NATO should pay heed to ICG report recommendations for FATA in Pakistan

October 22, 1:06 AMNATO ExaminerTejinder Singh

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President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari (L) with NATO Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero © NATO

The International Crisis Group (ICG) in a report on Oct 21 suggested to the US and the international community to combine aid with a robust dialogue on institutional reform in border areas of Pakistan.
With NATO and international community struggling to get a hold over volatile situation in neighboring Afghanistan, the importance of the latest military operation in South Waziristan of Pakistan is of paramount importance to the Western military and political powers.
"Pakistan: Countering Militancy in FATA", the latest policy report from the Brussels-based think tank examines the Talibanization in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and argues that only reforms that encourage political diversity, enhance economic opportunity, and guarantee civil and political rights will address the problem.
"So far, short-sighted military policies have aggravated the conflict’s impact on inhabitants and fueled Islamic militancy. The consequences are dramatic: over one million people, i.e. one third of FATA’s population, have been displaced, and the numbers are growing. Militancy and heavy-handed military force have destroyed an already deficient infrastructure and hindered business opportunities," said the report.
The report warns that this ongoing operation is unlikely to succeed in curbing the spread of religious militancy in the FATA, unless the Pakistan government implements political reforms in that part of the country.
"FATA belies the military’s claims of successfully countering Islamist militant networks", says Samina Ahmed, ICG's South Asia Project Director.
"The state should rather counter religious extremism by extending constitutional rights and expanding economic opportunity," she advises.
On August 14, 2009, President Asif Ali Zardari announced a reform package that curtails the political administration’s arbitrary judicial and financial powers.
While this is a step forward, argues ICG, further measures are needed to end the region’s ambiguous constitutional status.
Both the administration and judicial system rely on tribal chiefs, many of whom accept the authority of militant leaders. Thus, public sector development tends to be channelled towards local and religious elites. Poorly-trained, underpaid militias further undermine the rule of law.
FATA, a tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, has been tenuously governed since independence, due to deliberate policy, rather than Pashtun tribal resistance.
The region is ruled by the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations. These are laws that allow the federally appointed political agent to arrest individuals or punish entire tribes for crimes committed on their territory, fueling resentment among locals and hindering the region’s economic growth
Pakistan’s government must repeal the Frontier Crimes Regulations, incorporate the region into the provincial and national justice system, and replace tribal militias with the national police, it suggests.
"The state’s failure to provide basic services and support economic opportunity is contributing to the growth of the insurgency", says Robert Templer, the Group’s Asia Program Director.
"Only long-term political and legal reforms that extend the law of the land to FATA will reverse this tendency," he says.
They may enhance the region’s development by supporting specialized economic zones that tap FATA’s indigenous resources.
Finally, the military should be pressured to allow humanitarian access to the conflict zones, and to prevent the region from being used by extremist groups.