FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-081-2008
March 29, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Target killings are aimed to subvert people’s mandate

According to recent press reports about 79 persons, both from the political arena and law enforcement agencies were killed in Karachi, Sindh province, during this month alone (March), when the assemblies of the different provinces are under the process of their installations. The media is terming these killings as ‘target killings’ which started just after the general elections for new government.

Karachi, the biggest commercial city of the country, has been experiencing target killings since the mid nineties. The majority of the victims are those from the political parties which stood in opposition to President Musharraf.

It is reported in the media that in most cases, particularly the attack on journalists at Karachi press club on March 13, the Karachi based political party MQM which is a coalition partner of President Musharraf’s government before general elections of February 18, is involved. In other cases some religious groups are involved to target the law enforcement personals, particularly those belong to state intelligence agencies.

Karachi is the only port city and is vital to the economic activities of the whole country and it is of great concern to all that the police and Sindh administration appears to have little interest in overcoming this situation before the formation of the newly elected government. The present governor of the province who is from the MQM party is avoiding calls to hold a session of the provincial assembly to form the new government. He has refused to call assembly before April 5, 2008, apparently on the request of the majority party of province. The assembly session will be called after 45 days of the elections. The provincial Interior Affairs secretary of the Sindh says that the police do not know the cause behind the new wave of violence in the province. The caretaker government of Sindh has not apprehended anybody or identified any group in the recent violence.

The violence and target killings before the formation of the new government in Karachi is very alarming for the future political set up. It appears that persons with their own mandate are trying to discontinue the process of peaceful transition of power at every level.

The government of President Musharraf should take immediate action to stop the target killings in Karachi otherwise it would escalate and spread to other cities where militant groups will use the tension in Karachi to subvert the democratic process. The President must ask the governor of Sindh province to call the assembly session immediately so that people’s representatives can deal with the problem of violence through political means.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.