WASHINGTON – The US is voicing concern over reports from human rights groups that Pakistan’s security forces are holding thousands of political separatists without charge, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Citing a State Department report to Congress last month, the Times said the Obama administration was alarmed by reports that separatists, mostly from Pakistan’s Balochistan province, had been detained over the past decade and were being held incommunicado.
Some of the missing were guerrillas and others civilians, the newspaper said. The State Department report, obtained by the newspaper, also cited concerns that Pakistan’s military had killed unarmed Taliban insurgents instead of putting them on trial. The report urged Pakistan, an important US ally in the fight against insurgents, to address the issue and other rights abuses, the paper said.
“There continue to be gross violations of human rights by Pakistani security forces,” the report said. “The Pakistani government has made limited progress in advancing human rights and continues to face human rights challenges.” Pakistani intelligence officials accuse human rights groups of exaggerating the number of people held incommunicado, according to the Times.
The US in late September asked Pakistan for information about a video posted on the Internet purporting to show men in Pakistani military fatigues lined up in a firing squad shooting bound and blindfolded men in traditional clothing. The Pakistani government has launched a probe into the video.
US worried by reports of illegal Pakistani detentions
