|
The road
to Guantánamo starts in Pakistan.
More
than 85 percent of detainees unlawfully held at the US
detention centre in Cuba were arrested by the Afghan
Northern Alliance and in Pakistan at a time when
rewards of up to US$5,000 were paid for every
unidentified terror suspect handed over to the USA.
Bounty hunters – including police officers and local
people – took advantage of this routine practice that
facilitated illegal detention and enforced
disappearance, almost unheard in Pakistan before the
US-led "war on terror". The Pakistani courts have
failed to offer protection.
Hundreds of Pakistani and foreign nationals have been
picked up in mass arrests in Pakistan since 2001, many
have been “sold” to the USA as ‘terrorists’ simply on
the word of their captor, and hundreds have been
transferred to Guantánamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or
secret detention centres run by the USA.
Some
300 people have since been released from Guantánamo
Bay without charge. Many detainees remain unaccounted
for, their fate and whereabouts unknown. They are at
risk of torture and "rendition".
Victims include terror suspects - men, women and
children -, journalists who have reported on the "war
on terror" and medical personnel who allegedly treated
terror suspects.
Family members, lawyers and other activists are
gathering in Islamabad, Pakistan (29 to 30 September)
to exchange information and encourage action against
Pakistan’s abuses in the "war on terror".
The
Government of Pakistan is directly responsible for the
fate of many Guantánamo detainees and the
“disappearance” of many others, and the suffering of
their loved ones.
The
Pakistani government must set up a central register of
detainees and publish regular lists of all recognised
places of detention so that in future nobody can be
secretly imprisoned and face the risk of torture and
other ill-treatment.
The
meeting, hosted by the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP) and Amnesty International, will be a
first step for Pakistani politicians, media and civil
society to stand up and hold the government to account
for the abuses committed.
You
can also make a difference. Spread the word. |
