HRW asks govt to probe collective punishments in Swat
ISLAMABAD: US-based Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged Pakistan to investigate reports of collective punishment by the security forces of relatives of Taliban militants in Swat Valley.
Pakistan launched a military operation in Swat last year to clear it of Taliban and restore government control. “Punishing people because their family members may be militants has become rampant in the Swat valley,” Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at the Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Dayan said the rights group had received numerous credible reports about collective punishments including arbitrary detention and forced evictions since September 2009, when the military re-established control over the valley. “We have investigated these allegations on ground since February and documented scores of abuses,” he said. “The collective punishment is counterproductive because it angers the very people the government hopes to win over,” Dayan said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:7/23/2010
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