HRCP?s observations

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says children have not been attending schools since March 2005, due to armed skirmishes.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), headed by Asma Jehangir, has expressed serious alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in and around Dera Bugti and has demanded that all armed conflicts cease immediately and a process of negotiation begun.

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The report recommends that the only sane solution to the problems of Balochistan lies in a negotiated political settlement and long-term policies that can address the deep-rooted feelings of injustice and discrimination among the people of the province.

Fact-finding missions, sent by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) to the Kohlu area and to Sui and Dera Bugti in December 2005 and January 2006, under the leadership of HRCP's chairperson Asma Jahangir, have found the situation troubling.

The fighting has caused widespread damage to buildings, and 85 per cent of the 25,000 or so people of Dera Bugti have been forced to flee the town, the commission maintains.

In the Dera Bugti area, schools have been closed for the last month.

HRCP says children have not been attending them since March 2005, due to armed skirmishes between tribal militias and paramilitary troops in the area.

"How can the children go to school? There is a sound of gunfire all the time here, the kids are terrified and there is a real danger of getting caught in the crossfire," Jan Muhammad, 40, a father of four, told Reuters.

He had fled to the Balochistan capital after leaving Dera Bugti, along with hundreds of other families, in mid-January.

"Life there is not possible. Homes have been hit. No one is safe. We can see planes with bombs flying overhead," added his wife, Kaushan Jehan.

The HRCP team, on its visit, said that Dera Bugti looks like a ghost town.

Almost the entire population, their belongings tied atop trucks, vans, lorries or donkey carts, had left the town and shops had been closed for over a month. On the roads leading out of Dera Bugti, caravans of people could be spotted leaving, watched by security forces manning road blocks.

The town of Kohlu remains under a state of siege. Entry to the area is barred, and the 12,000 or so people of the town have remained virtually cut off from the outside world since the middle of December.

There have been complaints of food shortages, acute problems in taking the sick or injured to hospitals and normal life has come to a standstill.

From towns near Kohlu, such as Kahan, hundreds have fled.

The fact that much of the population of the area is nomadic makes it difficult to ascertain the precise number of displaced people.

"There is a war-like situation, ordinary people are suffering greatly, children have been unable to go to school for months and we were told some school buildings have been hit," Asma Jahangir told a news agency.

She added: "People told us their children had gone crazy with fear."

HRCP has, in a detailed report had called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that development plans in the troubled region must be focussed on building civil society, including establishing press clubs, bar associations and community radio and television networks, which would help connect the population of Balochistan with the rest of the country.

The fact that many roads in the province have been mined by tribal militias adds to the danger many civilians face. On Wednesday, six members of a family, including two women and three children, were killed when a landmine exploded as their van was travelling along a road near Dera Bugti.

Other roads have been closed due to the fighting and people are sometimes forced to travel many hours along alternative routes, some consisting only of dirt tracks, to reach destinations lying just a few kilometres away.

As people continue to flee troubled areas, rights activists are also demanding camps be set up for them and other assistance provided.

"These people have nowhere to go. They need help," Quetta-based lawyer and activist Zahoor Ahmed Shawani, said.