Saturday, June 22, 2019
Sold into marriage, Pakistani women endure rape in China
All the 19-year-old would say was that her new husband — a Chinese man her family sold her off to in marriage — was torturing her.
Eventually she broke down and told her mother the full story, pleading with her to bring her home. The husband had hidden her away in a hotel in a remote corner of China and for the past weeks had been forcing her to have sex with other men.
“I bought you in Pakistan,” she said her husband told her. “You belong to me. You are my property.”
Her mother turned to the only people she knew who could help: her small evangelical church in a run-down slum of the Pakistani city of Faisalabad. There, a group of parishioners began putting together an elaborate plan to rescue the girl from the hotel more than 1,100 miles (1,800 km) away.
Natasha was one of hundreds of Pakistani girls who have been married off to Chinese men in return for cash payments to their families, most of them Christians, a community that is among the poorest of the poor in the country. The Associated Press reported previously how Christian pastors and Pakistani and Chinese brokers work together in a lucrative trade, aggressively pursuing Pakistani girls who are tricked into fraudulent marriages and find themselves trapped in China with sometimes abusive husbands.
Since then, police investigations have uncovered that many of the women are forced into prostitution in China. A picture of the extent of the trafficking networks has emerged from a series of arrests and raids in recent weeks by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, as well as testimony from victims, many of whom were previously too frightened to come forward.
On Friday, Chinese authorities said they had rescued more than 1,100 abducted foreign women in police raids coordinated with five Southeast Asian countries.
The Ministry of Public Security said more than 1,300 suspects had been arrested for allegedly luring and kidnapping women after promising jobs or marriages. The joint operation ran from last July to December.
The AP spoke to seven girls who had been forced into prostitution — four of them still in China.
Families are told their daughters will be wed to well-off businessmen and given good lives in China, and the marriage trade is depicted as a benefit for all sides — impoverished parents receive money, while Chinese men find brides in a country where men outnumber women. But investigators are increasingly convinced that the majority of the girls are sold into prostitution, two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigations told the AP.“The girls who are interviewed say they were tortured” — using a euphemism for rape and forced prostitution, said one of the officials. “They are afraid for their families and for the disgust they fear they will feel. … Make no mistake, this is trafficking.”
However, even as investigators are uncovering the scope of the trade, the Pakistani government has sought to keep it quiet. Senior government officials have ordered investigators to remain silent about the trafficking because they don’t want to jeopardize Pakistan’s increasingly close economic relationship with China, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Beijing is investing billions of dollars in Pakistan as part of its Belt and Road initiative, a global endeavor aimed at reconstituting the Silk Road and linking China to all corners of Asia. Under a $75 billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Beijing has promised a sprawling package of infrastructure development, from road construction and power plants to agriculture. The largest component is a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) road linking China to Pakistan’s deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.
In Pakistan, it has been billed as a massive development program that will bring new prosperity to the nation, where the average citizen lives on just $125 a month. Since 2015, thousands of Chinese people have arrived in Pakistan to work on a multitude of projects.
China’s ambassador to Pakistan has gone on local television denying girls are trafficked to China and sold into prostitution. The issue of human trafficking was not discussed during a visit to Pakistan this month by Vice President Wang Qishan, who held talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan’s president. In comments carried in the Pakistani press, Wang denied trafficking is taking place — and referred to an online video that traffickers often use to lure in families, showing Pakistani brides in China dancing and happy.
“China is denying it is happening, but we are showing the proof,” said Saleem Iqbal, an activist in Pakistan’s small Christian minority who has helped bring girls back from China and collects evidence of trafficking networks that he provides to police.
The AP spoke by messaging app with Arooj, a Pakistani girl still trapped in China. She said her husband beat her and would come home drunk with friends and force her to have sex with them. Like many of the girls, she wasn’t sure where she was in China; often they are taken from Beijing on flights elsewhere in the country, then driven for hours to small towns without being told the destination.
Ijaz Alam Augustine, the human rights and minorities minister in Pakistan’s Punjab province, estimated that more than 500 women have been trafficked to China, while Iqbal put the figure at 750 to 1,000.
In early May, Pakistani police swept through posh neighborhoods in the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore and in the national capital, Islamabad. They arrested Chinese nationals and their Pakistani partners involved in two marriage-broker networks that sought out Pakistani girls for Chinese grooms. All now face trafficking charges.
Investigators have since made further arrests in smaller Punjab towns and in the western city of Peshawar, rolling up more networks. Overall, at least two dozen Chinese and dozens of Pakistanis have been arrested.
The two law enforcement officials said the Lahore-based network had been operating for at least a year. The network was protected by corrupt policemen, and the son of a former senior police official served as the linchpin between the Chinese and Pakistani operatives, the officials said.The network also benefited from lax oversight by authorities, they said. For example, at least five of the Chinese traffickers were able to enter Pakistan on business visas based on companies that didn’t exist.The AP saw one of the charge sheets from the wave of arrests, in which eight Chinese and five Pakistanis were charged with human trafficking. They also accused the traffickers of profiting on body parts stolen from girls trafficked to China, without offering evidence. Other police reports tell of a Pakistani pastor who signed dozens of empty marriage certificates, which were later filled out by traffickers once they had acquired a prospective bride.Investigators have conducted dozens of interviews in recent weeks with trafficked girls and women, who are increasingly speaking out.One woman, Sumaira, who was sold to a Chinese groom by her brothers, told the AP she had remained silent for months after escaping her husband, even refusing to talk to investigators. But now she is coming forward.“If I had told everything that happened to me then, maybe I would have saved so many other Pakistani girls,” she said. “But I was too afraid, too afraid of my brothers. Now I want the people that did this to me to not do it to other girls.”The 30-year-old Sumaira had been running a small beauty salon in a poor, mostly Christian neighborhood of the Punjab town of Gujranwala. “I was a very different person than what you see now,” she said. “Then I had hope. I believed in my future. Now I don’t know.”
Her brothers forced her to marry in July last year after being offered money by brokers. Her husband took her first to a house in Islamabad, where she said she was kept for a week, raped every night by Chinese men.
Before leaving for China, she convinced her husband to let her go home to say farewell to her sisters.
“When I got home, I yelled at my brothers, ‘Why did you sell me? How much money did you get for me?'” she said. The brothers beat her, but she managed to escape to the home of an uncle.
Natasha Masih lives in Wasirpura, a mainly Christian district of Faisalabad where many work as domestic workers. She didn’t want to marry, but “what could I do, my family is poor.” A friend of her father suggested he marry her to a Chinese man. She said her father struggled with the decision but needed the money. He had four other daughters and could no longer work after hurting his back. Natasha said refusing was never an option.
In November, her husband took her to China’s remote northwestern region. She was driven to a forested area and a small house with no kitchen or bathroom that she was told would be her home. She discovered that three male and two female friends of her husband shared the house. Soon, her husband began to force her to have sex with the men.
After that, her husband took her to the Yin Du luxury hotel in the nearby city of Urumqi. There, he confined her to a room and sold her into prostitution.
“Always two or three men were the same, and then he would bring other men, ordering me to have sex with them,” she said. “I was living in hell-like conditions, silently weeping, silently praying for help.” She made furtive calls to her parents on her mobile phone.
Back in Faisalabad, a member of her parent’s church, Farooq Masih, formed a group of men from the congregation to try to help. Masih, who is not related to Natasha, told the AP they struggled with how to free Natasha until one among them told of his younger brother who was a student in China. The brother agreed to contact Natasha’s husband, pose as a client and pay him to sleep with her to get access to her. The student texted Natasha and told her he was coming to rescue her, asking for details of when her husband comes and goes from the hotel. Finally, the day came. He called her and told her to slip outside the hotel to where he was waiting in a taxi.“I saw him and quickly I took my clothes and got into his taxi,” she said. “I didn’t ask his name. I didn’t ask anything, I just said, ‘Brother, thank you.'” Soon she was on a plane to Pakistan.Farooq Masih and the other men from the church have since dedicated hours to unearthing trafficking networks. They recently conducted their own sting operation in Faisalabad, orchestrating a fake marriage to a prospective Chinese groom that led the Federal Investigation Agency to the Chinese and Pakistani brokers and the pastor who solemnized the unions for a fee.
Meanwhile, Natasha — who turned 20 last week — helps other young women open up about their experiences and encourages them to talk to investigators. She has heard reports that her husband was back in Pakistan looking for another girl to marry.
“I am lucky,” Natasha said. “Many girls who were taken there by their husbands are still living a terrible life. … Now I know what is freedom and what is slavery. In China, I was treated as a slave by my husband.”
Pompeo asks Pakistan to release those facing blasphemy charges
US secretary of state asks government to appoint an envoy to address religious freedom.
The US has asked Pakistan to release more than 40 members of the religious minorities facing blasphemy charges and also to appoint an envoy to address the various concerns on religious freedom in the country.
Speaking at the release of the annual report on the International Religious Freedom of the State Department for the year 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted how the Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi, a Catholic, of blasphemy, sparing her the death penalty after she spent nearly a decade in prison.
“More than 40 others remain jailed for life, or face execution on that very same charge. We continue to call for their release, and encourage the government to appoint an envoy to address the various religious freedom concerns,” Pompeo said as the Congress mandated annual report portrayed a grim picture of religious freedom in Pakistan.
“The report we’re putting out today, then we will make other determinations off of this report. But we put them on the special watch list,” Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, told reporters.
He said that harm on various religious communities have taken place in Pakistan.
“I visited them, went to Pakistan earlier this year — we were in frequent contact with them, I’ve met with embassy officials — to cite the issues that are going on in Pakistan. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of harm to various religious communities that have taken place in Pakistan. It’s a country I’ve worked with often in the past, and it’s my hope we’re going to start to see some progress,” Brownback said in response to a question.
Referring to his talks with senior Pakistani leadership, Brownback hoped to some key negotiations with Pakistan to try to move them forward on protecting their religious minorities. “We have got a keen eye focused on them and hope to work with them, and to get them off the special watch list. But they’re going to have to take actions themselves,” he said.
According to the annual report of the State Department, there were at least 77 individuals imprisoned on blasphemy charges, at least 28 of whom had received death sentences, although the government has never executed anyone specifically for blasphemy.
Bilawal warns Imran to do as much as he can endure
Addressing the party workers and loyalists at a gathering to celebrate the 66th birthday anniversary of his late mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Nawabshah, the PPP chairman said NAB has booked Asif Zardari and Faryal Talpur over false charges of Rs 30 million corruption.Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Friday warned Prime Minister Imran Khan “to do exactly as much as you can endure,” and added NAB is focused to bringing the entire political leadership into the PTI’s fold.
Addressing the prime minister, he said there are women in your household too, do as much as you can endure. Bilawal noted that only cowards targeted the women and elderly men. The PPP chairman said Zardari, who raised the slogan of Pakistan Khappay to save Pakistan at Benazir's funeral among the charged party leaders and workers has been detained,Bilawal also suggested to Imran Khan to pray for his father, PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari to come into power after him because he will nottake revenge against him. "You know what you will face if the PML-N comes into power after you," he added.Bilawal told the prime minister, “You will be stoned if JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman comes into power. Khan Sahab, you are a 70-year-old man and I'm just a 30-year-old young man." Zardari, he said, is pitted against the same forces who martyred Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for doing politics for the people and upholding the Federation. However, all such conspiracies and those against the 18th Amendment will be foiled and no one will be allowed to scrap the 18th Amendment.Addressing the cheering crowds, Bilawal said he is the scion of the Bhuttos and he would lead the fight against the anti-democratic forces. He said he has the full backing of people of Sindh in this struggle and we will overthrow them. Announcing to begin that struggle from Nawabshah, he said it will now continue till the government is overthrown. He said the prime minister “used” to say that he would make us cry but he happily bade farewell to his father when he was sent to jail. “However, my younger sister, Asifa Bhutto Zardari, was tearful when the PPP co-chairman was leaving.” He challenged the prime minister and said, "Khan Sahab, I will make you pay for my sister's tears and for the excesses committed against the people."
He expressed the hope that his father, who was jailed in the past for more than a decade, would again be honourably acquitted from all the baseless allegations. He said I am the grandson of Bhutto, son of Benazir, nephew of Murtaza and not scared of intimidation. Highlighting the duality of accountability process, Bilawal said the overseas companies of Niazi are kosher but those of Sharifs are not. The ministers of Sindh are being thrown into jails, while those of Punjab and KPK ministers and the PTI's interior and defence ministers enjoy immunity from any charges. Bilawal said the NAB law is aimed at joining the PTI. Pledging not to allow the passage of the anti people budget, the PPP Chairperson said we have held meetings to coordinate our actions for the purpose with Maryam Nawaz, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Akhtar Mengal.
The PPP Sindh President, Nisar Khuhro, CM Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and Syed Qaim Ali Shah also addressed on the occasion.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/487888-bilawal-warns-imran-to-do-as-much-as-he-can-endure
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemns the arrest of PPP candidate for KP Assembly Imran Mukhlis Wazir from Wana South Waziristan
He said the arrest of PPP contestant is part of pre-poll rigging.The PPP Chairman categorically stated that the PPP won’t accept elections conducted under tip of gun. PPP contestant Imran Mukhlis Wazir has in recent past been intimidated of life consequences.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that it is no secret that the federal and KP provincial governments are fully bent upon sabotaging the first ever elections for Provincial Assembly in former FATA areas.
He said Imran Wazir has been arrested because he had raised his voice of concern over different forms of pre-poll rigging against PPP and other opposition parties.
He said that the PPP would never compromise over rights of tribal areas and demanded that the arrested PPP candidate, Imran Mukhlis Wazir should immediately be released.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the federal and KP provincial governments are afraid of their imminent defeat and hence they are using unfair practices and are carrying on pre-poll rigging.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2019/06/22/chairman-bilawal-bhutto-zardari-condemns-the-arrest-of-ppp-candidate-for-kp-assembly-imran-mukhlis-wazir-from-wana-south-waziristan/
FATF warns Pakistan to fulfil its action plan on terror financing or face blacklisting
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned Islamabad, which is on the grey list for its weak domestic laws on terror financing, to meet its commitment by the October deadline.
Pakistan has failed to complete its action plan on terror financing, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said Friday, warning Islamabad to meet its commitment by October or face action, which could possibly lead to the country getting blacklisted.
The Paris-based global body is working to curb terrorism financing and money laundering and has asked Pakistan to reassess the operation of banned terrorist outfits in the country.
In June last year, the FATF placed Pakistan on the grey list of countries whose domestic laws are considered weak to tackle the challenges of money laundering and terrorism financing.
In a statement issued at the conclusion of its Plenary meeting in Orlando, Florida, the FATF expressed concern “that not only did Pakistan fail to complete its action plan items with January deadlines, it also failed to complete its action plan items due May 2019”.
The FATF “strongly” urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan by October 2019 when the last set of action plan items are set to expire.
“Otherwise, the FATF will decide the next step at that time for insufficient progress,” the international financial body said leaving a strong warning to Pakistan.
The FATF said Pakistan had taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/combating the financial terrorism) regime, including the recent development of its terroe funding risk assessment addendum.
However, it does not demonstrate a proper understanding of Pakistan’s transnational terror funding risk.
Reacting to the FATF’s warning, Pakistan on Friday said it was committed to taking measures needed to implement the action plan agreed with the FATF to come out of the grey list.
“The Government of Pakistan reiterates its commitment to take all necessary measures to ensure completion of the Action Plan in a timely manner,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
Noting that the Plenary meeting of the FATF took place at Orlando from June 16 to 21, it said the meeting reviewed the compliance of a number of countries, including Pakistan with the international standards on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT).
FATF reviewed progress made by Pakistan towards the implementation of the Action Plan and acknowledged the steps taken by Pakistan to improve its AML/CFT regime and highlighted the need for further actions for implementing the Action Plan, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that the FATF will undertake the next review of Pakistan’s Progress in October 2019.
Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by adequately demonstrating its proper understanding of the terror funding risks posed by the terrorist groups and conducting supervision on a risk-sensitive basis, the FATF said.
It should demonstrate that remedial actions and sanctions are applied in cases of AML/CFT violations, and that these actions have an effect on AML/CFT compliance by financial institution, it said.
It asked Pakistan to demonstrate that competent authorities are cooperating and taking action to identify and take enforcement action against illegal money or value transfer services (MVTS).
It also asked Pakistan to show that authorities are identifying cash couriers and enforcing controls on illicit movement of currency and understanding the risk of cash couriers being used for terror funding.
Pakistan should improve inter-agency coordination including between provincial and federal authorities on combating terror funding risks and demonstrate that law enforcement agencies are identifying and investigating the widest range of terror funding activity, it said.
It should demostrate that terror funding investigations and prosecutions target designated persons and entities, and persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons or entities, it said.
The FATF asked Pakistan to demonstrate terror funding prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and enhancing the capacity and support for prosecutors and the judiciary.
Pakistan need to effectively implement targeted financial sanctions (supported by a comprehensive legal obligation) against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf, including preventing the raising and moving of funds, identifying and freezing assets (movable and immovable), and prohibiting access to funds and financial services, it said.
The FATF said Pakistan needed to demonstrate enforcement against TFS violations, including administrative and criminal penalties and provincial and federal authorities cooperating on enforcement cases.
It should demonstrate that facilities and services owned or controlled by designated person are deprived of their resources and the usage of the resources, it said.
The FATF currently has 36 members with voting powers and two regional organisations, representing most of the major financial centres in all parts of the globe.
On May 3 last year, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will ask the FATF to put Pakistan on a blacklist of countries that fail to meet international standards in stopping financial crime.
China is set to secure FATF presidency next year while Saudi Arabia representing the Gulf Cooperation Council is to become a full FATF member.
Turkey was the only member that stood by Pakistan despite a strong campaign launched by the US, the UK, India and Europe.
Friday, June 21, 2019
#HappyBirthdaySMBB خان صاحب اتنا ظلم کریں جتنا برداشت کرسکیں، بلاول
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ آصف زرداری کو سیاسی انتقام کا نشانہ بنایا جارہا ہے، خان صاحب آپ اتنا ہی ظلم کریں جتنا برداشت کرسکیں، بزدل ہی عورتوں اور بزرگوں کونشانہ بناتے ہیں، پہلے بھی آصف زرداری کوبارہ سال جیل میں رکھا گیا اب بھی وہ باعزت بری ہونگے۔
سابق وزیراعظم بینظیر بھٹو کے 66 ویں یوم پیدائش کے موقع پر نواب شاہ میں جلسہ عام سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے بلاول کا کہنا تھا کہ یہ لوگ سمجھتے ہیں دباؤ ڈال کر ہماری زبان بندی کرسکتے ہیں، ہم ڈرنے والے نہیں، ہم جھکنے والے نہیں، آخری سانس تک آئین کا دفاع کریں گے، 18ویں ترمیم پر آنچ نہیں آنے دیں گے۔
پی پی چیئرمین کا کہنا تھا کہ آصف زرداری اندھیری قوتوں کے خلاف لڑرہا ہے، ان قوتوں کے خلاف لڑرہا ہے جن کی وجہ سے ذوالفقار بھٹو اور بینظیر کی جانیں گئیں۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ آصف زرداری کا جرم کیا ہے؟ ان کی ساری جوانی جیلوں میں گزری، ان کو اس عمر میں بھی قید کیا گیا لیکن وہ ملک چھوڑ کر نہیں بھاگے، آصف زرداری نیب اور عدالتوں میں پیش ہوتے رہے۔
نیب پر تنقید کرتے ہوئے بلاول کا کہنا تھا کہ وزیرداخلہ، وزیردفاع، اسپیکر پنجاب اسمبلی اور وزیراعلیٰ خیبرپختونخوا کے خلاف بھی کیسز ہیں، جن حکومتی عہدیداروں کے خلاف کیسز ہیں وہ آزاد ہیں۔
ان کا کہنا ہے کہ حکومت 18 ویں ترمیم کو ختم کرنا چاہتی ہے لیکن آصف زرداری عوام کے حقوق کا سب سے بڑا محافظ ہے۔
#BenazirPakistan - حمزہ شہباز نے بےنظیر کی سالگرہ کا کیک کاٹا
پنجاب اسمبلی میں اپوزیشن لیڈر حمزہ شہباز نے اسمبلی میں پیپلز پارٹی کے پارلیمانی لیڈر کے چیمبر میں منعقد کی گئی مختصر سی تقریب میں بے نظیر بھٹو کی سالگرہ کا کیک کاٹا۔
پنجاب اسمبلی لاہورمیں منعقد کی گئی اس تقریب میں مسلم لیگ ن کی عظمی بخاری، سمیع اللہ خان، وارث کلو، ثانیہ عاشق اور خلیل طاہر سندھو نے شرکت کی۔
اس موقع پر حمزہ شہباز کا کہنا تھا کہ بی بی شہید بہت عظیم اور دلیر خاتون تھیں، سانحہ کارساز کے بعد انہیں معلوم تھا کہ موت انکا پیچھا کررہی ہےمگر انہوں نے تمام تر خطرات کے باوجود قوم کی خدمت جاری رکھی۔
حمزہ شہباز نے کہا کہ بے نظیر بھٹو نے اپنی جان کی قربانی دی اور میں ہمیشہ بی بی شہید کی قدر کرتا رہوں گا۔
واضح رہے کہ سالگرہ کی اس تقریب کا اہتمام پیپلز پارٹی اراکین حسن مرتضی، علی حیدر گیلانی، شازیہ عابد و دیگر اراکین نے کیا تھا۔
#Pakistan - #PPP - Remembering Benazir Bhutto: a tribute to a great leader
June 21, 1953, is the birthday of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of any Muslim state. Remembering her brings pain and sorrow of her loss but for me, it is also a reminder of her compassionate and beautiful personality. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto represented the Pakistan that was beautiful and with immense potential for development and success.
She set the highest benchmark for politics of integrity and set great examples with struggles for democracy. For this reason, her birthday is celebrated every year on June 21 and nationally and internationally, a tribute is paid to her in ceremonies that are organized across the world to remember her great contributions for this country.
One evening in the 70 Clifton, Shaheed BB received a phone call from Lahore. It was Khwaja Tariq Rahim informing her that dictator General Zia ul Haq’s plane has disappeared from the radar. When Shaheed BB insisted what this information implied, he replied that the long and dark story of General Zia’s rule in Pakistan has come to an end. After that moment, she received a flurry of related calls. About half an hour later, a friend of the Bhutto family and renowned journalist confirmed that the remains of the lost plane have been found near Bahawalpur and all its passengers including General Zia have been killed.
Outside 70 Clifton, party workers who were victims of baton charge, imprisonment, and unemployment at the hands of the autocratic regime, were emotionally charged. Some of them carried boxes of sweets. When Shaheed Benazir Bhutto learned about the festive mood outside 70 Clifton and that people were distributing sweets in joy and celebrations, she left her drawing room and went outside the gate. She said, “Our religion does not allow us to celebrate someone’s death.” Some of the workers replied, “But what he did to Shaheed Zulfikar Bhutto…” She stopped them right away and said, “We do not believe in politics of revenge.”
In her book, “Daughter of the East” Shaheed BB wrote about her concern for her close associates at the occasion of her return to Pakistan. The following excerpt displays her thoughtfulness and empathetic nature: “‘Naheed, Bashir, Dara. Stay close to me.’ I told those who had been warned that they would be arrested. It was ironic: my supporters crowded around me for my protection, and I kept them close to me for their protection. ‘We’re your security,’ members of the press said. But it was the crush of the people outside the airport who turned out to be our security. The immigration authorities were so anxious to get us away from the airport that they conducted their formalities on the plane, quickly stamping all our passports.”
Being a woman leading a political party in a conservative Muslim country, Shaheed BB had to make certain personal decisions in an effort not to alienate her people by staying within the societal norms. One day, while surrounded by her friends in the 70 Clifton, she asked my opinion on marriage and whether she should consider it for herself. I immediately replied in affirmative and said, “Yes, you must!” At that time, I did not know whom she was considering to marry but I expressed my opinion that for a female political leader, marriage is necessary to ensure safety in personal and political life and for desirable social status in the Pakistani culture. After July 1977, the Bhutto family had to face several tragedies including the hanging of Shaheed BB’s father, her brother Shahnawaz’s death, her mother’s illness, her brother Mir Murtaza’s exile and her own house arrests that did not give Shaheed BB enough time to ponder over her personal life. Compared to the wedding ceremonies of her siblings, Shaheed BB’s wedding was being held in much better circumstances and her family and friends were delighted to be able to join Shaheed BB on this memorable occasion. Shaheed BB displayed a great sense of generosity by including the people of Lyari to mark this personal milestone in her life. The ceremony was organized in PPPP’s political stronghold, Lyari’s biggest ground, Kakri Ground. That day, her guests and media from all around the world enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Lyari.
My relationship with the Bhutto family has always been honest and filled with sincerity. The reason why I continued to be a part of Shaheed BB’s journey is because my intentions have been pure and I have earned the family’s trust. After she became the Prime Minister, she offered me to work for her and I agreed to it. Like in the past, I started handling international media.
In the last week of December 1993, Shaheed BB went on an official visit to China and North Korea. In her second tenure, this was my first foreign tour with her. Just a day earlier, she had organized a lunch for my birthday in the Prime Minister House. The guest list included individuals who were close associates of both, Shaheed Bb and mine. I was greatly touched by the gesture that she had kept the tradition of celebrating my birthday even after becoming the Prime Minister. That day, I promised myself that I will remember her on her birthday for years to come, and even if she is no longer with us, I try to continue this tradition by sharing her precious memories with her people and with the new generation.
21 June 2019 is Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s sixty-sixth birthday. Her absence is felt today more than ever. The most befitting tribute to her on her birthday would be to reiterate our commitment to BB’s vision by supporting the new generation who is trying to continue her legacy despite the fact that their father, Mr. Zardari has been arrested and the children’s guardian Faryal Talpur is also under house arrest. Her children, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar, and Asifa are the custodians of her legacy and they are all well-educated and capable individuals who will continue BB’s mission of serving the people and keeping aloft the flag of PPPP.
OP-ED - #HappyBirthdaySMBB - Benazir-leader of two worlds!
It was the longest day of the year 1953 when a leader of two worlds-Benazir Bhutto–was born in Pakistan carving for herself a unique niche unparalleled in the annals of humankind, casting a spell of glory on her people and the world at large by her leadership. Had she been alive she would have been leading Pakistan as a front rank country onto pastures new, playing a lead role in the comity of nations, respected and held in awe by others.
Her dastardly assassination was yet another colossal tragedy like that of her father’s judicial murder by General ZiaulHaq that dealt an irreparable blow to Pakistan from which nation has yet to recover. It was a combination of an insatiable lust for power of President General Pervez Musharraf in cahoots with religious militants that led to the assassination of Pakistan’s most outstanding leader. Indeed, Benazir’s murder snatched from the people hope of a better future.
It was no insignificant coincidence that she was murdered at the same location where Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in a public meeting in 1951-a much similar act of conspirators to waylay democracy. It is said that as in the case of Liaquat’s, the plotters used Afghan Taliban killers for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. And not far away from this spot her father, prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was also judicially killed- by the Army chief General ZiaulHaq-known as the father of all religious bigotry, extremism, sectarianism, ethnicity, parochialism, who pitched one Muslim against another so that divided people could not challenge him in power.
Martyred Benazir Bhutto stood like a rock against Dictators General Zia and General Musharraf and others, returned home amidst plethora of threats to her life and in the struggle to retrieve democracy she finally nurtured the cause by giving her blood to it. Just after one year of her assassination democracy came back through elections and one thought that there would be no going back since we had seen through successful democratic transition, two elections and peaceful transfer of power.
Unfortunately resurgence of democracy against odds gave sleepless nights to the Establishment and it got involved in intrigues to subverting it. The entire tenure of PPPP was spent in defending itself against media vilification campaigns and intrigues to destabilise it. Short of doing everything to impede its success in government, the powers that be left no stone unturned to dislodge it. However, 18th Amendment came in the way of their machinations to defend the constitution and the issue of provincial autonomy.
Despite the fact that the previous government was considered to be on the same page, it too fell out of favour of the powers that be that wanted it to be pliable to its demands. A much too independent prime minister was not acceptable to them as such he was judicially shown the order and grounds created for bringing in their ‘ladla’ prime minister and a party that dance to the tunes played by the powers that be. New breed of political heirs to Zia and Musharraf have rendered all state institutions into mocking birds, ineffective, helpless and ridiculous though with lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Just look around at the state of affairs, government of the day has left no stone unturned to undermine judiciary and the bureaucracy. It has handed over the financial writ of the state to the three musketeers of IMF.
There should be a consensus among politicians to join hands to revive their commitment to the untold sacrifices rendered by martyred Bibi and the best tribute to Shaheed leader on her 66th birthday anniversary would be to unite, get up and do or die for saving democracy from the evil designs of powers that be
Much more alarming and lethal is the latest threat delivered by a senior leader of PTI Faisal Vawda regarding the need for mass elimination of political and human rights dissenters. Such dreadful scheme of things should be of profound concern for all democratic minded people. There should be a consensus among politicians to join hands to revive their commitment to the untold sacrifices rendered by martyred Bibi and the best tribute to Shaheed leader on her 66th birthday anniversary would be to unite, get up and do or die for saving democracy from the evil designs of powers that be. Have we done her any proud to her sacrifice in blood? Most certainly not! She dared to return home despite threats of the General in power and his rent-a-jihadi supporters that she would be eliminated the moment she steps onto Pakistani soil. She came back and took the plunge as she believed that it is only worthwhile to do or die for the cause that one believed in. She returned to singe military dictator’s beard in his den.
Whenever I sit down to write about her, I lose emotional control over myself. I remember her calling upon all those who cared for her and her Pakistan to save the country from going to dogs. I can recall her words- “did I and thousands of others sacrifice their lives, walked to gallows, faced long and torturous incarcerations at the hands of dictators usurping democratic rights of the people with their naked bayonets and lethal bullets – deserve to be pushed back into dark ages? It’s time for the nation to wake up from its deep slumber and save Pakistan from being submerged by a deluge- by getting tougher as challenges are enormous and our internal and external enemies too formidable. We have not only to revert Pakistan to the liberal, secular and democratic vision of the Quaid and martyred Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but to protect our pristine Islam – a religion of peace-from the horde of suicidal terrorists.”
With threat of mass hangings of political dissenters around the corner, indeed, it is time for decisive actions. Her sacrifice in blood no doubt got us back democracy in 2008. However our march onward remains on roller-coaster. Current rulers have rendered Parliament toothless, weakened other institutions, the hydra-headed evil of corruption is the favourite tool of those usurping the power of the state rendering democratic applecart under threat of sudden disruption. People have been perforce divided. There is total polarisation and regional compartmentalisation of politics, weakening of national political parties by conjured shifting of loyalties at the behest of invisible forces-all put together do not sound good for democracy for which Benazir Bhutto struggled all her life.
Just when she was to return to Pakistan she was profoundly perturbed by the deplorable state of economy, menacing threat of terrorism, growing economic and political polarisation, the plight of the poor and lack of services to the have-nots. She was not hesitant to confess that problems faced by Pakistan were Herculean and to her, these could only be grappled by the wisdom of the collective leadership and best brains in the country within the framework of a strong democracy and truly federal and autonomous constitution. Instead of following this road map, incumbent rulers have by their contempt for the Parliament given enormous space to extra-constitutional forces just for the taking. It seems forces of Fascism would soon make a rapid headway. God Forbid!
Thursday, June 20, 2019
#HappyBirthdaySMBB - Benazir Bhutto and freedom of press
By Syed Ishrat Husain
Legal action is also employed to keep the press quiet. According to a report on the state of Pakistani media in 2018 published by the Pakistan Press Foundation, seven journalists and one media organization owner faced legal actions in 2018. Pakistan ranked 142nd out of 180 countries – falling three places from 2018 – in Reporters without Borders 2019 World Press Freedom Index. In media rights watchdog’s report, Freedom Network has registered more than 157 attacks on journalists between May 2017 and April 2018, 55 of them occurring in Islamabad alone.
In September last year a special report compiled after recording testimonies in various cities of the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) said journalists, including independents, had painted a picture of a media under siege. The climate for press freedom in Pakistan has been deteriorating, even as overall violence against and murders of journalists decline, the Committee to Protect Journalists. The fall in violence against members of the press followed the military’s swift response to the terrorist attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in December 2014. But while a fall in the murders of journalists is good news, the threat of attack remains.
Several regular English-language columnists were informed by editors that their columns would not be put out. The media in Pakistan is having a crisis of independence.
Mosharraf Zaidi’s article was not published for the first time in the last 10 years he has written for The News. Lawyer Babar Sattar’s article was pulled out of the same paper.
The case against Cyril Almeida who has been issued a non-bailable warrant after an interview with ousted former PM Nawaz Sharif.
Gul Bukhari was abducted by masked men in Lahore’s cantonment area and was subsequently freed. Her abduction came at a time when there was immense pressure on the press to fall in line with the establishment’s line.
Ammar Masood writes a column for a leading Urdu newspaper. Often his columns are turned down for publication. Shahzeb Jillani was accused of cyberterrorism based on his comments.
Imtiaz Alam has announced the launch of two news websites, one for South Asia in English and the other in Urdu specifically for Pakistani audience, besides a YouTube channel. What if his new sites get blocked? Imtiaz Alam said that he would not give up. We will keep trying. We will keep exploring platforms but we will never do anything which is ETHICALLY wrong.Whatever kind of censorship has to be condemned. There are no ifs and buts here. The media must wrestle space that it has legitimately earned.
Najam Sethi’s show was the most recent casualty, when his show was taken off air in Pakistan last week. However transmission of his show was reinstated after few days.
While I was moving through the current situation of freedom of expression I realised its Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto’s birth anniversary in two days. I was wondering whether it’s merely a coincidence or we will always miss Mohtarmah for her resistance against suppression of freedom of speech or her strict stance for the freedom of press. It takes me back to 1989 when I asked her why is she soft on Pakistani print media (in Zia’s regime newspapers were simply pro-Zia while in her times it was totally opposite).
She replied: This is because of the suppression of 11 years of dictatorship. Let them take out their frustration. This is the difference between democracy and authoritarianism. We are here to strengthen democracy.
It is the value of tolerance that will be the determining factor between the forces of extremism and the forces of moderation, between the powers of dictatorship and the forces of democracy, between fanaticism and education, between pluralism and bigotry, between gender equality and gender subservience, between inflexible traditionalism and adaptable modernity.
One prescription for peace is for democratic countries to promote democratic elections and democratic governance. Islamic nations must be assisted to create and sustain democratic infrastructure; by encouraging, supporting, and protecting a free press; by assisting in parliamentary and constitutional reforms; by helping to insulate an independent and autonomous judiciary from political manipulation; and by not rewarding military dictatorships but helping to equip militaries that accept the sovereignty of constitutional authority.
Democracies do not spring up fully developed overnight, nor is there necessarily a shining line between democratic governance and autocracy. True democracy is determined not only by elections but by the democratic governance that should follow. The most critical elements of democratic governance go beyond just free and fair elections to the protection of political rights for those in political opposition, the open function of a civil society and free press, and an independent judiciary. More typical, democracy can be understood on a continuum. Civil society and democratic institutions such as political parties and NGOs tend to grow slowly over time, one critical step at a time.
I would like to pay my tributes to Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto on her birth anniversary by sharing one of my favourite quotes by her:
We gather together to celebrate freedom, to celebrate democracy, to celebrate the three most beautiful words in English Language, ‘We, The People’.
#HappyBirthdaySMBB - بلاول کا بینظیر بھٹو کو خراج عقیدت پیش
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کے فلسفہ کو ریاست و معاشرے کو درپیش تمام مسائل کے حل کی کُنجی قرار دے دیا۔
اپنی والدہ شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کی 66 ویں سالگرہ کے موقعے پر جاری کردہ اپنے پیغام میں انہوں نے کہا کہ حالات کا تقاضا ہے، تضادات کو مفاہمت کے ذریعے حل کرنے پر فوقیت دی جائے۔
پی پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ وہ اس دھرتی کی عظیم بیٹی تھی، اب پاکستان کی روشن و بینظیر پہچان ہیں، وہ اپنی زندگی کی آخری گھڑی تک عوام کے حقوق اور پاکستان کی سربلندی کے لیئے جدوجہد کرتی رہیں۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ بینظیر بھٹو نے جب سے سیاست میں قدم رکھا، مشکل حالات اور بے دریغ قربانیوں کے تقاضے ان کے تعاقب میں رہے، لیکن وہ عزم، حوصلے اور صبر کے ساتھ اپنے مشن پر کاربند رہیں۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کا مشن پاکستان میں جمہوری نظام اور مساوات پر مبنی معاشرے کی تشکیل تھا، جو درحقیقت قائدِاعظم محمد علی جناح کے افکار کی روشنی میں قائدِ عوام شہید ذوالفقار علی بھٹو کا مشن تھا۔
انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کو دو بار منتخب ہونے کے باوجود ان کی عوامی حکومت کو چلنے نہیں دیا گیا۔
بلاول زرداری نے کہاکہ مشکل ترین حالات کے باوجود بینظیر بھٹو نے جمہوری اداروں کی مضبوطی، آئین و قانون کی بالادستی، وفاق اور صوبوں کے درمیان ہم آہنگی کو فروغ دیا۔
پی پی چیرمین نے کہا کہ شہید محترمہ نے مزدوروں، خواتین و اقلیتوں جیسے معاشرے کی پسماندہ طبقات کے فلاح، و بہبود اور ترقی کے لیئے نمایاں ٹھوس اقدامات اٹھائے، جو قوم کے لیئے آج باعثِ فخر اور دنیا کے لیئے شاندار مثال ہیں۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ یہ ان کے لیئے باعثِ اطمینان اور باعثِ فخر ہے کہ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کے مشن پر سختی سے کاربند ہے اور اپنی شہید چیئرپرسن کے مشن کو پائیہ تکمیل پر پہنچانے کے لیئے ہر کارکن فکرِ بھٹو سے لیس ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ سابق صدرِ پاکستان آصف علی زرداری کو آج بھی شہید بی بی کے مشن کا بلاخوف و خطر جاری رکھنے کی پاداش میں انتقامی کارروائیوں کا نشانہ بنایا جا رہا ہے۔
پی پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ وہ دن اب دور نہیں، جب انتشار و خلفشار کے اندھیروں کے آگے حق و سچائی کا وہ سورج طلوع ہوگا، جس کی آبیاری دخترِ مشرق نے کی تھی۔
#Pakistan - #PPP - Bilawal Bhutto stresses for following philosophy of Benazir Bhutto for ending ills of nation
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the problems and difficulties of the society and the state can be overcome if the philosophy of his mother Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is applied in letter and spirit.
He said "It is need of the hour that issues and conflicts should be resolved through reciprocal reconciliation."
In his message issued on the occasion of 66th birthday of first woman Prime Minister of the Muslim World, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the PPP Chairman said that she was a great daughter of the country and she was the brighter face of the country.
"She had struggled for the peoples’ rights and enlightenment of the country till she breathed her last," he said and added "Since day one she entered practical politics, she was witch-hunted with adverse situations but she daringly braved every situation."Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the democratic system and an enlightened civil society was the mission of his mother.
He added that despite having public mandate twice in her life she was obstructed to rule over the country but she struggled for the empowerment of democratic institutions, supremacy of the constitution, harmonious relations among the Centre and the provinces, welfare of the working classes and the women, minorities and downtrodden segments of the society. Her struggle produced salient results and those are the jewels of the country.
He said that it is a matter of immense pleasure and satisfaction that the entire PPP is adhering dedicatedly to the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the Party is fully determined to accomplish the required benefits and results of that Bhutto’s ideology for the common people.He said that President Asif Ali Zardari was still being victimised and hounded for carrying on the mission of Shaheed Bibi without any fear.PPP Chairman said that it would not be very far that a new era of success and enlightenment would start and spells of the darkness of unrest and confusion would disappear soon.
Daughter of the East, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had struggled for that day to come, he added.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/487367-bilawal-stresses-for-following-philosophy-of-benazir-bhutto-for-ending-ills-of-nation
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
#KhashoggiMurder - U.N.: ‘Credible Evidence’ Crown Prince Is to Blame for Khashoggi’s Killing
By Jamie Ross
There’s “credible evidence” that Mohammed bin Salman is liable for the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a damning new report from the United Nations that calls for a full investigation into the involvement of the Saudi crown prince. Agnes Callamard, the U.N.’s special rapporteur, reports the writer’s death was “an international crime” and goes on to say: “It is the conclusion of the special rapporteur that Mr. Khashoggi has been the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human-rights law.”
The report finds that both the Saudi investigation into the killing was not conducted in good faith and may even count as obstruction of justice, The Guardian reports. Khashoggi, 59, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 last year. A Saudi foreign minister rejected the U.N. report as “nothing new” with “clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/khashoggi-credible-evidence-saudi-crown-prince-is-to-blame-for-journalists-killing-says-un
The report finds that both the Saudi investigation into the killing was not conducted in good faith and may even count as obstruction of justice, The Guardian reports. Khashoggi, 59, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 last year. A Saudi foreign minister rejected the U.N. report as “nothing new” with “clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/khashoggi-credible-evidence-saudi-crown-prince-is-to-blame-for-journalists-killing-says-un
#Saudis Called #Khashoggi ‘Sacrificial Animal’ as They Waited to Kill Him
By David D. Kirkpatrick and Nick Cumming-Bruce
Key takeaways from the United Nations report on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi:
• Saudi officials carried out an extensive cover-up of Mr. Khashoggi’s killing in a Saudi consulate in October, scrubbing down rooms, blocking investigators and possibly burning evidence.
• The destruction of evidence and the active role of the Saudi consul general in organizing the operation in coordination with officials in Riyadh suggest that the killing and cover-up were authorized at the highest levels of the Saudi royal court.
• The report presents a new challenge to President Trump, who has embraced the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, as a pivotal ally and sought to avoid blaming him for directing the killing.
As the killers waited for the victim, the Saudi autopsy specialist reassured them that dismembering the body would “be easy.”
“Joints will be separated,” he said. “It will not be a problem.”
Then, as the minutes passed, a Saudi intelligence officer asked whether the “sacrificial animal” had finally arrived.
Within a day, the report said, new teams of Saudi operatives were already working diligently to thwart investigators and cleanse the crime scene — the Saudi consulate in Istanbul — including setting a fire in a barrel outside that may have been used to destroy evidence.
“Credible evidence,” the report found, points to “the crime scenes having been thoroughly, even forensically, cleaned.”
All the while, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, professed ignorance of Mr. Khashoggi’s fate.
“We are very keen to know what happened to him,” the prince said in a television interview three days after the killing.
But the destruction of evidence “could not have taken place without the crown prince’s awareness,” the report concluded. The kingdom’s current secret trial of 11 Saudis in connection with the killing lacks credibility, the report said, and may be an effort to deflect blame from the most senior figures behind it.
The report, by Agnes Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions for the United Nations human rights agency, makes the most detailed and authoritative case to date that responsibility for the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and its cover-up lies at the highest levels of the Saudi royal court.
Drawing on extensive access to surveillance by Turkish intelligence agencies and the accounts of Turkish investigators, the report finds that “credible evidence” justifies the “investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s.”
It urges further criminal investigations both by the United Nations and, because of Mr. Khashoggi’s status as an American resident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Western intelligence agencies have already concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing. But the report may present a new challenge to President Trump, who has embraced Prince Mohammed as a pivotal ally and sought to avoid blaming him for directing the murder.
“Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Mr. Trump said in a statement last November.
Administration officials have since repeated that they were awaiting the results of Saudi Arabia’s own investigation, which Ms. Callamard dismissed as a potential “miscarriage of justice.”
Outraged by Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, the Senate and House passed a resolution to end American military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and to curtail Mr. Trump’s war powers. But the president vetoed it in April. Responding to the new report, Adel al-Jubair, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, said in a statement that the report offered “nothing new” and only “reiterates what has been published and circulated in the media.”
He argued that unspecified “unfounded allegations” undermined the credibility of the report, and he insisted that the kingdom’s own courts were “the only relevant authority in dealing with this case.”Ms. Callamard’s report, however, said that the Saudi trial has been “clouded in secrecy and lacking in due process.” She called on Saudi Arabia to suspend the trial altogether.The court has not publicly disclosed the names of the defendants, the accusations against them or the evidence in the case. But Ms. Callamard said that some of the 15 members of the Saudi assassination squad identified by Turkish authorities have not been charged.
Western intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.
On top of that, the report said, the defendants do not include other Saudi officials sanctioned by Western governments in connection with the killing — most notably Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to Prince Mohammed, and Mohammed al-Otaibi, the Saudi consul general in Istanbul.The new report also highlights for the first time Mr. al-Otaibi’s role in organizing the killing, detailing a level of coordination that makes it hard to depict the killing as an unauthorized or a rogue operation.
In the days before the killing, the report notes, Mr. al-Otaibi sent two consular officials for a “top secret mission” to Riyadh, instructing them to buy plane tickets for their families in order to disguise their travel as a family vacation but to disclose the trip to no one, not even to their families.To accommodate the incoming operatives, Mr. al-Otaibi then helped book hotel rooms in Istanbul with sea views, apparently to disguise their travel as vacation as well. And on the eve of the killing, the report said, he was recorded instructing his staff to stay away from the area around his office.“A commission” from Saudi Arabia “will have something to do on my floor in the office,” he told subordinates, and “their work inside will take two or three days,” the report said.Starting as early as the next day, successive teams of Saudi officials with forensic expertise began to arrive, apparently to remove incriminating evidence while Saudi diplomats held Turkish investigators at bay, the report notes.
When the investigators finally examined the crime scene for genetic material or other evidence, the reports notes, the Turkish detectives reported finding it suspiciously immaculate.
“Even in a normal room, we would expect more reactions,” one investigator said, according to the report.
Evidence of a professional cleanup, Ms. Callamard said, suggested “that the Saudi investigation was not conducted in good faith, and that it may amount to obstructing justice.”
Although representatives of some foreign governments have been invited to attend the trial in Saudi Arabia, the report said, they have been required to commit to nondisclosure agreements, preventing them from reporting or commenting on the proceedings.“A shadowy presence of international observers cannot, although clearly meant to, lend credibility to eminently problematic proceedings,” the report said. It argued that the presence of foreign diplomats could make them complicit in the “miscarriage of justice.”Mr. Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers that would have enabled him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.
Saudi officials said at first that Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. But they later admitted that he had been killed in the building after what they said was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A “local collaborator” disposed of his body, Saudi officials have said, but has not been found.
“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” and may also have been an act of torture under international treaties, Ms. Callamard wrote. “His attempted kidnapping would also constitute a violation under international human rights law.”
[Prince Mohammed has close ties to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Khashoggi case puts them in an uncomfortable position.]
Ms. Callamard also called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on Saudi officials suspecting of being involved in the murder, including Prince Mohammed. The sanctions should focus on the prince’s personal assets abroad “until and unless evidence has been produced that he bears no responsibility for the execution of Mr. Khashoggi.” Ms. Callamard is to present her findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva next week in a session that will also be addressed by Ms. Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé.
Ms. Callamard coupled her recommendation with a scathing assessment of Saudi Arabia’s actions after the killing.
She said that Saudi Arabia did not respond to her requests to visit the kingdom and did not reply to questions she submitted. The Turkish authorities gave her only limited access to evidence, allowing her to listen to about 45 minutes of the seven hours of recordings they had of Saudi officials in the period around Mr. Khashoggi’s death.
Despite such obstacles, her report presents a damning picture of meticulous Saudi preparations for dealing with Mr. Khashoggi that began as soon as officials knew when he would visit the consulate.
Ms. Callamard said she did not have evidence indicating who ordered the crime. “What I do present is information that points to the potential responsibility of individuals and that is what needs to be investigated as a next step.”
Even if a high-level official did not order the killing, she added, “that did not mean that they are not responsible and do not have liability” for it.
She expressed concern about the possibility that Saudi Arabia might take similar actions in the future. Since Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, she said, there have been credible reports of continuing rights violations, including torture and arbitrary detention, and threats against Saudi dissidents abroad.
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