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Archive for category BREAKING INTERNATIONAL LAW:DRONE WAR

Terrorists are not Martyrs

                                                    Terrorists are not Martyrs

              Sajjad Shaukat

 

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People from different walks of life including politicians, religious scholars (Ulemas) and media persons have expressed their feelings of grief on the recent comments of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and especially of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Syed Munawar Hassan who evolved new theory on Shahadat (Martyrdom).  

 

Maulana Fazlur Rehman in an interview with senior journalist Saleem Safi on November 5, this year on a renowned TV channel program Jirga said, “Even a dog killed by the US is a martyr.” 

 

In a separate interview conducted by Safi on November 7, JI Ameer, Munawar Hassan stated, “If American soldiers being killed by the Taliban were not martyrs, how could Pakistani soldiers killed by Taliban be declared martyrs.” In an earlier statement made on November 3, Hassan had already triggered controversy when he declared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr following his death in a US drone strike.

 

In this regard, a spokesman of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on November 10, strongly condemned the irresponsible and misleading remarks of the JI Ameer Syed Munawar Hassan, saying that he declared dead terrorists as Shuhada (Martyred), while insulting the Shahadat of thousands of innocent Pakistanis and soldiers of Pakistan’s armed forces. The spokesman explained, “Sacrifices of our Shuhada and their families need no endorsement from Syed Munawar Hassan and such misguided and self-serving statements deserve no comments,” demanding an unconditional apology from him.

 

Instead of apologizing for his derogatory and illogical remarks, Syed Munawar Hassan said on November 10 that he was stuck to his opinion of considering Hakimullah Mehsud as martyr and not viewing soldiers as such. General Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami, Liaquat Baloch announced on November 11 that its Ameer’s statement was correct and according to Sharia (Islamic Jurisprudence).

 

While denouncing the ill-conceived thoughts of Syed Munawar Hassan, various leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement including law-makers and prominent figures pointed out, “We should salute to those mothers, widows and orphans whose dear ones sacrificed their lives for the cause of the motherland. Besides, all those personnel of the security forces who lost their lives for the integrity of the nation and all those innocent people who were killed in bomb blasts, suicide attacks and other terror-incidents are martyrs.”  They reminded, “Every child in Pakistan knows that 7,000 security officials and more than 40,000 innocent citizens including religious scholars have been killed by the TTP led by Hakimullah Mehsud…the JI Ameer’s statement means to scorn the sacrifices of our great martyrs who lost their priceless lives to save the lives of millions of Pakistani citizens in the ruthless terrorist attacks carried out by these Taliban.”

 

Some leaders suggested that If JI Ameer did not beg forgiveness over his controversial statement; the government should institute a case of treason.

In this respect, the members of Sindh Assembly in one voice also demanded from Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Munawar Hassan to apologize over his irresponsible statement which questioned the martyrdom of Pak Army and law-enforcing agencies.

Meanwhile, in order to clarify the controversy over martyrdom, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif of the ruling party (PML-N) visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) of Pakistan Army on November 12 and pad homage to the martyrs of the country. Afterwards, a statement released from the Prime Minister House quoted the PM as saying, “Those who have fought for Pakistan, Ghazis (living) and Shuhada (Martyred), have sacrificed their today for ensuring a better tomorrow for our future generations and all of them are our benefactors.”

However, on the issue of martyrs and terrorists, the opinion of Ulemas has great importance. In this context, on November 10, Chairman Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Hamid Raza Rizvi from a fatwa issued by 30 scholars and religious clerics, and terming statements by Munawar Hasan and Maulana Fazlur Rahman as “rubbing salt on the wounds of heirs of over 50,000 people killed in terrorist attacks in Pakistan,” announced, “Hakimullah was involved in killing of thousands of innocent people and army men. The fact that he was killed by a US drone could not purge him of his sins and he was not a martyr.” On November 12, accepting the challenge of TTP spokesman Shahhidullah Shahid on Shahadat-controversy, Hamid Raza replied that he was ready for debate with the Taliban on any channel.

It is mentionable that in the past few years, the militants of the TTP and its affiliated outfits killed thousands of persons across Pakistan through suicide attacks, bomb blasts, targeted killings, beheadings, assaults on military troops, police stations, sectarian violence etc. Besides blowing children schools and attacking the female teachers in order to deny education to girls, they also targeted mosques, Imambargahs, mausoleums, and disgraced dead bodies. Their nefarious acts resulted into deaths of several people in Pakistan. They continued their anti-social and un-Islamic practices to impose their self-created ideology of Islam.

In the Khyber agency, they also indulged in murdering and torturing Shias in their majority areas, forcing them to flee. Particularly, in some tribal areas and Swat these insurgents have been involved in a number of crimes such as drug-smuggling, forced marriages, hostage-takings for ransom and even car-snatching. They justify that they collect money through these unfair means to wage their holy war and in eliminating the moderate dissidents.

When Pakistan’s armed forces successfully ejected the TTP militants out of these areas by sacrificing their own lives, the new leader of the TTP Maulvi Fazlullah who had close connections with Pakistan-based TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, had run to Afghanistan. Based in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan—with the support of Indian secret agency RAW, Afghan spy service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) which also have tactical backing of the US, his insurgents intensified subversive activities in Pakistan by sending suicide bombers and heavily-equipped militants.

Notably, the capture of a senior TTP leader Latifullah Mehsud by US Special Forces (USF) from Afghan custody, confessed that Afghanistan and India were involved in promoting terrorist activities inside Pakistan. He also revealed that while waging proxy wars in Pakistan, terrorist attacks on Gen. Sanaullah Khan Niazi in Upper Dir, at Peshawar Church, in Qissa Khawani Bazar and elsewhere had been planned by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies. Especially, regarding terror-attack at Peshawar church, TTP did not claim responsibility, but it proved when the outfit misinterpreted Islam by indicating that it was in accordance with Sharia.

However, the militant groups also recruit very young boys, and after their brainwashing through indoctrination, they train them for suicide bombings. The planners misguide these Muslims by convincing that they will have a noble place in the Heavens in exchange of suicide attacks.

Nevertheless, Islam considers killing one innocent person equal to murdering the entire humanity, while jihad is a sacred obligation, but its real spirit needs to be understood clearly, as targeting innocent women and children is not jihad. These Taliban and their banned affiliated outfits are defaming Islam which is the religion of peace, democracy, moderation and human rights.

In this connection, in the recent past, more than 50 Islamic scholars declared “killing of innocent people, target killings and suicide bombings in Karachi, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa along with sectarianism…is not Jehad” and “is against the spirit of Islam.” They explained, “The terrorists’ self-adopted interpretation of Islam is nothing, but ignorance and digression from the actual teachings of the religion…the suicide attacks and related violence smeared the name of Islam and weakened Pakistan.”

Everyone knows that besides responding to Indian military’s unprovoked firings at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, which killed a number of soldiers of Pak Army and innocent civilians, thousands of personnel of the armed forces and law-enforcing agencies lost their lives in Khyber Paktoonkhwa, Karachi, Balochistan and tribal areas in coping with terrorists so as to maintain the integrity and security of the country. So, they are the true martyrs.

Another notable contradiction is that when the JI workers were fighting the forces of the former Soviet Union in the first Afghan war, sponsored by the US-led west, they were calling their killed Mujadeen as Shaheed. But, now this party has forgotten the term of martyrdom.

Nonetheless, the JI Ameer’s self-created definition of Shaheed means that there is a state within a state where Taliban could be allowed to slash the throats of security forces and to shed the blood of innocent persons.

No doubt, Munawar Hassan’s statement has exposed the extremist thinking of JI and its vilification propaganda campaign to harm, defame and denigrate the prodigious sacrifices of Pakistan’s soldiers, with criminal object to glorify the enemies of the state, while terrorists are not martyrs.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

 

 

 

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Family of grandmother killed in US drone strike arrive for Congress visit

 

 

Family of grandmother killed in US drone strike arrive for Congress visit

Rafiq ur Rehman discusses his family’s journey from Pakistan to Washington DC, where they will seek answers on Capitol Hill

 

Pakistani protesters, drones, Multan

Pakistani protesters demonstrate against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal areas, in Multan on 14 July. Photograph: SS Mirza/AFP/Getty Images

Drawing on a pad of paper in a Washington DC hotel, Nabeela ur Rehman recalled the day her grandmother was killed. “I was running away,” the nine-year told the Guardian. “I was trying to wipe away the blood.”

“It was as if it was night all of the sudden.”

The date was 24 October 2012, the eve of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holy day. Nabeela’s father, Rafiq ur Rehman, a school teacher living in the remote Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan, was dropping off sweets at his sister’s home when it happened.

He had hoped to make the visit a family affair but his mother urged him to go alone. Rafiq did as she wished then stopped at the local mosque for evening prayers before taking the bus home. As the vehicle came to a halt at his stop, Rehman noticed something unsettling: members of his community were preparing to bury a body at a small graveyard nearby.

“I got a little worried,” Rehman said. He asked a boy what was going on. The child informed him that the mother of a man named Latif Rehman had been killed in a drone attack. The boy did not know the man he spoke to was Latif Rehman’s younger brother.

Rafiq ur Rehman

Rafiq ur Rehman.

“That’s when I first knew,” Rehman said, describing how he learned of his mother’s death. The fruits Rehman had collected at the bazaar fell from his hands. “I just dropped everything. I was in a state of shock,” he said. Rehman feared the worst. He knew his children were with their grandmother. “I frantically ran to my house.”

Rehman arrived home to find that the charred remains of his mother had already been buried. Two of his children, Nabeela and her 12-year-old brother, Zubair, had been injured and taken to a nearby hospital, neighbors said. “At that point, I thought I had lost them as well,” Rehman said.

The children survived the attack, but their recovery process was just beginning. A year later, Rehman still has no idea why his mother, Momina Bibi, a 67-year-old midwife, was blown to pieces while tending her garden. Along with Nabeela and Zubair, Rehman has traveled to Washington DC to seek answers. On Tuesday, the family will appear before members of Congress to describe their experience, marking the first time in history that US lawmakers will hear directly from the survivors of an alleged US drone strike.

On Sunday, in their first interview with US media since arriving to the country and speaking through a translator, Rehman and his children described the day Momina Bibi was killed and their efforts since then to find justice. Zubair, now 13, said the sky was clear the day his grandmother died. He had just returned home from school. Everyone had been in high spirits for the holiday, Zubair said, though above their heads aircraft were circling. Not airplanes or helicopters, Zubair said.Drones.

“I know the difference,” Zubair said, explaining the different features and sounds the vehicles make. “I am certain that it was a drone.” Zubair recalled a pair of “fireballs” tearing through the clear blue sky, after he stepped outside. After the explosion there was darkness, he said, and a mix of smoke and debris.

“When it first hit, it was like everyone was just going crazy. They didn’t know what to make of it,” Zubair said. “There was madness.” A piece of shrapnel ripped into the boy’s left leg, just above his kneecap. A scar approximately four inches in length remains. “I felt like I was on fire,” he said. The injury would ultimately require a series of costly operations.

Nabeela, the little girl, was collecting okra when the missiles struck. “My grandma was teaching me how you can tell if the okra is ready to be picked,” she said. “All of the sudden there was a big noise. Like a fire had happened.

“I was scared. I noticed that my hand was hurting, that there was something that had hit my hand and so I just started running. When I was running I noticed that there was blood coming out of my hand.”

Nabeela continued running. The bleeding would not stop. She was eventually scooped up by her neighbors. “I had seen my grandmother right before it had happened but I couldn’t see her after. It was just really dark but I could hear [a] scream when it had hit her.”

 
 
 
 
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Drone strikes have been a major source of friction between the US and Pakistan. Photo: James Lee Harper Jr/AFP/Getty Images

Early media reports, citing anonymous Pakistani officials, claimed as many as four militants were killed in the attack. The strike drew the attention of an Amnesty International researcher, Mustafa Qadri, who was investigating drone attacks in Pakistan at the time.

“We got all sorts of different stories to begin with,” Qadri told the Guardian. “One was that [Bibi] was preparing a meal for some militants and that’s why she was killed. Another one was that there was a militant on a motorbike, right next to her. And then there’s this story of, that there was a militant in a jeep, SUV, with a satellite phone, at the exact point that she’s killed, but 10 minutes earlier. He used the phone and then he drives off into the distance. And then the drones come later and they kill her. So we found that that just really did not add up.”

Qadri reached out to trusted sources in North Waziristan. The family members and their neighbors were interviewed independently on multiple occasions, unaware that a human-rights group was behind the questions they were asked. Over the course of many weeks, Qadri found the family’s account to be consistent. He determined it was highly unlikely that any militants were present at the time of the strike and that the missiles were likely fired by a US drone.

“It was a number of things,” Qadri told the Guardian. “We got the missiles, the large fragments that the family has that we got analyzed by [an] expert who says this is very likely to be a Hellfire missile. We also had family members who saw drones physically. We also have the eyewitness of the family who said they heard the noise of missiles fired from the sky and then separate noises of missiles impacting on the ground. We have the evidence of a double sound, with each single strike.”

Among the most striking evidence that the attack was carried out by a US drone, Qadri said, was the “phenomenal accuracy” of the strike. “It physically hits her,” he said, referring to Momina Bibi. “She’s literally hit flush and is blown to smithereens.”

“It’s quite awful obviously … but in this sort of a situation where the body is destroyed, clearly she’s been targeted,” Qadri added. “They meant to kill this person.”

Qadri argues that US secrecy surrounding its so-called “targeted killing” program exacerbates an already complicated set of problems in Pakistan’s tribal regions.

“That secrecy, the unaccountability, the lack of lawfulness to it, is the key problem,” he said. “In the context of Pakistan and just in the very micro sense, I don’t think drones alone is the problem. It’s the way they’re used and it’s the way they’re used in isolation, ignoring the broader factors in that region.”

The State Department, in response to questions concerning the strike, directed the Guardian to the transcript of a 22 October press briefing by deputy spokesperson Marie Harf.

“There’s a process that goes into how these operations are chosen, and as part of that process, we take every effort to limit these casualties,” Harf said, echoing claims the president made in a counterterrorism speech in May.

The briefing fell two days before the one-year anniversary of Bibi’s death. It did not address the United States‘ alleged responsibility for the attack. The CIA, which runs drone programs in Pakistan, declined to comment on the strike. The agency suggested the Guardian contact the White House. The White House did not respond.

Nabeela spent most of her days with her grandmother. “I really liked my grandma,” she said. “I enjoyed following her and learning how to do things.” Zubair said his grandmother was liked by all. “There’s no one else like her. We all loved her.” In the year since his mother’s death, Rehman said, life has changed dramatically. “Not having her is as if a limb has been cut,” he said.

For Rehman’s father, a respected headmaster a local school, the death of his wife has been devastating. The couple was unaccustomed to being apart, Rehman said. “After my mom’s death, we haven’t really seen our dad smile. It’s like he doesn’t have any more will for going on.”

Rehman’s journey to the US was the idea of his attorney, Shahzad Ahkbar, an internationally-known critic of US drone policy. In the weeks following Bibi’s death, the US documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald traveled to Pakistan to shoot for a forthcoming film on drone attacks, Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars. Ahkbar introduced Greenwald to Rehman and his family.

“I could never have imagined that I would be coming to America or I’d want to come to America. I didn’t know how people were,” Rehman said. “But then Robert had come and they were listening to our story and then Shahzad, our lawyer, had told us that there are more people like Robert who would love to hear the truth and know the truth.”

Greenwald said: “When I was in Pakistan, interviewing a whole series of people, they stayed in my mind. At the moment when I was interviewing them I had this very strong feeling that it would be very helpful if Americans could see and experience a father, a teacher, children, the loss of a mother, the loss of a grandmother. Those are universals.

He added: “On the policy side, I hope the briefing will begin the process of demanding investigation. Innocent people are being killed.”

US officials say the White House does have a count of civilian drone-strike casualties. The figure, they say, is considerably lower than publicly available counts. The administration has declined to disclose its number, however, citing national security. “Some things will never be able to be made public so we can protect, indeed, our ability to continue conducting these operations to, indeed, protect our country,” Harf said last week.

Alan GraysonCongressman Alan Grayson.

Together Rehman, his attorney and the US director set out to bring the family to the US. For months they worked to secure paperwork for the children (who lacked birth certificates). Eventually Alan Grayson, a Democrat from Florida, and a number of others extended a formal invitation. A hearing was scheduled for last month, but the event was postponed when the US state department declined to issue a visa for Ahkbar.

“I ideally wanted to come with my lawyer and it was very unfortunate that he couldn’t come along with me,” Rehman said. Despite the setback, he continued. With Grayson’s help, the family secured the Tuesday briefing in Congress.

The purpose of the briefing, Representative Grayson told the Guardian, is “simply to get people to start to think through the implications of killing hundreds of people ordered by the president, or worse, unelected and unidentifiable bureaucrats within the Department of Defense without any declaration of war.”

“Under many people’s view of international law, they’re all illegal. All these attacks are illegal. The UN charter, as was discussed with great vehemence during the recent debate about military intervention in Syria, the UN charter sanctions the use of force only when a country is under attack, in self defense, or when it’s been sanctioned by the UN security council.

“It is an abuse of the term ‘self-defense’ to say that our launching drone attacks in Yemen or elsewhere in the world qualifies. The fact that the technology is there doesn’t change the fact that it’s a use of force that ends up killing people.”

Rehman described the message he hopes to convey to the American people through the briefing: “I want them to know the drones are having an impact on our lives.”

“It’s hitting our elders. It took my mom. It’s affected my children and we haven’t done anything wrong.”

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