‘Rights violations’ in Karachi operation: Senate panel to mull formation of scrutiny committee

MQM says Karachi operation is targeting its workers.

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights will consider forming a committee to scrutinise allegations of human rights violations by security forces, especially the paramilitary Rangers, in the ongoing operation in Karachi, following a proposal by MQM senators.

“I have requested the committee chairman to form a special committee with the purpose of verifying arrests and deaths that have taken place during the ongoing operation,” said Senator Nasreen Jalil while speaking with The Express Tribune. “We want to find out if all those arrested are culprits,” she added.

The committee is scheduled to meet today (Sunday) to discuss the proposal. Its Chairman Senator Afrasiab Khattak will preside over the session.



Jalil claimed that the Rangers are targeting MQM workers instead of ‘terrorists’ during the operation and subjecting them to ‘atrocities’. She said 12 MQM workers had lost their lives in extrajudicial killings and many more are missing.

“We plead that if anyone is suspected of a crime, he should be arrested as per the law, with verification, and produced before the court,” Jalil said. She added that MQM workers have been detained by plainclothes intelligence personnel and their whereabouts are unknown.

Jalil said the operation seemed to focus on the city’s Urdu-speaking community under the guise of targeting terrorists, who she said now occupy a third of the city. The committee must judge if the operation is in line with the law, she added.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, a member of the committee, said the committee has received complaints from Karachi about the ongoing operation. He added that the MQM’s proposal to form a scrutiny committee is on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.

Khattak said the committee will discuss the issue and if a majority of members favour the formation of the proposed committee, it will be recommended to the prime minister. The committee will also discuss the discovery of bodies from a mass grave in Khuzdar district of Balochistan and members will be briefed on human rights violations in the country’s northern region.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2014.