Operation “Zarb e Azb” Discussed in the United Nations

GENEVA, September 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On September 21, the International Forum for Rights of Pakistan hosted a seminar at the UNHRC in Geneva on the human rights violations caused by the Pakistani Army, under the garb of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Speakers at the conference included Faiz Mohd Zaland, human rights activist from Afghanistan, Jacek Wlocowicz, Member of the Senate of Polish Parliament, Paulo Casaca, Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum, Tarek Fateh, Executive Director Baluchistan House and Mehran Marri, Baluch Representative at the UNHRC .

Dr. Faiz Modh Zaland, while speaking at the event, stated that the Pakistan Army and its intelligence agencies had victimized the Pashtuns who were living in North and South Waziristan. He stated that the military operation Zarb-e-Azb had only destroyed the homes of the local people and not the terrorists, unlike the claims of the Pakistani government. With UN agencies and the world media denied access to the areas of the operation, Dr Zaland said that the Pakistani government had ensured that these atrocities did not come out in the open.

Jacek Wlocowicz, in his speech, stated that though the Pakisatni Army had left no stone unturned to project that the operation was a success, this was actually one of the worst humanitarian crisis witnessed, forcing more than 2 million people from their homes. He added that what was more concerning was the Pakistani government's statement that the offensive would not end till all terrorists were eliminated, thereby turning it into an indefinite process. He concluded that the Pakistani government was barely taking any concrete and substantial initiatives to rehabilitate refugees in the region, let alone acknowledge the lives lost in the humanitarian crisis that had engulfed the region.

While speaking on Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Mehran Marri stated that the operation had been launched to protect the Haqqani network and what Pakistan described as the good Taliban. He charged Pakistan of being linked to 75 per cent of the terror incidents in the world.

Tarek Fateh in his statement informed that the Pakistan Army had started the operation to kill its own citizens in order to ensure the smooth exit of nearly 2000 Central Asian and Chechen terrorists to move to Syria to join the ISIS. He warned that if not checked, Pakistan would become a threat to the citizens of Europe and America.

A 45-minute documentary on the humanitarian disaster caused by Op Zarb-e Azb, was also screened at the seminar.