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AI: Pakistan abandoned tribal area people
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, (UPI) -- About 4 million Pakistanis in the tribal regions live under Taliban threat, having been "effectively" abandoned by their government, Amnesty International said.
The report released Thursday by the human rights group in London is 130 pages long, based on interviews with residents in Pakistan's FATA, or Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and adjacent areas of the North-West Frontier province.
"Nearly 4 million people are effectively living under the Taliban in Pakistan in Northwest Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government," said Claudio Cordone, AI's interim secretary-general.
The report said the total includes more than 1 million people desperately in need of aid after being displaced during the Pakistani military's campaign against the Taliban last year.
The report says the people are systematically abused by the militants seeking to re-establish their rule. Those challenging the militants, such as tribal elders, teachers and government officials, are killed.
The report said various Pakistani governments have treated the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan with disdain, while noting Pakistan's Constitution explicitly excludes FATA from the country's legal, judicial and parliamentary system.
A teacher, who fled the northwest's Swat Valley during the military's anti-insurgency operation last year, told AI: "The government just gave away our lives to the Taliban. What's the point of having this huge army if it can't even protect us against a group of brutal fanatics?"
Cordone said the government has to meet its promises to bring the region "out of this human rights black hole and place the people of FATA under the protection of the law and constitution of Pakistan."
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, (UPI) -- About 4 million Pakistanis in the tribal regions live under Taliban threat, having been "effectively" abandoned by their government, Amnesty International said.
The report released Thursday by the human rights group in London is 130 pages long, based on interviews with residents in Pakistan's FATA, or Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and adjacent areas of the North-West Frontier province.
"Nearly 4 million people are effectively living under the Taliban in Pakistan in Northwest Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government," said Claudio Cordone, AI's interim secretary-general.
The report said the total includes more than 1 million people desperately in need of aid after being displaced during the Pakistani military's campaign against the Taliban last year.
The report says the people are systematically abused by the militants seeking to re-establish their rule. Those challenging the militants, such as tribal elders, teachers and government officials, are killed.
The report said various Pakistani governments have treated the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan with disdain, while noting Pakistan's Constitution explicitly excludes FATA from the country's legal, judicial and parliamentary system.
A teacher, who fled the northwest's Swat Valley during the military's anti-insurgency operation last year, told AI: "The government just gave away our lives to the Taliban. What's the point of having this huge army if it can't even protect us against a group of brutal fanatics?"
Cordone said the government has to meet its promises to bring the region "out of this human rights black hole and place the people of FATA under the protection of the law and constitution of Pakistan."