IHRC has urged the Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari to take immediate action to restore peace and order to the city of Parachinar which has recently the subject of a suffocating blockade and horrific massacres of its citizens.

In a letter to the president, IHRC calls on him to ensure that his government fulfil its duty to keep the peace in the embattled city following a recent truce signed by protagonists on January 2.

In particular this entails removing the armed groups besieging Parachinar, the reopening of the Parachinar-Peshawar highway and the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the targeted killing of innocent people.

Since a land dispute between tribes in the area flared up again last summer, scores of Shia civilians have been summarily executed by Takfiri militants exploiting sectarian divisions, sometimes in the most gruesome manner including being beheaded. The perpetrators of these horrific and morally depraved crimes need to be brought to justice.

Takfiri groups also blockaded the Parachinar-Peshawar creating a serious humanitarian crisis in Parachinar, with people facing famine-like situation as stocks of essential food items and other goods dwindled. Patients, especially children, have died in homes and hospitals due to non-availability of medicines.

Armed groups acting outside the law cannot be allowed to strangle cities with impunity in this way. It is incumbent on the government to restore the normal operation of the road and protect it so that the supply of goods and services essential to the operation of everyday life can continue without hindrance.

The full text of the letter is available to view here. 

[ENDS]

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 208 904 0222  or (+44) 7958 522196 or email media@ihrc.org

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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
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