PESHAWAR: Amnesty International has expressed concern that those killed in this week’s air strike on a madrassa in Bajaur Agency, might have been executed “extra-judicially”. The British-based human rights organisation noted, in a statement issued in London on Wednesday and received here on Thursday via email, that | ... no attempt had apparently been made to arrest those inside the madrassa before the strike... |
no attempt had apparently been made to arrest those inside the madrassa before the strike, despite claims by the Pakistani government that “militants” were using the building as a terrorist training ground.
Local residents have argued that the 82 victims killed in Monday’s aerial target were not militants but clerics and students, many of whom were under 18 years of age. And according to the Amnesty statement, children “as young as six years old” had been killed in the attack.
In its statement, Amnesty said: “Local people have stated that the initial attack was carried out by drones. Villagers have reported hearing loud explosions and observing the destruction of the madrassa. This was followed some 20 minutes later by the appearance of two helicopter gunships, which also fired rockets into the area. The villagers reportedly said that they had observed drones in the days before the attack flying over the village.”
| ... the killings are considered extra-judicial executions in violation of international human rights law. |
The statement went on to issue a stark warning to Islamabad: “Amnesty International would like to remind the Pakistani authorities that if these killings were deliberate and took place without first attempting to arrest suspected offenders, without warning, without the suspects offering armed resistance, and in circumstances in which suspects posed no immediate risk to security forces, the killings are considered extra-judicial executions in violation of international human rights law.” |