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Pakistani Rights Body Urges Coordination in Quake Relief Efforts

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

Text of report by Daily Times correspondent entitled: "No agency can handle the relief operation on its own, says HRCP" by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times website on 19 October

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged the government to coordinate civil and military rescue and relief efforts in earthquake-hit areas.

At a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Tuesday [18 October], HRCP office-bearers and council members said that no agency, whether government or non-government, could handle the rescue and relief operations on their own. They called for a combining of government and civil resources and stressed the need to welcome any help, even from India.

HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir, Treasurer Shahid Kardar, IA Rehman, Kamila Hayat, Mahboob Ahmed Khan, Air Marshal (r) Zafar Chaudhry, Shahtaj Qizalbash, Nadeem Anthony, Attiqur Rehman, along with other HRCP activists and AGHS Legal Aid Cell workers appreciated the efforts of the general public in organizing and conducting relief operations. They also thanked foreign teams who had participated in the operation at this crucial time.

They said that the operations should be transparent and stressed the need to continue relief operations in tandem with the Azad Jammu and Kashmir [Pakistan-administered Kashmir] government.

They said that an HRCP team had visited affected areas such as Mansehra, Muzzafarabad, Balakot, Battagram and Shinkiari to observe the situation. They said that several places were still inaccessible and no rescue teams, neither civilian nor military, had reached them.

They said that the lack of coordination in the relief operations was breeding resentment against the army among the locals, who were in dire need of assistance. The HRCP high command said that people were not even allowed to approach President Pervez Musharraf when he visited the affected areas.

They appreciated the media's role in covering the national crisis, but appealed to media organizations to focus on the positive aspects of the situation. "We assure everyone that the condition of women and children will remain our focus," Asma said, adding, "the HCRP will also coordinate with the other NGOs, particularly those working for the well-being of women and children."

She said that HRCP had arranged for medicines worth Rs [rupees] 2,500,000, donated by the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, to address the shortage and urgent need for drugs and medical supplies in the country. "We have requested the government of Pakistan to grant permission for the consignment to be brought into the country, and are confident that it will be forthcoming," she said.

The HRCP demanded the formation of a central coordination council, "which would include representatives of the affected communities and civil society organizations to oversee aid distribution, relief efforts and rehabilitation operations." They said that "Coordination committees should be established in every city to help streamline the collection of goods and to let people know what is required on a daily basis." They said that given past experience, complete transparency was essential and said that the government should issue regular bulletins detailing the funds coming in and their utilisation, a measure which they said would curb mass despondency and mistrust in the government and refute allegations of hoarding.

They said that the HRCP teams that visited the affected areas had observed that relief goods were being distributed despite logistical hurdles created by the chaos and lack of law and order. An HRCP team also visited Jagori and Sareen villages, where no relief efforts had been undertaken at all.

"However, we believe that long term monitoring of the humanitarian situation is very important. Reports of women and girls being harassed, attempted abductions of orphaned children and a breakdown in law and order pose a real threat. Asma said in her statement.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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