Pakistan Agrees to Implement Sharia Law in Swat Valley Area

Pakistan Agrees to Implement Sharia Law in Swat Valley Area

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Pakistan has agreed to a peace deal with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The deal will lead to the enforcement of Islamic Sharia law in the Pakistan’s northwest region. In return the Taliban will lay down their arms permanently.

Historically, Swat has been a religious holiday destination. Since 2007, it has been under Taliban control. As a result, thousands of people have fled and schools have been burned. Although female education, music and dancing have already been prohibited and executions have taken place, militants in the Swat Valley have been pushing for a stricter Islamic law.

“Our whole struggle is for the enforcement of Shariah (Islamic) law,” Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. “If this really brings us the implementation of Sharia, we will fully cooperate with it.”

Chief Minister of North West Frontier Province Ameer Hussain Hoti, said, “[The deal] was reached after realization that it was the demand of the people.

The agreement will force the provincial government to implement Sharia law in the Malakand division, which includes the Swat Valley. Civilians have been caught in between the military and Taliban fighting. At least 1,000 have died and thousands have been displaced.

Some critics believe that the peace deal is the beginning of Taliban rule in Pakistan, saying the deal will encourage the Taliban in other areas of the country to take more severe action. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardaru said the Taliban had “a presence in huge amounts of land” in Pakistan and were trying to take over the county.

On the other hand, the government views it in strategy. The peace deal will stop the fighting in the Swat Valley area and thereby giving the government some breathing room.

Many people in the area prefer that the army retreat since they have failed to pacify Taliban insurgents and protect civilians.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Islamic Law to be Imposed in Parts of NW Pakistan – 16 February 2009

BBC – Pakistan Agrees Sharia Law Deal – 16 February 2009

Reuters – Pakistan:  Now or Never? – 16 February 2009

United States’ Lax Gun Laws Play Major Role in Mexico Violence

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Guns and ammunition going to Mexico from the United States has been fueling a war between drug cartels and law enforcement — a war that left thousands dead last year.

More than 5,000 people were murdered in Mexico last year alone, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and 95 percent of the weapons recovered from those killings were traced back to the U.S. This is because it’s easier to buy guns in the U.S. and smuggle them across the border than it is to get them in Mexico.

Guns are coming to Mexico from all over the U.S. The weapons and ammunition are being bought mostly from licensed dealers. Any adult with a valid ID and no criminal record can buy as many as he or she wants.

Another part of the problem is that the United States does not enforce a ban on importing assault weapons. The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act.  Many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico’s ruthless drug cartels. The guns come to the United States from Europe and other places, and they make their way down to Mexico.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years. The ATF declined to comment.  Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south.

For more information, please see:

NPR – Guns From U.S. Play Key Role In Mexican Violence – 20 February 2009

Forth Worth Star Telegram – U.S. lawmakers want ban on importing assault weapons enforced – 19 February 2009

Associated Press – Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban – 18 February 2009

US Will Move 8,000 Troops From Japan To Guam

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

OKINAWA, Japan – The US and Japan have signed the Guam International Agreement ordering the relocation of 8,000 US soldiers from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam by 2014.  Under the agreement, Japan will provide $6.09 billion of the estimated $10.3 billion it will cost for the transfer of the soldiers and for the building of housing on Guam, a US territory.

The Guam Landowners Association says it is opposed to the plan for military buildup.  The Association’s Antony Sablan says the people of Guam have not been asked if they support the move.  The soldier transfer will boost Guam’s population by ten percent.  Mr. Sablan believes Guam will lose land and part of its identity.  He said, “We are a foster child of a foster parent, where our resources are getting raped by our foster parent.  Somebody has to step up to the plate and take the step to say: ‘hey, you can’t take advantage of this small group of innocent people.'”  Mr. Sablan went on to say the international community should step in to protect the people of Guam.

Meanwhile, Guam’s Chamber of Commerce is looking forward to the population increase for what it will mean for Guam’s economy.  The Chamber’s chair, Frank Campillo says it will bring many opportunities.  Mr. Campillo explained, “We’ll see a huge amount of construction activity: we need to improve our island infrastructure, the streets, the waterways, the distribution of electricity, we need to build new housing.  We understand there’ll be between 8 and 10 billion dollars of construction activity.”

For more information, please see:
Press TV – US to remove soldiers from Okinawa – 17 February 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Guam Landowners oppose US troop build up – 18 February 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Guam businesses eyeing benefits from the US marines relocating – 18 February 2009

Nuns Shot While Escaping War Zone in Sri Lanka

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka – The Liberation Tigers Tamil of Eelam (LTTE) shot at civilians as they were fleeing the rebel controlled territory on Thursday.

Two days earlier the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped ferried 240 sick and injured people by boat from Puttumatalan, a village controlled by the Tigers. They were taken to Trincomalee, the eastern port. One of the passengers was Sister Mary Colostica, a 74 year old Catholic nun.

Colostica, along with five other nuns, guided at least 2,000 civilians from village to village in search of food and safety from the war. She gave a first hand account from the war zone.

“When we tried to leave, the LTTE didn’t allow civilians to leave and said only we can leave.” Colostica said. “So we stayed back with the civilians.”

The ICRC said that 16 patients were killed in firings on Monday and another 160 patients were carried from Puttumtalan on Thursday.

The military said it had set up a 7 mile safety zone encompassing Puttumatalan and other villages along the coastline.

Sister Mary was shot and treated for shrapnel wounds. “At least 10 to 15 people die a day and no one is there to bury them,” she said. “The LTTE fired from close to civilians. We had objected, but that didn’t work.”

Sister Louise said that the LTTE shot at people when they begged to leave, “When we tried to escape with civilians, LTTE had fired at me. I got shot in my leg.”

Human rights organizations estimate there are at least 250,000 civilians still trapped in the stronghold.

The Tamil Tigers have consistently denied accusations that they are forcibly keeping civilians inside their territory. Instead they claim that civilians remain of their own free will. Some, they say, even follow them.

The Sri Lankan government refuses to enter into a cease-fire. Both sides deny targeting civilians and blame the other for their deaths.

The LTTE has been fighting a 25 year war with the government in order to secure a separate homeland for the ethnic Tamils.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera.net – Tamil Tigers ‘Shoot’ at Civilians – 12 February 2009

AsiaNews – Religious Personnel Under Wanni Bombings – 10 February 2009

Reuters – Wounded Sri Lankans, Nuns Make Narrow Escape From War – 12 February 2009

Another Journalist Attacked in Nepal

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Gyanendra Raj Mishra, a program coordinator for Garima FM, an independent FM radio station, was shot and wounded in the town of Birguni. Unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle shot and wounded Mishra while riding in Southern Nepal. Police say the attack on Mishra is the latest of a series of attacks on journalists in Nepal.

Mishra had just left work before he was attacked. He was passing by Narayani Rangashala, one of the most prominent public places in Southern Nepal.  Mishra was shot in the right hand by unidentified gunmen in front of dozens of witnesses. He was rushed to the Narayani regional hospital for treatment.

Shambhu Shah, a police spokesperson said “[Mishra’s] condition is not critical and he has returned home after treatment at a hospital.”

Police say the motive behind the shooting is unclear. The attack on Mishra is the latest attack on journalists in Southern Nepal. Uma Singh, a young journalist working in Southern Nepal was brutally stabbed to death.

Thousands of people have joined in Uma Singh’s funeral procession.  She had spoken about the plight of workers in south-east Nepal as well as gender and caste discrimination. In an interview last year Uma spoke about the difficulties of working as a journalist in Nepal.  Last month she was killed by a group of 15 men who attacked her with knives and sharp objects. Neighbors of Uma heard the killers say, “This is for writing so much.” The perpetrators are still at large.

Nepal’s media is frequently under attack when the country was at civil war in the 1990’s. Both the Maoist and security forces attacked journalists. Though the civil war ended three years ago and Nepal became a democratic federal republic, Nepal still remains deadly for journalists. Since 2006 four have been killed.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Thousands Mourn Nepal Journalist– 13 January 2009

Reuters –Journalist Shot and Wounded in Nepal– 20 February 2009

Times of India – Democratic Nepal Still Deadly for Journalist– 19 February 2009