Pakistani court orders criminal cases against two ex-CIA station chiefs

Islamabad, June 5 (IANS) A court in Pakistan Thursday ordered registration of murder cases against two former chiefs of the US’s CIA stationed in Islamabad for their alleged role in US drone strikes in the country’s tribal region, lawyers and anti-drone campaigners said.

Kareem Khan, a resident of North Waziristan tribal agency, lost his teenaged son Zahinullah and brother Asif Iqbal who was a primary school teacher in Mir Ali, North Waziristan Agency, in a drone strike Dec 31, 2009.

Kareem Khan started his legal struggle to get justice in 2010 and since then the Islamabad police had been avoiding proceeding against the CIA officials involved in this incident and hundreds of other killings in US-conducted drone strikes in Pakistan.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court ordered the registration of a criminal case for offences of murder, conspiracy, waging war against Pakistan and offences under the provisions of Terrorism Act 1997 against the former CIA station chiefs in Islamabad, Jonathan Banks and John A. Rizzo, Xinhua reported citing Khan’s lawyer, Mirza Shahzad Akbar.

“There is no doubt under Pakistani and international law that the US officials are committing murder through drone strikes in Pakistan and today’s decision simply vindicates this very point,” Akbar said after the court issued the order.

He said, after this order, all those who have been killed in drone strikes have a right to proceed similarly against the CIA officials and others involved.

“This remarkable order also highlights the strength of independence of judiciary in Pakistan which is truly protecting the rights of citizens of Pakistan under the Constitution,” the lawyer said.

Kareem Khan also expressed satisfaction at the court’s order and said justice was done after a long time, hoping the US would show respect for Pakistani courts.

“If the US officials think drone strikes are legal they should defend the attacks in Pakistani courts,” Khan told Xinhua over phone from the northwestern city of Peshawar.

“Today’s order is a victory for all those innocent civilians who have been killed in US-led drone strikes in Pakistan and as a citizen of Pakistan I feel somewhat reaffirmed that perhaps people like me from Waziristan might also be able to get justice for the wrongs being done to them,” Khan later said in a statement.

He said he hoped that the police would now do their job and proceed against the “culprits” to address the concerns of those who have lost innocent people in the US’s secret drone mission.

The US covert drone campaign is highly controversial and tribesmen in Pakistan’s Waziristan region said the attacks also kill innocent people. The US has insisted it only targeted militants who cross the border into Afghanistan for attacks on foreign and Afghan forces.

There has been a lull in the Pakistan drone strikes over the past few months since the government started a peace dialogue with the Taliban.

Pakistan had strongly condemned a drone attack which had killed the Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah, in November.

The Taliban had refused talks after the attack. However, they agreed to resume talks in February.

The talks are currently deadlocked due to the Taliban conditions, airstrikes by security forces and Taliban attacks.