CRINmail 180
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Spotlight on conflict in Pakistan
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was created in 1947, out of the partition of the Indian sub-continent. Pakistan used to be comprised of two parts - the east which became Bangladesh in 1971 - and the west - which is present-day Pakistan.
The country is bordered by Iran and Afghanistan in the west, India in the east and China in the northeast and is administratively divided into four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan), the federal capital of Islamabad and seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). In addition, Pakistan administers part of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Ever since it was created in 1947, Pakistan has been divided by border and internal conflicts. This CRINmail explains the background to the conflicts and their impact on children's rights.
Context
Pakistan's role on the international stage shifted after the September 2001 attack on the US, when Pakistan withdrew its support for the Taliban and became seen as a potential partner of NATO and the US in fighting the Taliban and associated insurgents. In turn, the security situation in the country deteriorated with sectarian violence and attacks by insurgents as US drone strikes in tribal regions bordering Afghanistan intensified. This is the backdrop against which the various conflicts in the country continue.
North Waziristan
A violent conflict erupted in the Waziristan district of the Tribal Areas which borders Afghanistan between 2001 and 2007 between local tribes and members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Members of the IMU had fled Afghanistan in 2001 to escape US military operations, taking refuge in North Waziristan.
The US and NATO have adopted a strategy of pre-emptive strikes and drone attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan, further escalating the conflict between the people in the tribal areas and the government of Pakistan, and increasing the hostility of local people towards the West. Read the full section on the conflict in North Waziristan.
Balochistan
The province of Balochistan, near the border with Iran and southern Afghanistan is home to a separatist movement, causing an internal armed conflict from 1973 to 1977, resuming in 2004. Militancy in Balochistan has been fuelled by ethnic Baloch anger over the Pakistani government’s efforts to harness local resources and maintain large numbers of troops in the province. Read the full story on the conflict in Balochistan.
Sectarian and religious conflict
While Punjabis represent the majority of the population, Pakistan is home to a constellation of communities based on regional, religious, or historical identities. Sectarian and religious violence have been a recurrent feature of Pakistan’s history since 1947, both in the form of violent conflict between religious communities, and in the form of one-sided violence against religious minorities. Read the full section on sectarian and religious conflict in Pakistan.
Kashmir
The dispute over Kashmir has endured for more than six decades and has cost the lives of roughly 13,000 Indians and Pakistanis between 1971 and 2008, while the insurgency and military operations have claimed over 30,000 lives since 1989. Read the full section on the conflict in Kashmir.
Children’s rights and the conflict
According to the Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict, issued in May 2013, covering the period from January to December 2012:
- 91 children were reported killed and 137 injured in the course of indiscriminate attacks on public places;
- The recruitment, training and use of child suicide bombers by the Taliban remains a concern;
- No exact figures are available on the number of children currently in detention under security regulations but the government reported that 1,150 boys had passed through ‘de-radicalisation and skills development programmes’ and by the end of 2012, 40 children were still held in a rehabilitation and reintegration centre for children for alleged association with armed groups;
- 118 schools were reported damaged or destroyed.
Refugees
According to the UN Refugee agency, Pakistan currently hosts some 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees, the largest protracted refugee situation globally and over one million people are internally displaced.
Attacks on Schools
The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack reported more than 838 attacks on schools in Pakistan during 2009-2012. Militants recruited children from schools and madrassas, including the use of some as suicide bombers. More than 30 children were killed in attacks on schools and school transport during the same period. At least 138 school students and staff were reported to have been kidnapped. In certain areas, the Taliban prevent girls from going to school. Acid attacks - throwing acid at the face of women and girls - is one of the means the Taliban use to deter girls from going to school, scaring them for life and preventing others from following in their footsteps.
Sources
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News Update:
Slaughter in South Sudan
According to the UN, rebels slaughtered hundreds of people last week when they seized Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, hunting down men, women and children who had sought refuge in a hospital, a mosque and a church.
The rebels issued a statement boasting of "mopping- and cleaning-up operations", the UN alleged, and fighters took to the radio to broadcast hate speech, urging men to rape women of specific ethnicities and demanding that rival groups be expelled from the town.
It is probably the worst single atrocity since fighting broke out in South Sudan last December, and raises the prospect of a full-blown civil war along ethnic lines, intensifying pressure on the international community to intervene.
What began as a political power struggle in South Sudan quickly assumed an ethnic dimension, pitting President Salva Kiir's Dinka tribe against militia forces from the former vice-president Riek Machar's Nuer people. Peace talks have failed to stem the flow of atrocities on both sides. Read the full story.
According to the UN, since the recent conflict began in December, there are credible reports of children being killed, and attacks being carried out against schools and hospitals. In addition, children are being recruited and used by all parties to the conflict.
Rwanda genocide, 20 years on
Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. The genocide has complex roots but is widely known for its ethnic dimensions. Read more about how the genocide happened.
Twenty years after the genocide, Rwanda still evokes passions far beyond its borders, not only over the genocide itself but about where the country is headed today under its authoritarian leader, President Paul Kagame, who is regarded by some as its saviour and others as an autocrat leading it on the path towards another tragedy. But, little noticed outside the country, hundreds of thousands of the genocide's survivors have gone on to reconstruct their lives in the two decades since that 100 days of frenzied killing.
The Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by resolution 955 of 8 November 1994. The ICTR was established for the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994.
UN's "overly cautious" in delivery of aid to Syria
A letter published in the Guardian on Tuesday, signed by 35 top lawyers and law professors from around the world, argues that the UN humanitarian agencies have the legal right to defy the Syrian government's "arbitrary" refusal to allow food aid and medical supplies to reach areas under rebel control. The UN estimates there are now more than nine million people in need of humanitarian aid, of whom 3.5 million are in areas that are hard to reach. Nearly a quarter of a million of them are totally cut off by fighting, and of those, 80 per cent are besieged by government troops.
According to some experts, more than 700,000 people could be helped if the UN ignored Syrian government bans on supplying assistance directly to areas outside its control.
The British government lent its support on Monday night to the legal argument laid out in the letter.
Violence continues in the Central African Republic
An attack on Saturday on Nanga Boguila, a town north of the capital Bangui in the Central African republic (CAR), killed at least 22 people, including 15 local chiefs and three members of staff of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
The attack has been blamed on the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels, whose 2013 seizure of power sparked the crisis.
They were accused of numerous attacks on members of the CAR's Christian majority and since their leader was forced to step down as president in January, Christian militias have been taking revenge against the Muslim community.
The crisis has led to "religious cleansing" according to human rights groups, with Muslims fleeing southern areas for the north, as well as neighbouring countries such as Chad and Cameroon.
Around a quarter of the country's 4.6 million have been forced from their homes.
There are some 5,000 African Union and 2,000 French troops in CAR but they have failed to halt the bloodshed.
The UN Security Council has approved plans to deploy a force of around 12,000 but they are not expected for several months.
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