Military rejects HRW report as ‘pack of lies’

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Military rejected on Saturday Human Rights Watch World Report 2013, which accused it of abuses in counter-terrorism operations and maintaining links with extremist groups, as “a pack of lies”.“The recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report is a pack of lies, propaganda driven and totally biased,” a military spokesman said while commenting on the report.

The military saw the report as yet another attempt to malign Pakistan and its institutions through “fabricated and unverified reports”.

The HRW report released on Friday has evaluated human rights record of some 90 countries during 2012.

“The government was unable or unwilling to break the links between Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies with extremist groups. Sunni militant groups, including those with known links to the Pakistani military, its intelligence agencies, and affiliated paramilitaries, such as the ostensibly banned Lashkar-i Jhangvi, operated openly across Pakistan, as law-enforcement officials turned a blind eye to attacks,” the report had noted.

The military spokesman said: “The HRW report seems to be a clear attempt to further fuel already ongoing sectarian violence and to create chaos and disorder in Pakistan.”

The military was also accused of human rights abuses while dealing with Taliban militants in Swat and tribal areas and crushing a separatist movement in Balochistan.

The spokesman said the report “completely favours an anti-Pakistan agenda”.

He reminded that Pakistan director at HRW Ali Dayan Hassan was among those who testified at the controversial Dana Rohrabacher hearings on Balochistan in US Congress.

The HRW, he pointed out, has based its opinion on imprecise facts and biased views.

The spokesman said the HRW had no credibility and had been criticised worldwide for raising controversies through its biased reports.

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