'Trigger happy' ISI, military must be leashed to stop bloodbath in Pak: Editorial

Islamabad, May 26 (ANI): An editorial in a Pakistan daily has said the carnage in Pakistan will not stop until the military, paramilitary forces, ISI and MI leash their "trigger-happy" personnel.

The editorial points toward Amnesty International and U.S. State Department reports, which highlight the failure of Pakistan to stop the ongoing disappearances, torture, and killings of 'suspects', especially in the province of Balochistan and the northwestern areas.

The two governmental commissions formed since March 2010 achieved nothing, the Amnesty report states. In the presence of an inadequate justice system, unequipped to provide a witness protection programme, and a flawed investigative process, the commissions faced insurmountable hurdles when the main accused, in most cases, involved operatives of the security and intelligence forces, it said.

The list of victims includes activists, intellectuals and journalists. The main targets have been those suspected of harbouring sympathies for the armed militias in conflict with the state, it added.

The editorial further stated that heavily armed 'lawmen' of the Frontier Corps (FC) and Rangers, in their own version of misplaced patriotism and over zealousness to protect the nation have resorted to their own system of arbitrary 'justice', carrying out extrajudicial kidnappings, merciless torture, and in a number of cases, killings.

The absolute disregard for the sanctity of life and due process and the absence of fear of any accountability has created a lawless culture of 'shotgun justice', protected by the immunity enjoyed by the security services to date, it said, adding that despite the outcry of the missing persons' families, media reports and discussions, the situation stands unchanged, it stated.

The editorial concludes by saying until there is a proper system to regulate their role, and a stringent legal system implemented to see no lawbreaker, civil or military, goes unpunished, the unaccounted bloodshed will not stop any time soon. (ANI)