PTI senior leader Dr Shireen Mazari. PHOTO: NNI/FILE
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) filed a resolution in the National Assembly on Monday, calling for military action against US drone strikes if needed.
According to a draft submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat by PTI Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari, for nine years America’s remotely-piloted aircraft have rained missiles upon Pakistani territory, killing innocent citizens in far greater numbers than they have killed ‘militants’.
“Today, we, the newly elected representatives of the people of Pakistan in the National Assembly, express deep distress over the deaths of more than 3,000 Pakistani civilians due to drone strikes since their initiation in 2004.”
The resolution called on the “…government of Pakistan to take steps to halt all drone attacks, including: asking the US to end drone strikes over Pakistani territory; taking diplomatic and, if need be, military measures to respond firmly to any such attack immediately.”
The draft went on to say that drones violated Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Moreover, it said that strikes qualified as ‘genocide’ under the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.
Additionally, PTI’s resolution stressed that the government should abide by the Peshawar High Court verdict of April 2013 in which drone strikes were deemed illegal and threatening for “a handful of alleged militants, who are not engaged in combat with the US authorities or forces.”
“This resolution demands the government to protect the sovereignty of Pakistan, the international law cited above and enforce the judgment of the Peshawar High Court as soon as possible.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2013.
COMMENTS (4)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1715843823-0/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-16-at-12-14-16-(1)1715843823-0-270x192.webp)
God its sometimes embarrassing to be related to her, if we try and shoot a US drone, we'll get far more than what we bargained for and it could lead to a total economic boycott by the rest of the world. Not even the Gulf States would be willing to trade with us then, for fear of having sanctions themselves.
Miss Mazari you are an expert in strategic studies, do you really mean " Military measure " is an option with Pakistan? Or have you left behind your academic career and have become a typical pakistani politician? Now about the question of sovereignty and international law. Dont you think these foreign militants ( Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks, tajiks, Africans and others ) are violating your sovereignty and all international & pakistani laws by entering, residing and exiting our borders and territory at will and without legal documents? And not only living but waging war against us and the world. Eject them from your land, make them respect your sovereignty and laws, rest assured Americans will also respect your laws. And you know it better than others that your resolutions will fetch you nothing so take the issue wisely and find a reasonable solution to it. Electioneering is over and let point scoring also come to an end.
why is nobody tabling a resolution condemning attacks on civilians by the Taliban? that should be done first
Please stop calling it Imran Khan's PTI. Its Pakistan Tehreek Pakistan. The media is doing it themselves and then complaint about such things from Politicians.