Watershed moment: HRCP calls for thorough probe into Peshawar attack

Commission says tinkering with moratorium on executions is ineffectual.

LAHORE:

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for a thorough probe to be conducted into the Peshawar attack to identify those who had facilitated the carnage in a statement issued on Thursday.

The commission urged the government to formulate a comprehensive response to the bloodletting. The statement said this was no time to play to the gallery or divert public opinion through sops. The commission said tinkering with the informal moratorium on executions would not enable the nation to overcome the challenge confronting it.  The statement said the justice system and the investigation process had to be overhauled to ensure that just punishment was meted out. The commission said it was imperative to take action against those engaged in militancy and proliferating hate material without distinction.



The statement said every aspect of the events leading up to the carnage should be made public. The commission said information related to an act of such proportions should not be made available to the public through a single medium. The statement said a comprehensive probe should be conducted into the attack to identify elements that facilitated the carnage. The commission said any probe into the attack should also establish why the intelligence apparatus had failed to forestall the massacre. The commission said the investigation should review all support chains facilitating anti-state activities. The statement said it was mandatory to acknowledge that the families of the deceased had paid the price for the state’s convoluted orientation that had a penchant for fostering intolerance in the name of faith.

The commission said the attack constituted a watershed in the nation’s history. This had reinforced the importance of taking all stakeholders into confidence and devising a comprehensive counterterrorism policy to put an end to the scourge of terror. The statement said the commission hoped that the latest vow regarding making no distinction between militants would be honoured. The commission said the strategy of granting terrorists recognition and concessions had proven to be counterproductive. The statement said those guilty of facilitating terrorists had shown no sign of repenting for their actions. The commission said the grief-struck nation wanted political parties that had refused to sever ties with terrorists and rushed to their defence to be outlawed.

The commission said a broad consensus existed that the menace of terror afflicting Pakistan and Afghanistan had a regional dimension. The statement said the two states would have a better chance of ridding themselves of the scourge if they joined ranks to deny terrorists cross-border safe havens. The commission said the carnage had compelled the people to raise doubts regarding the state’s ability to protect the life and property of citizens. The statement said if decisive action was not taken to arrest this trend urgently then the day was not far when Pakistan would cease to be counted among the civilised nations of the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2014.