The Real Face Of Pakistan: November 2013

Monday 25 November 2013

The Reality Of 9/11

Pakistan Stands against the Drone Attacks

LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called on the British government to declare publicly its extent of involvement – intelligence sharing and technological support – with the US drone campaign against Pakistan and stop any assistance that is used for unlawful killings and to sabotage peace process in the country.

Imran Khan’s supporters in Britain, with help from Stop the War Coalition, came over from all across the country on Saturday for a large demonstration against drone strikes in Pakistan.

The protest march began from 10 Downing Street and marched to the US Embassy. The protestors - men, women, children and mainly youth from student unions – arrived in coaches from various cities to register their protest at the march which was the biggest ever demonstration against drones.

The participants carried symbolic coffins and chanted ‘No More Drones, No More Drones’ and demanded immediate end to US drone attacks in Pakistan which have killed hundreds of innocent civilians and have been described as counterproductive by experts and human rights organisations.

PTI UK’s regional presidents including Shahbaz Khan, Sabreena Razzaq, M Ameen, Riaz Hassan, Asim Basraa and Zahid Parvez led the march which became a mass gathering outside the US embassy.

Shahbaz Khan said the PTI supporters were marching to bring awareness regarding the atrocities committed by these drones and to get the issue debated in UK parliament. He added: “By using drones, US is setting a precedent for other world powers to strike on any sovereign country around the globe on the basis of suspected threat from non-combatants – disregarding all international laws and human rights.

This will further militancy and more innocent lives will be wasted causing further destruction.”He said that drones are not only violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, they are also major hurdle on the way to peace and stability within the country as these drones cause deaths of innocent civilians and destabilise Pakistan. Several speakers addressed the marchers outside the US embassy including Chris Nineham, convenor of ‘Stop the War Coalition’, Chris Cole, representative of ‘Drone Wars’ and Yvonne Ridley, a well-known campaigner.

Prior to the march, a petition was submitted to Prime Minister David Cameron’s office which told the PM that “the US has carried out unlawful killings in Pakistan through drone attacks, some of which could even amount to war crimes. Secrecy surrounding the drones programme gives the US administration a licence to kill beyond the reach of the courts or basic standards of international law. The tragedy is that drone aircraft deployed by the USA over Pakistan now instil the same kind of fear in the people of the tribal areas that was once associated only with al-Qa’eda and the Taliban.”

The petition called on the UK government to “publicly disclose the facts and legal basis for drone strikes carried out in Pakistan and information about any investigation into killings by US drones; ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all cases; and bring those responsible for unlawful drone strikes to justice in public and fair trials without recourse to death penalty”.

At the end of the protest outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, the PTI leaders handed over a petition to Matthew W. Barzun, the United States Ambassador, which quoted from Amnesty International reports about the loss of innocent human lives in drone strikes.

“Contrary to official claims that those killed were “terrorists”, Amnesty International’s research indicates that the victims of these attacks were not involved in fighting and posed no threat to life. The US continues to rely on a “global war” doctrine to attempt to justify a borderless war with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and those perceived to be their allies. The USA’s promise to increase transparency around drone strikes, underscored by a major policy speech by President Barack Obama in May 2013, has yet to become a reality, and the US still refuses to divulge even basic factual and legal information.”