]

This is tantamount to collective punishment and illegal under the UN charter of human rights needless to say it's something which is routinely carried out by Israel. Also, similarly interning hundreds in militarized camps, is something the Sri lankan army has come under heavy scrutiny for worldwide - namely due to smuggled out phone footage of summary executions and accusations of mass rapes that occurred in internment camps where there was a media black out.

Anyway, can anyone seriously tell me, after looking at the above picture of the little albino girl, that it's acceptable in a civilized society to boot someone like that out of their domiciled area and into the middle of nowhere 'cos some distant cousin of hers wont hand himself in?

To those who say, but the JIRGA decided it, then I say what happened the last time a JIRGA full of hotheads wanted to rule swat? what happened then is a consequence of what we are seeing now.

 

[Dr.Evil]

Is collective punishment the norm ?

Collective punishment will create more monsters than getting justice to the people.

 

[pak-yes]

As they were expelled by JIRGA which is made up of local people who know better than anyone else about the local situation.It means they must really be supporting be Taliban.They should kicked out of Pakistan.

 

[Patriot]

This is tantamount to collective punishment and illegal under the UN charter of human rights needless to say it's something which is routinely carried out by Israel. Also, similarly interning hundreds in militarized camps, is something the Sri lankan army has come under heavy scrutiny for worldwide - namely due to smuggled out phone footage of summary executions and accusations of mass rapes that occurred in internment camps where there was a media black out.

Anyway, can anyone seriously tell me, after looking at the above picture of the little albino girl, that it's acceptable in a civilized society to boot someone like that out of their domiciled area and into the middle of nowhere 'cos some distant cousin of hers wont hand himself in?

To those who say, but the JIRGA decided it, then I say what happened the last time a JIRGA full of hotheads wanted to rule swat? what happened then is a consequence of what we are seeing now.

Well - You should blame the parents of albino girl who continue to support Talibans.Before you start your anti pushtun rant..taliban have killed more pushtuns then other ethnicites.

 

[sparklingway]

Guilt by Association? 130 Relatives of Taliban Fighters Expelled from Swat

According to news agencies, about 130 relatives (25 families) of suspected Taliban militants have been expelled from their homes in Swat Valley and are currently “living in a camp guarded by the military.”

Here’s the interesting part – the families were not “banished” by the Pakistani military. They were ordered to leave by Swat’s local jirga (council) “because their relatives failed to surrender” to security forces, reported the AFP on Tuesday. Colonel Akhtar Abbas, an army spokesman in Swat, told reporters, “A jirga expelled these people because there is a fear that they are still providing support to the militants and targeted killings started in the area.”

According to BBC News, “The military has put them up at a camp previously used by Afghan refugees in the Malakand area.” After guards at the camp reportedly stopped reporters from talking to people there, Col. Abbas told the BBC, “We are not hiding anything, we will take media persons to the camp when the time is right.” Although Abbas said the Army is providing these families “food, drinks, and other necessities,” news agencies noted there are “unconfirmed reports that people in the camp have had their mobile phones taken away.”

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan have condemned this development, claiming it was unlawful to expel militants’ families. The organization asked the government to take action against the tribal council, telling reporters, “We are against the law of collective responsibility. If someone becomes a militant, his family should not be punished. No lashkar (local militia) or tribal council has the authority to expel or punish anyone and the government should take action against it.” HRCP, in the statement, added, “If anyone is suspected of wrongdoing, he or she can be kept under observation in their own areas as well.”

This situation is interesting because it delves into issues of collective responsibility and guilt by association. In Israel, for example, the country’s military (IDF) has used a house demolition policy since 1967, ultimately destroying Palestinian homes “to deter Palestinians from acting against Israel and its citizens.” According to the organization Diakonia, “t appears that the main motivation behind these demolitions, referred to as punitive demolitions, is to punish the Palestinian society for acts committed against Israelis. The demolished homes belong to families of Palestinians that have either carried out or are suspected of having carried out violent actions against Israelis.” Such actions are essentially in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states, “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed, and ‘collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.’”

In the case of the Swati families with alleged associations to Taliban militants, here are some interesting questions:

1. Should the expulsion of 130 individuals from Swat Valley to a military-administered camp be considered collective punishment, if all families refused to surrender their Taliban-linked relatives? Is this action then ultimately a violation of international law?
2. Even if the families didn’t give up their relatives, should they be banished to refugee camps and made IDPs? Or could the situation have been handled without this expulsion?
3. Now that they are in these camps, how long are they expected to stay there? Will they be welcome to return home in the long-term?

The development raises important questions that should be asked in an asymmetric war where the lines between good and bad are more blurred than polarized. Moreover, given Pakistan’s still-pertinent IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) situation, it seems problematic to actively add more people to camps, seemingly without a strategy to return them home. Although many IDPs have since returned to Swat since last year, numbers of people in the country continue to be displaced due to military operations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated last month that there are roughly 1.24 million IDPs in Pakistan, (The recent landslide in Hunza has displaced more people, and about 1300 people are currently housed in a camp in Altit village).

For the now displaced relatives, the ramifications of this perceived collective punishment should also be taken into consideration. Such actions are certain to fuel more discontent among these populations, which is problematic. Moreover, although the military has said the decision was made at the hands of the local jirga, it is likely they at least had some influence in that policy. Ali Dayan Hasan, the South Asia researcher with the NY-based Human Rights Watch, told me that there has been “a pattern of abuse by local jirgas and militias at the request of the military,” a phenomenon HRW has been tracking in Swat Valley. He added, “The state authority should ensure that these people can return to their homes in safety and remain secure upon return.”

I wonder though whether the damage has already been done.

(Many thanks to Gregg for background help on Israel’s house demolition policy!)

 

[Musafar]

Well - You should blame the parents of albino girl who continue to support Talibans.Before you start your anti pushtun rant..taliban have killed more pushtuns then other ethnicites.

FYI - I am Pashtun and have lived in K-P -khwa.

You're disgust for basic human rights is embarrassing. I hope your not from this place and someone in your family hasn't committed a crime, for your sake. I can bet you'll be kicking and screaming, pleading for some moral decency to be bestowed and some basic reasoning to be comprehended, unlike the little albino girl.

She, as you well know, hasn't been afforded even a rebuttal...

Next...

 

[mehru]

If taliban relatives of these families failed to surrender then how come it is their mistake? They should not be punished for the crimes that they have not committed. This is unfair. Jirga should revise their decision.
But if i am not wrong then i guess this is the way jirga system works in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa. They punish relatives of the criminal if their relatives fail to produce that particular criminal.

 

[Patriot]

FYI - I am Pashtun and have lived in K-P -khwa.

You're disgust for basic human rights is embarrassing. I hope your not from this place and someone in your family hasn't committed a crime, for your sake. I can bet you'll be kicking and screaming, pleading for some moral decency to be bestowed and some basic reasoning to be comprehended, unlike the little albino girl.

She, as you well know, hasn't been afforded even a rebuttal...

Next...

So do you think the parents should be executed and the girl should continue to live in Swat..?Supporting anti state elements when there is an operation going on is treason and death is punishment for treason.There is a lot of difference between supporting relatives who are terrorists and having a relative who is terrorist.I ave a lot of sympathy for the girl but none for the parents who dont care about their children.

 

[Durrak]

it is really un fair
how can we gve punish to an innocent 4 the crime he hvent done

 

[Imran Khan]

unfair if i kill some one you can't hang my brother sister mother father. this action bring more hate and sport for terarr.