Dear President Zardari

We are writing to urge you 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.

While we welcome the peace agreement reached by the protagonists on 2 January, we are painfully aware that similar truces have broken down in the past plunging the city and its surroundings into renewed violence.

We expect the government of Pakistan to fulfil its duty to ensure the implementation of the new agreement, in particular the removal of 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.

As you are aware, since the land dispute between tribes in the area flared up again last summer, scores of 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.

Indeed, it is the government’s failure to prosecute previous such massacres and murders that are partly responsible for encouraging the recurrent targeting of Shia Muslims, including women and children, in the area. Unless the culprits are brought to book and a deterrent is set, this cycle of killing will never be broken.

You will also be aware that due to the Parachinar-Peshawar highway blockade by takfiri groups, a serious humanitarian crisis has unfolded 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.

We also urge you to take a tough line against any elements stoking sectarianism to incite unrest and violence in the region. This will go a long way to detoxifying the hate environment that has been created, mainly against Shia Muslims, and which allows them to be targeted with alarming frequency.

Yours faithfully,

Massoud Shadjareh

Chair, IHRC