Petition filed in Supreme Court against US drone strikes in FATA

US drone strikes are in violation of the Constitution of Pakistan, says petitioner.

ISLAMABAD: A petition filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday has sought the court’s direction to the federal government to stop US drone strikes which has contributed to the deaths of innocents in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Mado Jan filed the petition under Article 184(3) of constitution, listing the federation through secretaries Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Information and US diplomats as respondents.

The petitioner argued that according to a report from political authorities of North Waziristan Agency, 896 civilians in the district have been killed by drone attacks over the last five years till December 2012. The attacks also left at least 209 people with serious injured. Only 47 foreigners were killed and six injured.

Similarly, in South Waziristan Agency 70 drone strikes were carried out in the last five years till June 2012. Jan stated that 553 local civilians were killed and 126 injured in those attacks.

The petitioner mentioned that the National and Provincial Assemblies of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan passed the resolutions but the respondents did not take the necessary steps to restrain drone attacks.

He complained that TV news channels and journalists have showed no interest in demanding permission to visit the site of a drone strike and show the real picture of drone devastation.

The petitioner contended that the drone strikes, with or without the consent of respondents, against its citizens was in violation of Article 245 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Under the constitution, he argued that the Armed Forces can be called either to defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war or to act in aid of civil power.

Jan added that Pakistan’s Armed Forces are fully prepared for national defence. He quoted Brig (retd) Masood’s statement that Pakistan has the capability to shoot down drones, but the government does not wish to spoil relations with the United States.

The killing of Pakistani citizens on a large scale is an offence of murder for which US President Barack Obama and others should be dealt with in accordance with the law, Jan stated.