Drones and terror sanctuaries

After years of dithering about the matter and endless bluster and flowery and defiant rhetoric, the government has decided to take up the matter of the violation of our sovereignty by US drones with the United Nations. Consultation has begun with our missions in Geneva and New York as to what may be the best strategy to take the issue forward. This is a direct outcome of the All-Parties Conference (APC) which recommended that the government pursue this beyond formal and informal protests, none of which appear to have made the slightest difference to the US. At this stage it is unclear whether an appeal is to be made to the UN General Assembly or the Security Council (SC). If to the former, then the best that may be hoped for is a condemnatory resolution that has little real traction beyond the publicity it will attract. If the Government of Pakistan is to make an appeal to the latter, any resolution that calls for the cessation of drone strikes will be struck down by the US, since it has veto power by virtue of its permanent seat on the Council. In both instances, Islamabad’s decision to approach the UN will appear to be nothing more than a cosmetic gesture, and will achieve little that is concrete.



That said, it would be fair to agree with the assessment that drone strikes by one country on another country’s territory are indeed a violation of the latter’s sovereignty. In the eyes of international law, they would be considered illegal as well, particularly when the country on whose territory the strikes are being carried out has publicly protested and asked for them to be ceased. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at a meeting earlier this year, said of drones: “The current lack of transparency surrounding their use creates an accountability vacuum and affects the ability of victims to seek redress.” This has a specific relevance to Pakistan where civilian deaths associated with drone strikes are of particular concern and the matter is very opaque with even the government not making public any figures regarding those who are killed who are not militants or high-value targets.

Pakistan’s moral position is, however, compromised somewhat because the other side to this argument also holds water. This says that Pakistani soil is used by militants and terrorists to plan, launch and carry out attacks on other countries and that the presence of such elements is nothing less than a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. After all, it is an open secret that many such outfits are indeed present in the country’s northwest, in particular in Fata, where the state’s writ runs very thin. This argument posits further that the strikes would not happen if a) the government of Pakistan were to go after the militants in the safe havens on its own and b) if they were not carrying out acts of terror on other countries. Our advice to the Government — and the military — of Pakistan would be that instead of taking the issue to the United Nations (which as explained above will not achieve much), it would be far better to eliminate the safe havens and sanctuaries on Pakistani soil and which are being used by militants to carry out attacks on other countries.

What is bound to further complicate and already complex issue is the government’s plan to talk peace with the Taliban because that is likely to send a signal to the militants ensconced in the sanctuaries that they have nothing really to worry about as far as the state of Pakistan is concerned. Instead of tackling the terrorists who have killed thousands of its soldiers, policemen, paramilitary troops, and ordinary civilians, the state has indicated its complete willingness to talk to a side which in the past did not honour a single peace deal, and which used each one to consolidate, regroup and expand its activities against Pakistan. Hence, it is unlikely that drones strikes are going to cease anytime soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2013.

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