Not a Single Terrorist Brought to Justice: Alan
LONDON – British Parliament issued a resolution asking government to pressurize Pakistani government for absence of Justice with Hazara community in Pakistan. British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Afghanistan/South Asia, counter terrorism/proliferation), Alistair Burt, said that "Media reports claim that almost 700 Hazaras have been killed in Pakistan since 2004 and I acknowledge to terrifying statistics about the absence of justice" adding that "we remain very concerned about the response of the Pakistani authorities to those statistics, and we will apply pressure in relation to them".
While responding to the MPs on the Adjournment Debate on the floor of the House of Commons, Alistair Burt maintained that in 2011, the Hazara in Balochistan suffered a number of major attacks, including on September 19 when gunmen killed 26 Hazara pilgrims returning from Iran. Lashkar-e Jhangvi claimed responsibility for that attack and has waged a sustained campaign of violence against the community. On October 4, 2011 attackers killed 13 passengers, mostly Hazara, travelling on a bus in Quetta.
Referring to the plight of Pakistan's Hazara community, he assured that house that persecution of Hazara community in Pakistan will be recognized in the 2011 Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights report, which is due to be published this month.
He informed that MPs that he discussed security and economic development with the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, last week in UK and raised his concerns over the rights of religious minorities, including the Hazara community and further more the specific issues of Hazara rights and of sectarian violence in Balochistan were raised with the Balochi authorities and with parliamentarians by British officials in October. Local discussion of those issues has continued since, with our officials engaging with, among others, Balochi members of the National Assembly.
While showing his concern about the low-key response of Pakistan's authorities to September and October's violent attacks, he demanded of higher authorities to bring to justice all those responsible for the killings. Enhancing the rule of law in Pakistan is vital to improving the plight of the Hazara community, he stressed.
The presence of the Afghan Taliban in Quetta has amplified the repression of Pakistani Shi'a, including Hazara, in the region. We welcome the progress made by the Hazaras of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. It has seen high-profile Hazaras occupy key positions in the Afghan Government. In Kabul, UK officials engage with a range of Hazara interlocutors and continue to promote an inclusive political process. The Hazara community in Iran has also complained of mistreatment, and we will continue to appeal to Iran, including through the United Nations and the European Union, to respect human rights. Those details give Members a sense of how the Hazara community is treated throughout the whole region.
Earlier, leading the Adjournment Debate Alan Johnson, a MP From Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, briefed the house about the persecution of the Hazara community in Quetta city in the Pakistan province of Balochistan and its aim is to draw attention to their plight. The ultimate objective is to put pressure on the Pakistan authorities to do more to capture those who are responsible.
There are about 600,000 Hazaras living in Quetta city and they are being killed practically on a daily basis and it has been estimated that about 600 have been killed so far, yet not a single perpetrator has been captured and brought to justice, he pointed out.
While agreeing with the viewpoints of Alan Johnson, Mark Lancaster, MP from Milton Keynes North, said that his point is so powerful that it deserves underlining. Does he share my concern that while that statistic of more than 600 deaths and not a single conviction remains, it is very hard to take seriously the Pakistan Government's claim that they are tackling this matter?
The response of the authorities in Balochistan has been to restrict the movement of the Hazaras themselves—to forbid them entering certain districts and to apply travel restrictions—and to treat the murders with a mixture of complacency and complicity, Alan Johnson said and further added that last September/October almost 50 Hazaras were taken from buses and wagons in separate incidents, lined up and killed.
The Chief Minister of Balochistan responded with levity, saying in a television interview that he would send a truckload of tissue paper to the bereaved families. That is the kind of atmosphere in which the Hazaras are living. The authorities know that the Hazaras are a target for terrorist groups and that an al-Qaeda affiliate is seeking to make Pakistan, in their words, Hazaras' graveyard. They state that their mission is to eliminate "this impure sect" and people "from every city, every village…and corner of Pakistan."
Responding to Alan Johnson, Pakistani born politician Rehman Chishti, MP Gillingham and Rainham, said that it was not the only Hazara community being affected? The Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities were also suffering as a result of Pakistan's having been a front-line state in the war against Russia and then in the war against al-Qaeda after 9/11. As a result, radicalization and sectarian violence had spread from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
Replying to Chishti, Alan Johnson said that the high commissioner for Pakistan made the same point when he contacted me about this debate. I shall say some things later about the difficulties that Pakistan is facing, but that must not detract from the fact that these killings are taking place on a daily basis.
The authorities seem remarkably complacent about it and not a single perpetrator has been brought to justice. The movement of Hazaras is restricted, their pursuers walk freely in the city despite the heavy presence of the police, the army and the frontier corps who all have checkpoints in and around Quetta.
The reason for that persecution is not just the Hazaras' religion—they are predominantly Shi'a Muslims—but their genetic link to the Mongol people, which allows them to be recognized by their physical appearance. Hazaras are also persecuted because have pursued higher education, enrolled in the army and occupied senior positions in government, the civil service and civic society more generally. They are the kind of law-abiding citizen who would play an important role in a free, democratic Afghanistan and a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan. Thus, they are the enemies of a whole range of terrorist groups.
Alan further added: "the persecution—some would say genocide—carried out against the Hazaras has been well documented by the United Nations, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and organizations such as the New York-based monitoring body Human Rights Watch. However, there is insufficient awareness nationally and internationally about what the Hazaras are going through, despite the best efforts of the Hazara community and organizations such as the Hazara Organization for Progress and Equality, or HOPE, which seeks to raise these issues in Parliaments around the world.
"The attacks are intensifying. Hazaras are murdered when they stay in Quetta and killed when they try to leave. Fifty five young Hazaras were drowned in the waters of Indonesia on December 20, 2011 when trying to escape their perilous existence. The Hazaras believe that the religious militant groups carrying out these killings are state sponsored, and there is evidence for that assertion.
The Asian Human Rights Commission reported on January 06, 2012 that the Pakistan army had created a militant organization to kill intellectuals, activists and Hazaras in Balochistan. I have seen a copy of an official letter from the Government of Balochistan informing the military authorities and the police in Quetta about the presence of a man called Sabir Mehsood, whose stated aim was to murder Hazaras, but no action was taken to apprehend him.
Thus, more than 80 Hazaras were killed in Quetta by this man and his fellow operatives last year, he explained and elaborated that the international community cannot allow this persecution to continue. There are significant Hazara populations in countries around the world, particularly in Australia, and these countries should co-ordinate and intensify their efforts.
I know that the Minister is fully engaged in trying to pressurize the Pakistani authorities to protect the Hazara community in Quetta, and I know that the Foreign Secretary is equally committed. The Pakistani Government must do more to root out state-supported terrorism wherever it exists. It undoubtedly exists in Quetta city, and the Hazaras are its principal victims. It is a good place to begin this process," he explained.
Iain Stewart, a MP from Milton Keynes South, thanked for the opportunity to make a short contribution to the debate. He congratulated Alan Johnson on securing it and felt happy to endorse all his points, which, in the interests of brevity, he will not repeat. Expressing his concerns, he said those attacks were not being dealt with appropriately by the authorities in Pakistan. I join him in imploring the Minister to do all he can to influence the situation, he added.
While taking part in the Adjournment Debate, Stella Creasy, a MP from Walthamstow, congratulated Alan Johnson on securing the debate and further supported the Hazara community in Britain to come forward and raise concerns, and in engaging with the Foreign Office in making progress in Pakistan on some of these issues.
Concluding his remarks, Alan Johnson said that he is pleased that the plight of the Hazara will—for the first time, I believe—be covered in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights document. I understand what the Minister is saying about the persecution of other religions. However, does he agree, that if no one raises the persecution of a specific group, we will never discuss any terrorist targets?
Does he agree that it is very difficult to find another religion or ethnic group in Pakistan that has quite the same level of apparent compliance in these murders, with absolutely none of the perpetrators brought to justice? If there are other groups—although this is not a contest to see who has been treated worst—I would be very surprised. There is a specific issue about the Hazara that needs to be addressed.
The Adjournment Debate took thirty minutes to conclude.