SWAT UPDATE: SUFI MUHAMMAD'S PRESS CONFERENCE - QAZI JUDGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L PESHAWAR 000055 E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS PK SUBJECT: SWAT UPDATE: SUFI MUHAMMAD'S PRESS CONFERENCE - QAZI JUDGES HEAR FIRST CASES REF: A) PESHAWAR 52 B) PESHAWAR 51 CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate Peshawar, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) chief, Sufi Mohammad announced in a press conference March 16, the (previous) judges should stop going to their offices as their continued presence would be considered a violation of the peace accord. Provincial authorities have stated the new Qazis may begin to hear cases under the authority of the 1999 version of the regulation. Some case decisions were announced March 17. Although some schools have reopened, incidents of police killings, property destruction and militant intimidation of the population continue, and there are indicators that the militants are regrouping. Meanwhile, the home and community of a key Awami National Party (ANP) Provincial Assembly member are apparently being targeted by militants without challenge by the government -- a failure that will not go unnoticed by Swatis. End Summary. TNSM Chief Sufi Mohammad Gives Press Conference -------------- -- ¶2. (C) Sufi said in a press conference March 16, the (previous) judges should stop going to their offices as their continued presence would be considered a violation of the peace accord. He said that the provincial government had announced the Shari'a courts were to start March 16, and thus the previous judges in Malakand Division were to stop their proceedings. According to press contacts, those judges without "proper Islamic training" had stopped going to courts. Sufi also claimed he would personally supervise and review the decisions made by the Qazis (judges) and any judge not making decisions in conformity with Shari'a law would be replaced. President Zardari's Signature Required? -------------- ¶3. (C) Sufi asserted that there was no need for President Zardari to sign the new Regulation as similar regulations had been implemented in the region without presidential consent, the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 1999 was signed by Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) governor, and thus the newly installed Qazi judges should begin to hear cases immediately (Ref. A-B). (Note: The 1999 regulation, to which Sufi was likely referring, was signed by the governor of the NWFP at the time LTG (Rtd.) �00A;Arif Bangash but almost certainly with presidential consent. Additional Secretary Shahzad Arbab, in the office of Secretary General Salman Faruqi, told DCM and Poloff that implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl without Zardari's signature is illegal and open to court challenge. End note.) Urdu and Pashtu Versions Of Peace Agreement Match? -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Khalid Aziz, former NWFP Additional Chief Secretary, told post that he had read two versions of the peace agreement, one in Urdu and the other in Pashtu. There is at least one important difference in the two versions. In the Pashtu version, Shari'a law as defined by the Qazis is the law, while in the Urdu version the GOP has the right of review. Qazis Begin To Hear Cases -------------- ¶5. (C) Provincial authorities have stated the new Qazis may begin to hear cases under the authority of the 1999 version of the regulation with some case decisions announced March 17. The initial cases concerned small claims or minor offenses. One case concerned a debt of 34,000 rupees (USD 500). The Qazi ruled that half would need to be paid immediately with the remainder paid in monthly installments. Another concerned a bicycle which was ordered returned to the original owner. In these cases the parties (without objection) were not represented by lawyers. Local observers state that no serious criminal cases have been heard thus far. Neither have some of the more severe punishments been meted out that are feared by local lawyers in future decisions. Peace Returned? -------------- ¶6. (C) Although some schools have reopened, most are boys schools or for girls grade four and below according to NGO workers living in Mingora and Bahrain. They report that most parents are still afraid to send their girls to school based on previous threats of local militants. One mother told an expatriate contact that when she and her daughters went to a market near Mingora on March 16, although wearing the full covering of burqas, they were threatened by a local militant for being outside their home. The militant asked them at knife point who wanted to be beheaded first. Although he did not carry out the threat, the women ran to their home immediately and have not ventured out again. Security Related Incidents -------------- ¶7. (C) Incidents with more tragic endings continue in Swat. On March 13 houses which belonged to an ANP politician Muhammad Afzal Khan were destroyed by militants near Mingora. Khan was one of the only ANP politicians to be in Swat regularly during the past year. He was not present at the residences during the destruction and is believed to be unharmed. (Comment: Frontier Corps Major General Tariq Khan told PO on March 18 that the government's failure to back up one of its key supporters and his community sent a terrible signal to Swatis. Khan, who acknowledges that he sees Swat differently than much of the senior Pakistani military establishment and provincial government, expected the ceasefire to collapse in a few weeks.) ¶8. (C) A Pakistan People's Party (PPP) worker was killed by suspected militants March 14, near Mingora and at least three policemen were killed, including the Assistant Superintendent of Police, March 18 during a militant attack on a police mobile team in front of Chakdara University. Residents of Swat in Mingora and Bahrain state that armed militant patrolling and check points, while reduced, continue in urban areas and along highways. They tell of militants boasting that the government had "surrendered to their demands" and now they (militants) were in charge. Underground Bunkers and Recruiting -------------- ¶9. (C) According to one post contact, the mountain range in northern Swat contained "sophisticated" underground bunkers four to five stories deep which had been visited by foreigners during the past several months with rocket-launchers and machine guns cached in the area. A press contact visiting the Swat Valley told post March 18 that he observed suspected taliban recruiting boys and young men in market areas the previous day. The ACS said that Punjabi fighters who have moved near Peshawar from Swat were responsible for the increase in recent violence in and near the provincial capital. Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Both sides seem willing to allow the court system to go forward with different explanations concerning legitimacy. The NWFP claims to use the 1999 regulation and Sufi claims the use of the 2009 version. This may set the stage for difficulties in the future. ¶11. (C) Recruitment of additional militants, the presence of underground bunkers and cached weapons point to the militants use of the peace agreement as an opportunity to rearm, regroup and recruit - something many local watchers have been saying for weeks. TRACY