Release of ‘non-combatants’: Govt weighing options on crucial TTP demand

Negotiator says those held without evidence should be released.

ISLAMABAD:

With the government now assured that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will extend its ceasefire, the release of ‘non-combatants’ is once again at the forefront of the peace process. The government, reportedly, has started weighing its options pertaining to the demand upon which negotiations with the Taliban hinge.

“The consistent stance of the government is that there are no women and children in their custody,” a member of the five-member government peace talks committee told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

The Taliban, on the other hand, continue to insist that security agencies have detained ‘non-combatant’ women and children, and have handed over a list of such individuals they want the government to release.

“What decision the government will take is still unknown,” said that government negotiator when asked about how the government will react to the demand. He suggested, however, that the government should release prisoners who have been detained without documentary evidence.

“Non-combatant or not, the government should release prisoners it has kept in custody for the past two to three years without any evidence or documentary proof,” he said, adding that the government should let them go even if the Taliban did not ask for their release.

“If there are such people… people who were arrested because of territorial or collective responsibility… and there is no evidence against them, there will be no harm in releasing a few dozen of them, out of several hundreds,” the negotiator said.

“The act will provide the much-needed impetus to the peace process instead.”

He said the government must be consulting within itself and with the prime minister when asked about the second round of talks. “They will be able to formulate some clear policy or vision after that.”

Earlier in the day, TTP’s chief intermediary Maulana Samiul Haq contacted Pakistan Ulema Council [PUC] Chairman Maulana Tahir Ashrafi and discussed developments related to talks.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Ashrafi said that the government was “positively considering the demand of releasing prisoners.”

He said PUC has asked both sides for the release of prisoners and added that “the Taliban should help the government regarding the evidence it has sought for such people in its captivity.”

“We are all working for a permanent ceasefire and in this regard what we can do is put moral pressure on the Taliban.”

Meanwhile, the government negotiator said, “The underlying assumption is that as long the talks continue, the ceasefire will continue as well.”

“We have told them very clearly that even if this deadline expires, we should assume that the ceasefire is holding,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2014.