ADMINISTRATIVE NORMALIZATION OF THE MALAKAND DIVISION MOVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L PESHAWAR 000203


E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER ECON MOPS PK
SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATIVE NORMALIZATION OF THE MALAKAND DIVISION MOVES
AHEAD

REF: A) PESHAWAR 184; B) ISLAMABAD 788

CLASSIFIED BY: Candace Putnam, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate
Peshawar.
REASON: 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: Over the past week, Pakistan's government took
several significant steps to normalize administration in the
Malakand division after the April-August military operations
against militants there. On October 3, the Northwest Frontier
Province (NWFP) government appointed executive magistrates
throughout the Malakand division to speed adjudication of cases
and respond to local demands for swift justice. On October 5,
the government fully lifted the curfew in many southern and
central areas of the Malakand division (a curfew remains in
place around Matta). On October 9, the federal government
announced it had allocated 70 billon rupees ($840 million) to
reconstruct the Malakand division's physical infrastructure.
Although the October 12 suicide bombing in Shangla will
undermine restoration of public confidence, these developments
showcase the area's shift from military to civilian rule and the
GOP's resource commitment to the area. End Summary.


Magistrates Installed
--------------


2. (SBU) On October 3, the NWFP government announced the
appointment of civil magistrates at the district and
sub-district levels of each district in the Malakand division.
The new magistrates will have the power to arbitrate
small-claims disputes and small-scale criminal offenses.
However, they will be drawn from the civil service and will
report through the executive branch of the Pakistani government
to the NWFP's Additional Chief Secretary for Home - not to the
judiciary. At the district level, the magistrates will be the
District Coordination Officers (DCOs),who had already held the
role as the top civil servant in each district. Under the new
system, they will essentially serve as a court of appeals for
these cases.


3. (SBU) The sub-district-level magistrates are filling
entirely new positions. They are from other parts of the civil
service and mirror the newly expanded number of "tehsils"
(sub-district units akin to U.S. counties employed for taxation
and other administrative purposes) in the Malakand division.
The NWFP government's administrative restructuring plan for the
Malakand division has doubled the number of tehsils throughout
the division in order to increase government's local presence
and responsiveness. In Swat district alone, the number of
tehsils has increased from two to seven; Swat will also receive
additional "executive" magistrates to assist in adjudication in
tehsils where the caseload is particularly dense.


Nizam-i-Adl Implementation Ongoing
--------------


4. (SBU) The appointment of executive-branch magistrates in the
Malakand division is essentially a reversion to the two-tiered
judicial system that existed throughout Pakistan prior to former
President Musharraf's 2002 administrative changes to local
governance. Currently, however, the Malakand division is one of
only a few areas of Pakistan that have implemented this system.
The appointment of executive magistrates is an element of the
wider Nizam-i-Adl regulation (NAR),passed by the National
Assembly and signed by President Zardari in April 2009 at the
peak of militant influence in the Malakand division (ref B).
Despite the subsequent military operation and the vastly changed
circumstances on the ground, the government has continued to
quietly move ahead with the implementation of the regulation.


5. (C) In practice, according to NWFP Minister of Law Arshad
Abdullah, this implementation has primarily amounted to an
"islamicizing" of the language used in the judicial system
(e.g., judges will be known as qazis and area judges will be
known as illaqa qazis) and several administrative changes that
will reduce the backlog of cases in the court system. (Note: The
latter was one of the primary grievances driving the
attractiveness of the militants, who delivered quick justice.
Aside from the appointment of executive magistrates, these
administrative changes include the approval of 100 new positions
(though none of these positions has been filled as yet). The
NAR also imposes time limitations on the adjudication of various
categories of cases and penalties for inability to make the
deadlines. Other reforms under the NAR, including the
establishment of a high (appeals) court and an additional bench
of Pakistan's Supreme Court in Swat, are still on hold.


Curfew Lifted
--------------


6. (SBU) On October 5, the NWFP government announced that it had
fully lifted all curfews from Malakand district and from
southern and central Swat, including the recently conflicted
Kabal and Charbagh areas to the north of Mingora. (Note: A
partial curfew remains in effect in the Matta and Khwazakhela
areas of central Swat.) Some form of curfew has been in effect
over most of this area since the first combat operations began
in November 2007; citizens had been complaining about the
negative effect of these curfews on commercial activities and
economic normalization.


More Federal Money for Malakand
--------------


7. (SBU) On October 9, a federal-level committee chaired by
Prime Minister Gilani approved an 86 billion-rupee ($1.03
billion) package intended to support reconstruction of
conflicted-affected portions of the Malakand division and
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) The bulk of this
money (70 billion rupees, or $840 million) is allocated
specifically toward the Malakand division, though the precise
distribution of this money by sector does not appear to have
been fully worked out as yet. This package is the second major
transfer of federal money specifically targeted at
conflict-affected regions of the NWFP and FATA, after the
government's 24 billion-rupee ($288 million) pledge in July, of
which the NWFP government has received the first 6 billion-rupee
($72 million) tranche (ref A).


8. (C) Comment: Although the October 12 suicide bombing in
Shangla district (bordering the Khwazakhela tehsil of Swat) will
dent local confidence, the developments of the past week reflect
the continuing transfer of authority in the area from military
to civilian control. They also demonstrate the commitment of
the GOP to restore the Malakand division by providing both human
and financial resources. Civilian officials are following
guidelines enabled by the Nizam-i-Adl regulation and formulated
by the NWFP's Provincial Reconstruction Rehabilitation and
Stabilization Authority (PaRRSA),which emphasize quick justice
and more local responsiveness. Local officials continue to
warn, however, that without additional resources from the
international community, the scope and pace of reconstruction in
Malakand will falter and this potentially will undermine
hard-won gains against militancy. End comment.


PUTNAM