Saturday, December 7, 2019
Saudi gunman reportedly called US a ‘nation of evil,’ decried support of Israel
Officials said to name attacker who killed 3 as Mohammed al-Shamrani, a Saudi Air Force officer training at Florida airbase who quoted bin Laden in a tweet prior to Friday shootingA Saudi military student reportedly condemned the US as a “nation of evil” in an online manifesto prior to opening fire Friday at a US naval base, killing three people before being shot dead by police.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist media, identified him as Mohammed al-Shamrani, saying he had posted a short manifesto on Twitter that read: “I’m against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil.”
“I’m not against you for just being American, I don’t hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity,” he wrote.ABC News reported that investigators were working to determine if it was in fact written by the shooter.
The Twitter account that posted the manifesto — which also condemned US support for Israel and included a quote from Al-Qaeda’s deceased leader, the Saudi Osama bin Laden — has been suspended.
According to Rita Katz, the director of SITE, Jerusalem appeared to be a “critical point” for the attacker and one of his most recent tweets shared the text of US President Donald Trump’s December 2017 speech recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.
BREAKING: Tweet by #Pensacola attacker Alshamrani suggests terrorist motive. Does not claim allegiance to any group, but echos Bin Laden: "The security is a shared destiny...You will not be safe until we live it as reality in [Palestine], and American troops get out of our land."
2) The issue of #Jerusalem seems to have been a critical point of Shamrani's anger. His second-most recent of his tweets (just before his will) was an RT of Trump’s December 2017 Jerusalem speech, made sometime in the last 48 hours.
Six Saudis were detained following the shooting, including three who were seen filming the entire attack, The New York Times reported, citing a person briefed on the initial investigation.
The gunman was armed with a Glock 9mm handgun that had been purchased locally, the Times reported. It had an extended magazine and the shooter had four to six other magazines in his possession.
US law enforcement officials were digging into the background of the suspected Florida naval station shooter Friday to determine the Saudi Air Force officer’s motive and whether it was connected to terrorism.
As questions swirled about the shooting, officials said al-Shamrani was an aviation officer in the Saudi Air Force. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
He was attending the aviation school at Naval Air Station Pensacola, one of hundreds of international military members who are receiving training there. The shooter opened fire in a classroom building on Friday morning.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement that the Pentagon was continuing to monitor the Pensacola incident and was gathering additional facts on the shooting earlier this week at Pearl Harbor, when a young Navy sailor gunned down two people and then shot himself.
Esper said he is “considering several steps to ensure the security of our military installations and the safety of our service members and their families.” He provided no details.
In a separate statement, Admiral Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, said it has been a “devastating week” for the Navy. The US has long had a robust training program for Saudis, providing assistance in the US and in the kingdom. As of this week, there are more than 850 Saudis in the United States for various training activities. They are among more than 5,000 foreign students from 153 countries in the US going through military training.
The Pentagon said Friday that al-Shamrani was in the US as part of an Air Force military sales training course, and his participation was funded by Saudi Arabia. His training began in August 2017 and was scheduled to conclude next August, and it included initial pilot training, basic aviation and English-language instruction.
Foreign nationals participating in US training go through a vetting process. The Pentagon said it includes screening for any illicit drug activities, support for terrorist organizations, corruption and criminal conduct. Those who fail to pass the approval process are not issued international travel orders.
The Trump administration has been aggressively helping Saudi Arabia this year, sending Patriot missile batteries and hundreds of troops there in the wake of attacks on the kingdom that officials blame on Iran.
On Friday, Trump said he got a call from Saudi King Salman, who expressed “his sincere condolences” and sent sympathies to the families of those involved. “The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people,” said Trump in a tweet. The shooting, however, shined a spotlight on what has been a sometimes rocky relationship with the kingdom. The US earlier this year agreed to send three Patriot missile batteries, dozens of fighter jets and other aircraft to Saudi Arabia. And in October, Esper visited Prince Sultan Air Base to see one of the batteries and talk about efforts to get other allies to contribute to the defense of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region to counter threats from Iran. But the kingdom’s reputation is still damaged after the killing last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi intelligence officials and a forensic doctor killed and dismembered Khashoggi on October 2, 2018, as his fiancée waited outside the diplomatic mission.
Khashoggi, long a royal court insider, had been in self-imposed exile in the US while writing critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, son of the oil-rich nation’s King Salman.
#Saudi Terrorism - For Trump, Instinct After Florida Killings Is Simple: Protect Saudis
By David E. Sanger
Before issuing his own condolences, the president channeled the Saudi king’s and avoided any discussion of the hard questions about why the U.S. is training Saudi officers.When a Saudi Air Force officer opened fire on his classmates at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday, he killed three, wounded eight and exposed anew the strange dynamic between President Trump and the Saudi leadership: The president’s first instinct was to tamp down any suggestion that the Saudi government needed to be held to account. Hours later, Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that he had received a condolence call from King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who clearly sought to ensure that the episode did not further fracture their relationship. On Saturday, leaving the White House for a trip here for a Republican fund-raiser and a speech on Israeli-American relations, Mr. Trump told reporters that “they are devastated in Saudi Arabia,” noting that “the king will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones.” He never used the word “terrorism.” What was missing was any assurance that the Saudis would aid in the investigation, help identify the suspect’s motives, or answer the many questions about the vetting process for a coveted slot at one of the country’s premier schools for training allied officers. Or, more broadly, why the United States continues to train members of the Saudi military even as that same military faces credible accusations of repeated human rights abuses in Yemen, including the dropping of munitions that maximize civilian casualties. “The attack is a disaster for an already deeply strained relationship,” Bruce Riedel, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former C.I.A. officer who has dealt with generations of Saudi leaders, said on Saturday. It “focuses attention on Americans training Saudi Air Force officers who are engaged in numerous bombings of innocents in Yemen, which is the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world,” he said, noting that the Trump administration had long been fighting Congress as it seeks to end American support for that war. A spotlight on the people reshaping our politics. A conversation with voters across the country. And a guiding hand through the endless news cycle, telling you what you really need to know. But even stranger, said Mr. Riedel, was “the president’s parroting of the Saudi line” before learning the results of an investigation into whether the gunman acted alone, or had allegiances to Al Qaeda or terrorist groups.
For the White House, the calculus is simple: Saudi Arabia is not only critical to world oil supplies — though no longer critical to the United States’ — it is the only regional power able to counter Iran. The result, former members of the Trump administration say, has been a dismissal of any critiques that could weaken that bond.Mr. Trump was so quick and so eager to assure the Saudis that the relationship would continue before anyone knew how to categorize the shooting that it raised questions about how the administration would have responded if the suspect had been an Iranian, or an immigrant from Mexico. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump often cited the killing of a young woman in California by an undocumented immigrant as a reason to crack down on immigration and build a wall along the southern border. “Had an attack been carried out by any country on his Muslim ban, his reaction would have been very different,” said Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But when it comes to Saudi, the default position is to defend,” he said, “Driven by oil, money, weapons sales, a good deal of Saudi feting and flattery, Trump has created a virtually impenetrable zone of immunity for Saudi Arabia.” It was hardly the first time Mr. Trump had shown such tendencies. After the brutal killing in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and a legal American resident, Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played down American intelligence findings that closely tied Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to the matter. The findings suggested he had connections to the members of the hit team sent to Turkey — and almost certainly played a role in ordering them to bring Mr. Khashoggi back to the country by force. Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Pompeo’s initial promises to follow the evidence wherever it led dissipated. Over the past year, Mr. Pompeo has expressed deep annoyance whenever the topic is raised. The United States was awaiting the results of a Saudi investigation, he often said, as if he expected that to offer a full accounting. And he told members of Congress that no matter the truth of what unfolded, the relationship between the kingdom and Washington was too important to be held hostage to one vicious, ill-thought-out act. No American assessment of what the Saudi leadership knew has ever been made public. Before the shooting on Friday, the White House was already fighting efforts in Congress to cut military aid to the Saudis, a reflection of anger over the Khashoggi murder and the continuing war in Yemen. But the Pensacola attack underlined the continuing instinct to protect the relationship. “If Trump wants to convey condolences from Saudi King Salman, fine,” Mr. Miller wrote on Twitter after the shooting. “But you don’t do it on day — Americans are killed — untethered from a message of ironclad assurances from King to provide” whatever cooperation is necessary to understand the gunman and his motives. “Otherwise Trump sounds like what he has become — a Saudi apologist.’’ After Mr. Pompeo announced that he had spoken with the Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, about the shooting, Martin Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel and longtime Middle East negotiator, tweeted: “Isn’t it interesting how quick Trump and Pompeo are to broadcast Saudi government condolences for the murder of three Americans and how slow they were to criticize the Saudi government’s murder” of Mr. Khashoggi. Still, the bond between the countries is weakening, as the erosion of support in Congress shows. A negotiation over providing nuclear technology to the Saudis, a huge push early in the administration, has stalled. The chances that the military support will remain at current levels appear slim. “The U.S.-Saudi relationship is on life support,” Mr. Riedel said, noting that it would be in jeopardy if a Democrat were to win the 2020 election. “Even Joe Biden is calling the Kingdom a ‘pariah’ that needs to be punished,” he said, referring to the former vice president, who had for decades supported a strong relationship with the Saudis. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/us/politics/trump-pensacola-saudi-arabia.html
#Pakistan - Siege of a newspaper office
The value of a newspaper’s edition is viewed differently by every reader. People have the right to criticise or praise papers for underplaying an ‘important issue’ or overplaying a ‘petty incident’ or over the choice of words used in news stories. Their feedback helps editors improve the standard of journalism. Over the years, however, the Pakistani media is being conveyed feedback from powerful quarters in the form of disruption in circulation and broadcasting and financial strangulation. Occasionally, media houses have been vandalised and shut down and journalists beaten and arrested for ‘adverse’ reporting. Taking the hostility to a new height, a group of ‘unknown persons’ besieged a newspaper’s office in Islamabad and later demonstrated in Karachi, demanding its closure over a news story it carried about the London Bridge attack. The mob was enraged over the newspaper’s headline, “London attacker of Pakistani descent is terror convict: officials.”
There can a semantic debate on the word ‘descent’ but the news story was factually correct. When such an issue arises, the best way is to talk to the editor. The protesters could have written to the editor that the attacker, Usman Khan, was born and raised in the UK to immigrants from Pakistan and that he had nothing to do with the country. The newspaper’s reply would have settled the issue but the group chose to demonstrate outside its office in Islamabad and Karachi Press Club, brazenly chanting slogans about its ‘pro-India’ agenda. This is not the first time the said newspaper has been under fire for its factual reporting. Likewise, several TV channels have been pressured to fire their talk show hosts for generating ‘wrong’ content.
Several journalist bodies have condemned the harassment of the media. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had the guts to call the siege an attempt to pressure the media. He noted that media houses were being threatened. Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists have also condemned the “aggression and hooliganism” against the media. The CPNE head also noted that statements by ministers on the news story were a source of concern for the journalist community. Protesters and government quarters must realise that a free press leads to an open society and good governance. Attempts to intimidate or silence media will hurt the whole society. It is also the duty of media houses to open more communication channels with the public and incorporate their feedback in their content.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/513603/siege-of-a-newspaper-office/
Don’t get fooled by Bajwa drama. Pakistan Army still the only one with a nation to itself
By SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP
All nations have an army, but the Pakistan Army has a nation to itself.
So, the recent turn of events in Pakistan, where the three-year extension in tenure granted to the powerful Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was suspended by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, came as a total surprise.
It was initially said that a sense of uncertainty had gripped Pakistan. Was the Pakistani judiciary standing up against the chief of the force that controls everything in that country? It also led to fears of a possible coup in Pakistan, which is known for being run by dictators or someone like current Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is known more as a ‘selected PM’ rather than an ‘elected PM’.
Such was the enormity of the move that Pakistan’s Law Minister Farogh Naseem resigned from his position to become the lawyer for the government in support of Gen Bajwa.
The Pakistani cabinet had to meet hours after the initial verdict and there was a flurry of activities.
All these developments came to be seen as an indication that the powerful Pakistan Army was being challenged and its chief being cornered.
This also led to many, including in India’s defense and security establishment and this author, to believe that disgruntled senior officers upset with Gen Bajwa’s extension were behind the turn of events.
This was because as many as 17 three-star generals, who could have had a chance to become the chief otherwise, would end up retiring before Gen Bajwa hung his boots.
However, as they say, when it comes to dealing with a smart enemy that thrives on deniability and lies, never be taken in by what you see.
The before-after picture
Before we go further, let us pause and consider how Pakistan was seen before the drama unfolded.
Pakistan was largely seen as a terror-sponsor not doing enough to tackle the global menace of terrorism. It was seen as a failed state ruled by the ‘deep state’, a failed democracy with a controlled judiciary and a failing economy – and amid all this, there was the Imran Khan government that had no credibility.
But what is the picture that emerged after the episode involving the judiciary and the army?
Both have come out looking good. While the Pakistani judiciary is seen as independent and gutsy, the Pakistan Army, which has been criticised for being the real power, appears to be an institution that is not in control of everything in Pakistan.
The event came across as if the Army Headquarters or deep state is not the ‘real’ government and does not control the Imran Khan government.
The bigger and the more important outcome was that Pakistan was being seen as a democratic state.
Pakistan has managed to churn out a completely new image of itself, which is at odds with what it held just before the so-called clash between the judiciary, Prime Minister Imran Khan and the army chief.
An orchestrated deception
Now that the dust has settled, a closer look reveals where the deception lies.
The fact is that there is no rift in the Pakistan Army and there cannot be any rift within the force.
There has never been an occasion when a serving army chief has had to face a coup by his juniors. Of course, there is the example of former President Gen Zial-ul-Haq. But then, a number of factors were in play and his death continues to be a mystery.
As for Gen Parvez Musharraf, he found himself cornered by the deep state but he had passed on the baton of the army chief to the cunning Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the former ISI boss and the real mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Officers monitoring Pakistan closely say that anyone who disagreed with Gen Bajwa has already lost out on promotions, retired or relegated to inconsequential posts.
They believe that the entire turn of events was orchestrated by the deep state to change the image of the Pakistan Army and the Imran Khan government in the eyes of the world, while also ensuring that any legal issue regarding Gen Bajwa’s extension is settled once and for all without resorting to any sort of strong-arm tactics. It was a timely image makeover that Pakistan badly needed.
It is unimaginable that a random petitioner, advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi, would challenge the army chief and a three-member bench will take up the matter forcefully without any guaranteed protection to their future, especially their life in a country where people critical of the deep state suddenly vanish or are killed.
So, while one might continue to think that the khaki uniform in Pakistan has lost some of its sheen, remember that Gen Bajwa’s army continues to be the only army in the world with a nation to itself.
#Pakistan #PPP - Selected govt cannot alleviate economic, governance crises: Bilawal Bhutto
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto said that infrastructure has to be focused on to fight the economic and governance crises, and only public government can solve it.
Addressing at the ceremony of seven mega-projects, Bilawal Bhutto expressed that 10 million jobs have to be provided across the country to combat the economic crisis. “Provision of jobs is a tradition of PPP, and people will get jobs with the seven mega projects,” he said, adding that the incumbent government is encouraging only unemployment.
The scion of Bhutto dynasty asserted that the federal government facilitated billionaires with tax amnesty scheme whereas PPP launched a revolutionary Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for the public.
He went on to say that the ‘selected’ and incompetent government cannot alleviate the problems of people. “The country has plunged into the tsunami of inflation, while small businessmen are stuck into the storm of taxes”, he added.
PPP chairman said that the bureaucracy is suffering at the hands of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the country. He maintained that Prime Minister Imran Khan has worsened the economy of Pakistan.
On the other hand, Bilawal Bhutto expressed that Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi road, Shaheed-e-Millat road and Sunset Boulevard flyover was completed in just five months. “Seven mega projects have been completed today which is vital for Karachi”, he added.
PPP chairman said that completion of all the projects is a proof of all the hard work done by provincial chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and his team. “PPP is doing developmental work in this environment,” he added.
سلیکٹڈ وزیراعظم نے معیشت کو تباہ کردیا، بلاول بھٹو
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ نالائق نا اہل سلیکٹڈ وزیراعظم نے ہماری معیشت کو تباہ کردیا ہے، معیشت کی تباہ حال صورتحال میں ہم میگا پراجیکٹس کا افتتاح کررہے ہیں۔
کراچی میں شہید ملت روڈ پر انڈر انڈر پاس کی افتتاحی تقریب سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ عوام کو امید تھی کہ انہیں ایک کروڑ نوکریاں ملیں گی، لیکن آج وہ ناامید ہوچکے ہیں۔
بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ پیپلز پارٹی سمجھتی ہے اگر ہمیں معاشی بحران کا مقابلہ کرنا ہے تو سخت محنت کرنا ہوگی، اگر بے روزگاری کا مقابلہ کرنا ہے تو مزدورں کو نوکریوں سے نکالنے کے بجائے تنخواہیں دینا ہوں گی، پیپلزپارٹی ہر دور میں مزدور طبقے کی تنخواہوں میں اضافہ کیا۔انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی نے ہمیشہ عوام کو ریلیف دیا، جو ظلم نوجوانوں، کسانوں کے ساتھ ہورہا ہے، پیپلز پارٹی اور اس کا کارکن برداشت نہیں کرتا، پاکستان میں طاقت کا سرچشمہ عوام ہے اور ہم عوامی حکومت بنا کر رہیں گے۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ انڈر پاس کی تعمیر کا کام ریکارڈ مدت میں مکمل ہوا، یہ وزیر اعلیٰ سندھ کی گڈگورننس کا ثبوت ہے ، پنجاب میں شیر شاہ سوری سے پوچھیں کہ ایک سال میں کتنے منصوبوں کا افتتاح کیا ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ انڈرپاس کی تعمیر سے کراچی کے عوام کو ریلیف ملے گا، ٹریفک کے مسائل کم ہوں گے، تباہ حال معاشی صورتحال کے باوجود ایک سال میں یہ منصوبہ مکمل کیا گیا، لاہور میں کتنے انڈرپاسز اور فلائی اوورز کا افتتاح کیا گیا ہے؟
بلاول بھٹو نے صحت کی صورتحال پر بات کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ہم نے سندھ کے چھوٹے شہروں میں اسپتال بنائے، انہوں نے وزیراعظم سے پوچھا کہ خان صاحب آپ نے کے پی میں کتنے اسپتال بنائے؟، ہم نے بے نظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام شروع کیا، خان صاحب آپ اس میں کٹوتی کررہے ہیں۔
بلاول نے دو ٹوک الفاظ میں کہا کہ سندھ کا معاشی قتل کیا جارہا ہے یہ برداشت نہیں کریں گے، اگر سندھ کو فنڈ ملتے تو زیادہ ترقیاتی کام ہوتے، سندھ کے ساتھ سوتیلوں جیسا سلوک کیا جارہا ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ معاشی بحران کے مقابلے کے لیے نوجوانوں کو ایک کروڑ نوکریاں دینا پڑیں گی۔
بلاول بھٹو کا مزید کہنا تھا کہ بزنس کمیونٹی نیب گردی کی وجہ سے پریشان ہے، عوام مہنگائی کے سونامی میں ڈوب رہے ہیں۔
Friday, December 6, 2019
#Pakistan - Dawn comes under attack again
Around 100 people gathered outside the paper’s office and remained there for about 40 minutes.
“Yet another orchestrated demo against Dawn outside its office in Islamabad,” tweeted Dawn Editor Zaffar Abbas.
“Same lot, threatening tone, bigger in number & have blocked the entrance. We have informed police & have told them it’s their duty to protect our staff & property. Let’s hope someone from govt will intervene!!”
“They have just dispersed after burning some copies of Dawn,” Abbas said. “Everyone has a right to protest as long as they are not violent.”
The International Press Institute (IPI), in a statement, condemned the “threatening demonstrations”, saying: “Dawn is a bastion of independent journalism and Pakistan must guarantee the safety of its journalists.”
Journalists across various cities protested on Thursday against the siege of Dawn’s Islamabad offices by a mob earlier this week.
The mob on Monday had staged a demonstration against the publication of a news report regarding the origins of the London Bridge attacker who stabbed two persons to death last week. The charged mob, carrying banners and chanting slogans against the newspaper, had remained outside the office building for nearly three hours, besieging the premises and making the staffers hostage.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/12/06/dawn-comes-under-attack-again/
Pakistan is not the only victim of what Human Rights Watch has dubbed China’s “bride trafficking problem”
The New York-based human rights group has recorded cases of women from northern Myanmar being trafficked to China, where they are sold for $3,000 to $13,000 dollars. Other news reports have documented how thousands of women and girls from Cambodia, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam have also been sold into exploitation in China.
“Mum — they don’t give me a penny. They just keep me in the house. Maybe things will change when I give them a baby,” a woman from rural Cambodia messaged her mother after being lured to China on the false hope of work and wealth, the Reuters news wire reported.
A Vietnamese teenager misled and then kidnapped in Vietnam and trafficked to China told Singapore’s Channel News Asia in no uncertain terms what this fate meant.
“If you are trafficked, of course you will be raped. Probably everyone was raped,” she said. “I became a wife there [in China]. At that house, I had to obey everything they said or else I would be beaten. They beat me without fear because I am not Chinese.”
Thousands of women and girls from North Korea, some as young as 12, have been forced into marriages and prostitution, and subjected to other brutal abuse in China, in what the London-based Korea Future Initiative says is a multibillion-dollar industry there. Women and teenagers looking to flee the repressive state are a particular target.
Regionwide, traffickers prey on victims from impoverished, marginalized and minority communities, who usually have little information on what really lies ahead when a trafficker, middleman or even family member or acquaintance in on the scheme comes knocking and offers work or a new beginning abroad.
The number of single men China who in part drive these illegal networks is only growing. As The Washington Post’s Simon Denyer and Annie Gowen reported in 2018: “Out of China’s population of 1.4 billion, there are nearly 34 million more males than females — the equivalent of almost the entire population of California, or Poland, who will never find wives and only rarely have sex. China’s official one-child policy, in effect from 1979 to 2015, was a huge factor in creating this imbalance, as millions of couples were determined that their child should be a son.”
But because the victims are often from marginalized communities within their home countries, the phenomenon of bride trafficking isn’t an issue leaders are keen to discuss as part of their bilateral relationship with China, said Heather Barr, the acting co-director of Human Rights Watch’s women’s rights division.
“There’s no country in Asia that has a symmetrical relationship with China,” Barr said. “The scale of influence and economic and political power is just so different between China and other countries in the region, and particularly the countries that are, so far, on the list of where trafficked brides are coming from.”
Now with China’s Belt and Road initiative, these countries “are more indebted, often literally, to China,” she said, adding, “It’s so increasingly clear that this is an issue across the whole region.”
An investigation found Pakistani Christian women being trafficked to China as brides. Then officials shut it down.
By Miriam BergerThe evidence was overwhelming.
Investigators had a list, exclusively viewed by the Associated Press, of 629 girls and women from across Pakistan who since 2018 had been allegedly trafficked to China and forced to marry Chinese men. Once there, many victims were isolated and physically and sexually abused. Others, investigators found, were forced into prostitution.
The exploitation was lucrative for the Chinese and Pakistanis involved. Less so for the impoverished families from Pakistan’s marginalized Christian community that the trafficking rings reportedly targeted, assuming they would be vulnerable and powerless to stop it.
“The Chinese and Pakistani brokers make between 4 million and 10 million rupees ($25,000 and $65,000) from the groom, but only about 200,000 rupees ($1,500), is given to the family,” one Pakistani investigator, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the AP.
In June, Pakistani investigators started to prepare the case, which the AP has extensively reported on. There was real momentum to stop the alleged trafficking to China, where there’s a big demand for brides from abroad, as males far outnumber females because of the previous one-child policy and prevalence of female infanticide.
Then came the pressure from above: Shut it down.
Cash-strapped Pakistan relies on China for aid, trade and military assistance. In 2015, China launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $75 billion project to fund the construction of roads, power plants and other infrastructure and development initiatives. It’s part of China’s broader vision of rejuvenating the Silk Road and China’s ties to the rest of Asia through what it calls the Belt and Road initiative
The assistance, like any aid, comes with conditions both explicit and implied. In October, according to the AP’s investigation, that meant that a court in Faisalabad acquitted 31 Chinese citizens charged with human trafficking. What was the largest case against the alleged trafficking ring had swiftly fallen apart: Pakistani media curbed its coverage, while several women originally set to testify suddenly refused “because they were either threatened or bribed into silence, according to a court official and a police investigator familiar with the case,” the AP reported.
Why? Pakistani officials were afraid that pursuing the case would anger China and threaten its lucrative investments and economic cooperation, officials and activists interviewed by the AP found.“No one is doing anything to help these girls,” one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the AP. “The whole racket is continuing, and it is growing. Why? Because they know they can get away with it. The authorities won’t follow through, everyone is being pressured to not investigate. Trafficking is increasing now.”
He said he had decided to come forward “because I have to live with myself. Where is our humanity?”
Saleem Iqbal, a Christian activist involved with helping the victims and families, said that some officials from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency had been “transferred” and put under “immense pressure” by the government to halt their work on the case.
“When we talk to Pakistani rulers, they don’t pay any attention,” he told the AP.
Both Pakistani and Chinese officials have denied the allegations.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
#Pakistan - 'Abduction of Baloch women a slap on face of parliamentary parties'
Pro-independence Baloch leader Dr Allah Nazar Baloch on Sunday condemned the abduction of Baloch women during military operations in different parts of Balochistan.
"In this civilized world of the twenty-first century, hardly there would be such an example of atrocities which Pakistan army and intelligence agencies are inflicting upon the Baloch people. Only in Awaran, within twenty-four hours, four women along with a minor were abducted and shifted in torture chambers," Nazar Baloch said.
He added: "In the same fashion, the Pakistani intelligence agencies, with its henchman Sarfaraz Bugti-run death squad members, abducted women and children from Dera Bugti. Such incidents are eye-openers and wake up calls for the world powers and the champions of international human rights organizations. But sad to say that they have failed to do justice with their job."Rebuking the so-called Baloch nationalists who are part of Pakistani parliamentary politics, Nazar Baloch said: "Such incidents should shake the conscience of the so-called nationalists who consider parliament and the federation of Pakistan as the only solution to the problems of the Baloch nation. They are silent spectators while sitting with the government of Pakistan. One day the Baloch nation will hold them accountable."While harshly criticising the dubious role of Sardar Akthar Mengal, the head of Balochistan National Party (Mengal), the Baloch leader said: "Akthar Mengal has created a soft corner for himself in the military establishment and become the part of the government by playing with the emotions of Baloch nation using the name of missing persons; neither the missing persons were recovered nor the army's brutalities ended. On the contrary, the atrocities of the Pakistan army have intensified in Balochistan.""Perhaps, Akthar Mengal has forgotten the fact that his party is neither in the government nor in the opposition. Yet he is riding two horses simultaneously because he has made a deal with the real federal government i.e. the military junta. But everyone should bear in mind, those who manipulated and used the nation as a ladder to ascend to power and get lost in the maze of slavery, the Baloch nation has neither spared them in the past nor will forgive them in the future," he added.
Further, the Baloch leader said: "Pakistan is in the shock and awe by seeing the Baloch national struggle's popularity among the masses and its perseverance. Baloch nation will never give up their national cause with the use of such mean tactics. In fact, such incidents will harden their resolve and sharpen the will to take revenge. It is Baloch's inherent psyche and nature and part of its culture and traditions that assault on a woman will be deemed as an attack on the entire nation and their dignity. In such cases, the Baloch nation remained united in the past and will persist. This is the false perception of Pakistan that it will subjugate the Baloch nation with such cheap tactics."Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch alleged that the Pakistan army abducted Baloch women namely Bibi Nazal and Hameeda Baloch from Pirandar, Sayed Bibi from Maashi and Bibi Sakina from Harooni Dann of district Awaran.
"This is a slap on the face of those Baloch as well as the parliamentarians who always play the fiddle of democracy and engaged in strengthening the rogue state of Pakistan at the expense of Baloch dignity and blood," he said.
He concluded: "Pakistan's army is employing all means to dishonor us. In such a state of affairs, all the so-called nationalists and religious parties have sealed up their lips. Yet they create huge uproar on Kashmir and Palestine. Do they have the spine to tell the truth about what is going in Balochistan? How Pakistan army is treating the people of Balochistan? These so-called custodians of Islam make a lot of clamour for the burning of the Holy Quran in Norway, but they keep silent on the burning of the Holy Quran by the Pakistan army during the military operations in Balochistan. This is the prime example of the hypocrisy of the so-called nationalists, clerics, and federalists. The history and the Baloch nation will never forgive them."
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/263258357/abduction-of-baloch-women--a-slap-on-face-of-parliamentary-parties
629 Pakistani Girls Were Sold as Brides to Chinese Men
Investigations, however, have largely ceased — allegedly under pressure from officials wary of damaging China-Pakistan relations.
Page after page, the names stack up: 629 girls and women from across Pakistan who were sold as brides to Chinese men and taken to China. The list, obtained by The Associated Press, was compiled by Pakistani investigators determined to break up trafficking networks exploiting the country’s poor and vulnerable.
The list gives the most concrete figure yet for the number of women caught up in the trafficking schemes since 2018.
But since the time it was put together in June, investigators’ aggressive drive against the networks has largely ground to a halt. Officials with knowledge of the investigations say that is because of pressure from government officials fearful of hurting Pakistan’s lucrative ties to Beijing.
The biggest case against traffickers has fallen apart. In October, a court in Faisalabad acquitted 31 Chinese nationals charged in connection with trafficking. Several of the women who had initially been interviewed by police refused to testify because they were either threatened or bribed into silence, according to a court official and a police investigator familiar with the case. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution for speaking out.
At the same time, the government has sought to curtail investigations, putting “immense pressure” on officials from the Federal Investigation Agency pursuing trafficking networks, said Saleem Iqbal, a Christian activist who has helped parents rescue several young girls from China and prevented others from being sent there.
Asked about the complaints, Pakistan’s interior and foreign ministries refused to comment.
Several senior officials familiar with the events said investigations into trafficking have slowed, the investigators are frustrated, and Pakistani media have been pushed to curb their reporting on trafficking. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.
“No one is doing anything to help these girls,” one of the officials said. “The whole racket is continuing, and it is growing. Why? Because they know they can get away with it. The authorities won’t follow through, everyone is being pressured to not investigate. Trafficking is increasing now.”
He said he was speaking out “because I have to live with myself. Where is our humanity?”
China’s Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the list.
“The two governments of China and Pakistan support the formation of happy families between their people on a voluntary basis in keeping with laws and regulations, while at the same time having zero tolerance for and resolutely fighting against any person engaging in illegal cross-border marriage behavior,” the ministry said in a statement faxed Monday to AP’s Beijing bureau.
An AP investigation earlier this year revealed how Pakistan’s Christian minority has become a new target of brokers who pay impoverished parents to marry off their daughters, some of them teenagers, to Chinese husbands who return with them to their homeland. Many of the brides are then isolated and abused or forced into prostitution in China, often contacting home and pleading to be brought back. The AP spoke to police and court officials and more than a dozen brides — some of whom made it back to Pakistan, others who remained trapped in China — as well as remorseful parents, neighbors, relatives and human rights workers.
Christians are targeted because they are one of the poorest communities in Muslim-majority Pakistan. The trafficking rings are made up of Chinese and Pakistani middlemen and include Christian ministers, mostly from small evangelical churches, who get bribes to urge their flock to sell their daughters. Investigators have also turned up at least one Muslim cleric running a marriage bureau from his madrassa, or religious school.
Investigators put together the list of 629 women from Pakistan’s integrated border management system, which digitally records travel documents at the country’s airports. The information includes the brides’ national identity numbers, their Chinese husbands’ names and the dates of their marriages.
It is not known how many more women and girls were trafficked since the list was put together. But the official said, “the lucrative trade continues.” He spoke to the AP in an interview conducted hundreds of kilometers from his place of work to protect his identity. “The Chinese and Pakistani brokers make between 4 million and 10 million rupees ($25,000 and $65,000) from the groom, but only about 200,000 rupees ($1,500), is given to the family,” he said.
The official, with years of experience studying human trafficking in Pakistan, said many of the women who spoke to investigators told of forced fertility treatments, physical and sexual abuse and, in some cases, forced prostitution. Although no evidence has emerged, at least one investigation report contains allegations of organs being harvested from some of the women sent to China.
In September, Pakistan’s investigation agency sent a report it labeled “fake Chinese marriages cases” to Prime Minister Imran Khan. The report, a copy of which was attained by the AP, provided details of cases registered against 52 Chinese nationals and 20 of their Pakistani associates in two cities in eastern Punjab province — Faisalabad, Lahore — as well as in the capital Islamabad. The Chinese suspects included the 31 later acquitted in court.
The report said police discovered two illegal marriage bureaus in Lahore, including one operated from an Islamic center and madrassa — the first known report of poor Muslims also being targeted by brokers. The Muslim cleric involved fled police.
After the acquittals, there are other cases before the courts involving arrested Pakistani and at least another 21 Chinese suspects, according to the report sent to the prime minister in September. But the Chinese defendants in the cases were all granted bail and left the country, say activists and a court official.
Activists and human rights workers say Pakistan has sought to keep the trafficking of brides quiet so as not to jeopardize Pakistan’s increasingly close economic relationship with China.
China has been a steadfast ally of Pakistan for decades, particularly in its testy relationship with India. China has provided Islamabad with military assistance, including pre-tested nuclear devices and nuclear-capable missiles.
Today, Pakistan is receiving massive aid under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global endeavor aimed at reconstituting the Silk Road and linking China to all corners of Asia. Under the $75 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, Beijing has promised Islamabad a sprawling package of infrastructure development, from road construction and power plants to agriculture.
The demand for foreign brides in China is rooted in that country’s population, where there are roughly 34 million more men than women — a result of the one-child policy that ended in 2015 after 35 years, along with an overwhelming preference for boys that led to abortions of girl children and female infanticide.
A report released this month by Human Rights Watch, documenting trafficking in brides from Myanmar to China, said the practice is spreading. It said Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea and Vietnam have “all have become source countries for a brutal business.”
“One of the things that is very striking about this issue is how fast the list is growing of countries that are known to be source countries in the bride trafficking business,” Heather Barr, the HRW report’s author, told AP.
Omar Warriach, Amnesty International’s campaigns director for South Asia, said Pakistan “must not let its close relationship with China become a reason to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses against its own citizens” — either in abuses of women sold as brides or separation of Pakistani women from husbands from China’s Muslim Uighur population sent to “re-education camps” to turn them away from Islam.
“It is horrifying that women are being treated this way without any concern being shown by the authorities in either country. And it’s shocking that it’s happening on this scale,” he said.
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