The American CIA’s actions involving the use of drones are a contravention of the due process of law but this modern weapon remains the preferred choice of the American security establishment. The element of justice is missing altogether from this kind of warfare because the CIA never contacts a court for action against perceived enemies. Making a case against drones as a violation of international law at an international counterterrorism conference at Geneva (February 16), Jean-Francois Fechino, director at the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, said drones have invaded our skies and homes and will probably continue to do so. The international conference drew several dozen leaders, security experts and officials from all over to discuss how a cooperative international effort could strengthen the rule of law and reinstate basic human rights principles, while performing counterterrorism activities. The conference was informed that 364 of the 415 drone strikes (until early February 2015) on targets inside Pakistani territory had killed nearly 4,000, including over 1000 civilians, mostly women and children. A case study of 24 such strikes by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, too, had exposed the extremely disproportionate civilian harm caused by these attacks which increased seven-fold under the Obama Administration. A petition filed with the Peshawar High Court in 2012 had quoted the instance of drone strikes in North Waziristan, where it said only 47 of 896 civilians killed until December 2012 were foreigners. The conference was also reminded of the March 11, 2013 ruling by the Peshawar High Courtwhich said that “drone strikes, carried out in the tribal areas (Fata) particularly North and South Waziristan by the CIA and US Authorities, are blatant violation of Basic Human Rights and are against the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution, adopted unanimously, the provision of Geneva Conventions thus, it is held to be a...

The American CIA’s actions involving the use of drones are a contravention of the due process of law but this modern weapon remains the preferred choice of the American security establishment. The element of justice is missing altogether from this kind of warfare because the CIA never contacts a court for action against perceived enemies. Making a case against drones as a violation of international law at an international counterterrorism conference at Geneva (February 16), Jean-Francois Fechino, director at the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, said drones have invaded our skies and homes and will probably continue to do so. The international conference drew several dozen leaders, security experts and officials from all over to discuss how a cooperative international effort could strengthen the rule of law and reinstate basic human rights principles, while performing counterterrorism activities. The conference was informed that 364 of the 415 drone strikes (until early February 2015) on targets inside Pakistani territory had killed nearly 4,000, including over 1000 civilians, mostly women and children. A case study of 24 such strikes by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, too, had exposed the extremely disproportionate civilian harm caused by these attacks which increased seven-fold under the Obama Administration. A petition filed with the Peshawar High Court in 2012 had quoted the instance of drone strikes in North Waziristan, where it said only 47 of 896 civilians killed until December 2012 were foreigners. The conference was also reminded of the March 11, 2013 ruling by the Peshawar High Courtwhich said that “drone strikes, carried out in the tribal areas (Fata) particularly North and South Waziristan by the CIA and US Authorities, are blatant violation of Basic Human Rights and are against the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution, adopted unanimously, the provision of Geneva Conventions thus, it is held to be a...

There is an upper limit to what this government can accomplish, intellectually, ideologically and operationally  On December 16, Pakistan as we knew it seemed to have changed. The tragedy of the Peshawar attack brought about a collective state of national grief and anger, a palpable bloodlust that raged through the streets and the corridors of power. Vigils were lit, rallies rallied, meetings held, and stakeholders coerced, cajoled and catapulted into hasty decisions and compromises. In a televised speech, the prime minister announced a 20-point agenda to combat and eradicate the menace of terrorism. For the first time, the blurred lines in the upper echelons of power began to come into focus, the good vs bad Taliban narrative gave way to the “you’re either wish us, or against us” doctrine. The 21st constitutional amendment was passed to allow for the controversial military courts, arrests were made, loudspeakers were turned off, printing presses were raided. For a moment, it seemed Pakistan was finally awake. Unfortunately, the flurry slowed to steady pour and finally dawdled into a light drizzle. Information on government activity slowed down to a crawl, morsels of information being doled out sparingly with seemingly inflated numbers. The initial propulsion seemed to fizzle out, replaced by lethargy and stagnation. The revelation last week on a private news network that the government had reached a secret deal with cleric Abdul Aziz, despite a non-bailable arrest warrant against him, did not help matters much. There were rumors of bans on dozens of other organizations, including the Haqqani Network, which primarily operates in Afghanistan, and Jamaatud Dawa, the alleged humanitarian front for the banned Laskah-e-Taiba, which operates in Kashmir and India. But these remained rumors, quickly snubbed out by clarifications from the Interior Ministry. There are faint glimmers of hope, such as the hurried, disjointed statement from the foreign office this week,...

It may be unfair to characterise Pakistan as melting and burning from within. Dubbing it a dysfunctional state may also be an overstatement. But the current governance and the security mess are certainly direct consequences of misplaced priorities of the ruling elite, acute bureaucratic inefficiency and inertia. Additionally, the self-promoting personal interests of the predatory kith and kin surrounding the elite and the bureaucracy, do represent a bitter but unavoidable reality. The result: much-needed development moves at a snail’s pace and the political economy reeks. The chronically sick Pakistan Steel Mills and PIA, the deeply-indebted Pakistan Railways, the so-called International Islamabad Airport, which is under construction, the lingering Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and the Metro Bus, epitomise this crony-based, personal interest-driven insensitive style of governance. They also reflect the rulers’ apathy to some of the urgent needs of the country. Power shortages are perennial, but look at what is happening to the 960 megawatts Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project. Already delayed, the project, according to national press reports, is facing a massive financial crunch, and officials associated with it fear that it won’t be completed by the end of 2016. The new Islamabad airport offers a similar story; the project was launched in April 2007 and was supposed to be completed within 30 months at a cost of Rs37 billion ($400 million). The project cost was revised in March 2012 over Rs 66 billion. Lo and behold, the Civil Aviation Authority revised the expenditures again in 2014 to Rs 95 billion with October 2016 as the promised completion date. This also merits a mention of the current Islamabad airport. It has already been regarded as the worst in the world in terms of cleanliness, facilities and customer service. Airports do symbolise social functionality and economic vibrancy of a country. But the first impression Islamabad gives to foreigners is that of...