Another Pak Army Abusive Video Appears while US increases Military Aid

Yet another video can be seen on you tube where apparently Pakistani Army severely beating up the suspected militant. While thrashing and whipping him, men dressed in Pakistani military uniforms can be heard asking the prisoner, “Are you a Talib?” Mixed in with other questions is some laughter and threatening “you should know, our bullet never miss the target”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqpWMD_pzP0

There are more than five prisoners are lying on the ground, among them an old man with long white beard and hands tied up is screaming with pain, however the army men around, nudged him with sticks.

Last execution video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPK4N_Lg0ME had already raised concerns among human rights organisations and US officials (although I have some doubts about the reliability of expressions of concern by “American officials” about human rights violations in Pakistan) about how Pakistan’s military has been conducting its battle against militants, with the financial support of the United States.

Responding to New York Times American officials said, Pakistani officials acknowledged that the video had not been faked, whereas they have denied the credibility of the video earlier, US official also informed Times that Pakistan Army had identified the soldiers and would take appropriate measures against the unit .

What US law says about gross human rights violations by the US funded militaries around the world:

The Leahy Amendment http://bit.ly/dnXQ8N is a law passed in 1997 that prohibits U.S. funding of security forces whose members have been credibly implicated in human rights violations, stating:

“None of the funds made available by this Act may be provided to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible evidence that such unit has committed gross violations of human rights, unless the Secretary determines and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the government of such country is taking effective measures to bring the responsible member of the security forces unit to justice”

US law clearly mentioned here that no funds will be provided to foreign military units where they found to be violators of HR in their military operations. US Officials also admitted that Pakistani Government has acknowledged the authenticity of the Youtube execution video and there are units who are affected by the cutting of funds including Pakistani special operations forces, who have carried out attacks on the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and South Waziristan.

While talking to times the champion of this legislation, Leahy said:

“I told the White House that I have real concerns about the Pakistani military’s actions, and I’m not going to close my eyes to it because of our national interest in Pakistan, If the law is going to have teeth, it has to be taken seriously. Pakistan’s military leaders have made encouraging statements about addressing these issues, but this requires more than statements.”

Leahy is absolutely right that we need more then statements by Pakistani officials, the second video is an obvious example that how responsible Pakistani troops are!!

Furthermore Rights group Amnesty International warned that bullet-ridden bodies of those who have been abducted, many showing signs of torture, are increasingly being found across Baluchistan, whereas previously bodies of the missing were rarely recovered.

Victims’ relatives and activists often hold Pakistan’s security forces and intelligence agencies responsible.

Concern over growing extra judicial killings and torture over suspected militants by Pakistani army have been raised time to time by Human Rights Organisations including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and US Government is fully aware of the fact.

In conclusion, while the Leahy amendment provides the legal framework for the U.S. to pressure Pakistani security forces to respect human rights and to aggressively prosecute violators, why public at large is not aware of the reports coming out as the result of the inquiry committee set up by Army Chief, following the cuts of the abusive troops funding.

Original Article link to this article is accessible at http://pakistanictpolicy.bytesforall.net/?q=node/814

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