HRW urges Pakistan to stop Shia massacre

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Islamabad government should detain and prosecute those responsible for deadly attacks on the Shia Muslims across Pakistan. “Militant attacks on the Shias have occurred with increasing ferocity while the security forces have looked on helplessly,” Human Rights Director Ali Dayan Hasan said in a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday. “Whether the failure to hold and deter attackers is a function of incompetence or complicity by elements of the security forces, the government has a responsibility to reverse this state of affairs,” he added. Human Rights Watch says hundreds of Shias were killed in Pakistan in 2012, which was the deadliest year on record for the Shia Muslim community. Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, who are reportedly behind the killings, have imposed an economic blockade against the Shia-dominated population areas across the volatile northwest. The frequent incidents have raised concerns among human rights groups, while moderate Pakistani Sunni groups have described the issue as a conspiracy against the country. Taliban leaders, who were toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, took refuge in tribal regions of Pakistan and rapidly began to extend their influence from tribes to major towns and cities. The pro-Taliban anti-Shia groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching the campaign toward the restive southwestern Pakistan as well. Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara Shia community in recent months. Several Shia religious gatherings have also been targeted in central province of Punjab over the past months. Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the government must take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings. They also accuse Islamabad of failing to provide security for the Muslim community. The country’s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed. The killing of Shias has caused an international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries expressing concern over the ongoing deadly violence. Shias make up about one-third of Pakistan’s population of over 180 million.