NA body for raising drone attacks with UN

The committee said the issue of extra-judicial killing by drone attacks be taken up with UN officials.The committee that met in the Parliament House under chairmanship of Riaz Fatyana was briefed by Mustafa Khokar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on human rights.Briefing the committee, Khokar said that the drone attacks in Pakistani tribal areas are grave violation of human rights under international laws and in accordance with the charter of the United Nations.He said that in 2006, UN took notice of killing a militant in the tribal area by a US drone as prosecution of someone in another country without any trial is extreme form of extra-judicial killing.He said that the illegal and inhuman practice is being continued on the soil of the country unabated for the last several years.Khokar said that even inside US various functionaries like State Department CIA and White House are at odds over legality and ethical ground of such attacks.The advisor on human rights informed the committee that in this connection the human rights ministry has already forwarded a letter to the foreign ministry but final response over it is still awaited.Citing an article in foreign print media, he said that acts like drone attacks can never be justified on the ground that killing of people posing threats to US by any means. Could such action be legal if people that could pose threats to US are residing in Los Angeles or London, he quoted the article.“This issue must be challenged in UN and also be raised with US officials,” he said, adding that laws of human rights should be equal for all and no one should be prosecuted without trial in a court of law.After briefing and assessing the concerned laws, the committee instructed the government to raise the issue with the concerned UN department through MOFA and US should be made responsible in this connection.The committee also took notice of the major accident in Kallar Kahar in which 34 school children died. They (member of the committee) ordered strict action after thorough inquiry against the responsible.The committee also recommended establishment of Human Rights Research Center in Islamabad under auspices of the Ministry of Human Rights to carry out research and develop its own literature and curriculum for training and awareness.The center would also work as think tank to the government and would work for capacity building of the stakeholders.The meeting was attended by MNA Farahnaz Ispahani, MNA Samina Mushtaq Pugganwala, MNA Shakeela Khanam Rashid, MNA Raheela Baloch, MNA Fauzia Habib, MNA Makhdoom Javid Hashmi, MNA Dr. Sumaira Yasir Rashid, MNA Kishwar Zehra, MNA Yasmeen Rehman, and officials from MOFA, Ministry of Human Rights, and Planning Commission of Pakistan.