‘a s if h ell fel l on m e’ THE HUmAn rIgHTS CrISIS In norTHWEST PAKISTAn amnesty international is a global movement of 2.8 million supporters, members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the universal Declaration of human rights and other international human rights standards. we are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. amnesty international Publications first published in 2010 by amnesty international Publications international secretariat Peter Benenson house 1 easton street london wc1X 0Dw united kingdom www.amnesty.org © amnesty international Publications 2010 index: asa 33/004/2010 original language: english Printed by amnesty international, international secretariat, united kingdom all rights reserved. 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Front and back cover photo s: families flee fighting between the Taleban and Pakistani government forces in the maidan region of lower Dir, northwest Pakistan, 27 april 2009. © amnesty international CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY...................................................................................7 Key Recommendations.............................................................................................17 Methodology ...........................................................................................................19 BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................................20 The Taleban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas ...............................................20 Khyber Agency .....................................................................................................20 Kurram Agency.....................................................................................................21 Orakzai Agency.....................................................................................................21 Mohmand Agency.................................................................................................22 Bajaur Agency......................................................................................................23 South Waziristan Agency .......................................................................................24 North Waziristan...................................................................................................25 A Legacy of Neglect and Misrule: The Frontier Crimes Regulation .................................26 Actors in the Conflict in Northwestern Pakistan...........................................................29 Taleban and Insurgent Groups ...............................................................................29 Government Forces...............................................................................................32 Pakistan’s Ambivalent Policy in the Northwest ............................................................34 Peace Agreements with Insurgents .........................................................................35 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN NORTHWESTERN PAKISTAN .................................................................................................................................38 Human Rights Abuses by the Taleban and Other Insurgent Groups................................39 Violent Imposition of Discriminatory Social Norms ...................................................39 Restrictions on the Rights of Women and Girls........................................................ 41 Targeting of Schools, Especially Schools for Girls .................................................... 42 Unlawful Killings, Torture and Other Ill-treatment Imposed by Taleban “Tribunals”..... 43 Destroying the Old Order: Attacks on Government Agents, Maliks, and Tribal Elders.... 44 Violations by the Government Forces ......................................................................... 49 Government Violations in the Operations in Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies, 2008 ..... 50 Battle of Loi Sam, Bajaur, August 2008..……………………………………………. 50 Bombing of the Kala Pani Water Spring, Bajaur Agency, November 2008………. 53 Bombing of Michni Area, Mohmand Agency, November 2008…………………….. 54 Eruption Out of FATA: Human Rights Abuses in Malakand, 2009 ................................ 56 Political Background to the Malakand Crisis ........................................................... 56 The Human Rights Dimension of the Swat Crisis ..................................................... 59 The Taleban Expansion into Buner, April 2009 ....................................................... 61 Possible Extrajudicial Executions and Deaths in Army Custody in Malakand ............... 63 The South Waziristan Operation, 2009...................................................................... 64 Violation of Rights of Detainees in Army Custody ........................................................ 66 Human Rights Abuses by Tribal Lashkars .................................................................. 67 Civilians in the Crossfire .......................................................................................... 67 THE CRISIS OF DISPLACEMENT................................................................................. 75 Conditions of Return................................................................................................ 82 THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY....................................................... 84 The USA ................................................................................................................ 84 China..................................................................................................................... 91 APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORKS.................................................. 93 International Human Rights Law: Protecting Rights in Times of War and Peace..............93 International Humanitarian Law: Protecting Individuals in armed conflict ......................95 International Criminal Law........................................................................................98 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................99 Recommendations to the Government of Pakistan .......................................................99 Pakistan Government’s Failure to Protect against Abuses by Insurgents....................100 Violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law by Pakistani Security Forces .......101 Arbitrary Detention by the Military........................................................................103 Abuses by the Pakistani Taleban and Allied Armed Groups.........................................104 Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons ..........................................................105 Assistance by the International Community ..............................................................106 APPENDIX 1: GLOSSARY.......................................................................................108 ENDNOTES...........................................................................................................109 “As If Hell Fell On Me”: The Human Rights Crisis in Northwest Pakistan 7 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The Taleban came here and settled here. Now they have a dispute with the government, and the government started taking actions against them. If we stand with the government the Taleban will hit us. If we stand with the Taleban the government will target us. If we don’t stand with any of them, you can see how bad our situation is. 1 It’s going from bad to worse. Northwest Pakistan has been in the grip of a human rights and humanitarian crisis since 2004, when groups broadly aligned with the Taleban movement of Afghanistan began asserting control in the seven ‘agencies’ that comprise the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and adjoining areas in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The mountainous terrain of FATA borders Afghanistan, adjoining the NWFP, which also shares some of its border with Afghanistan. (The NWFP was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2010, but NWFP persists among officials, locals and observers, and is used in this report to avoid confusion.) Based on Amnesty International’s conservative analysis of credible, publicly available information, more than 1,300 civilians were killed in the course of the conflict in northwest Pakistan in 2009. The Pakistan-based Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, have both estimated more than 11,000 casualties. PIPS estimated that at least 1,565 civilians were killed in insurgent attacks alone in FATA and NWFP in 2009.2 Given the lack of information from many areas of northwest Pakistan, it is quite likely that the true number of civilians killed is significantly higher. In total, more than 8,500 people have