January 4, 2024

In a scathing criticism of the approach to the issue of enforced disappearances, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa Wednesday called on the state to “change its mindset” on the prevalent issue. The CJP’s remarks came as he led the hearing conducted by a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat, in response to multiple petitions filed by Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and others on the issue of enforced disappearances. Noting that the country has been “fractured” by its people, the chief justice stressed that court verdicts alone were not enough to end the practice of enforced disappearance. During the hearing, the top judge asked the federal government to give in writing that there would be no more enforced disappearances in the country. “We do not want a statement from any section officer. The Government of Pakistan should give us in writing that no one will be illegally disappeared anymore,” the CJP said during a hearing of the case. Aitzaz had prayed the court to declare that enforced disappearances are violative of Articles 4, 9, 10, 14, 19, and 25 of the Constitution besides declaring that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances does not adequately comply with legal and international standards. Similarly, he asked the apex court to set up an effective and purposeful commission. He prayed the apex court that the commission should be headed by a judge of the Supreme Court while members of the commission should be the Supreme Court Bar Association president, Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman, Lahore, Sindh, Peshawar, Quetta Bar Association heads, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairman, National Commission on Status of Women chairperson, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General, Intelligence Bureau (IB) additional director general and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president. At the outset of the hearing, Ahsan’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen cited the Supreme Court’s verdict on the 2017 Faziabad sit-in. The CJP inquired how the Faizabad sit-in verdict is related to enforced disappearances. Advocate Shaheen maintained that the court has mentioned the role of intelligence agencies in the verdict. At this, the CJP asked Shaheen to explain the part of the Faizabad sit-in decision that applied to the participants of the Baloch protesters protesting against enforced disappearances. The counsel replied that the Faizabad verdict stated that peaceful protest is the right of every citizen and called for action against those who resorted to violence. “I am surprised that you are referring to the Faizabad dharna verdict,” the CJP remarked. Advocate Shaheen said he had been always referring to the Faizabad verdict. “If the Faizabad sit-in decision had been followed so such circumstances would not have happened today,” he added. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1144415-cjp-calls-for-change-in-states-mindset-on-enforced-disappearances

Dozens of people were killed Wednesday in the Iranian city of Kerman after twin blasts near the burial site of slain military commander Qasem Soleimani, in what officials called a terror attack. The blasts, at least one of which was caused by a bomb, state TV said, came on the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death in a US airstrike, and threaten to accelerate tensions in the region that have spiked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. At least 84 people were killed and 284 others injured, according to state-run news agency IRNA, citing Jafar Miadfar, head’s of Iran’s national emergency agency. The toll was revised down due to the miscounting of body parts. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for the explosions, saying it will pay a “heavy price.” “I warn the Zionist regime, do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed,” Raisi said in a televised speech from Tehran. Raisi, who is the head of the Iranian government, warned that Israel’s punishment will be “regrettable and severe.” The Israeli military told CNN it had “no comment” on the matter while the US State Department said it had no reason to believe Israel was involved. Analysts and a US official speculated that the blast had the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. “I think it’s just based on the MO it does look like a terrorist attack, the type of thing we’ve seen ISIS do in the past. And as far as we’re aware, that’s kind of I think our going assumption at the moment,” the official said. Iran has suffered major Islamist terror attacks before. In 2022, at least 15 people were killed and 40 others injured in the southern city of Shiraz. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack swiftly afterwards, saying it targeted groups of “Sunni infidels.” The two blasts took place around 20 minutes apart, Iran’s interior minister said. Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari/AP The first explosion was 2,300 feet (700 meters) from Soleimani’s grave, and the second was 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away as pilgrims visited the site, IRNA reported. IRINN, another state television channel, reported that the first explosion near the grave of Soleimani was caused by a bomb placed in a suitcase inside a Peugeot 405 car, and appeared to be detonated remotely. Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the first explosion happened at 3:00 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) during an interview with Iran’s state news channel IRIB. Vahidi said the second, more deadly blast took place 20 minutes later, when other pilgrims came to help the injured. Videos posted on Iranian state media showed large crowds running in the area after the explosion. Footage also showed bloodied bodies being transported from the scene, and ambulances leaving the site through large crowds. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Iran will have a “harsh response.” Addressing those behind the explosions, he wrote: “They should know that the bright soldiers of the path of Soleimani will not tolerate their wickedness and crimes.” Iran declared Thursday a day of mourning following the blasts and Raisi canceled his upcoming trip to Turkey. Formerly one of Iran’s most powerful men, Soleimani was head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, an elite unit that handles Iran’s overseas operations and was deemed to be a foreign terrorist organization by the US. Ambulances leave the site of the explosion. Iran Press via AFPTV The Pentagon says Soleimani and his troops were “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.” Known as Iran’s “shadow commander,” Soleimani – who had led the Quds Force since 1998 – was the mastermind of Iranian military operations in Iraq and Syria. Gen. Ismail Qaani, Soleimani’s longtime lieutenant and his successor as the leader of the Quds Force, said the perpetrators were “desperate,” warning that “the Islamic Republic will not change the method of eradicating the Zionist regime.” Blast comes at tense moment in region The blast occurred amid heightened tensions in the region as Israel fights a three-month war against Hamas in Gaza prompted by the militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel. That war has left more than 23,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the enclave, and has led to skirmishes beyond Israel and Gaza, often involving Iran-backed militias. On Tuesday, a senior Hamas leader was killed in a suburb of Beirut in a blast that a US official told CNN was carried out by Israel. Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied involvement but Hamas and the militant group Hezbollah, which controls the suburb, blamed Israel and have vowed revenge. Last week, Iran and several of its armed proxies accused Israel of assassinating a senior Iranian commander in Syria, vowing retaliation. Israel didn’t comment on the matter. In an address marking the anniversary of Soleimani’s death, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the killing of the Hamas official in Beirut “won’t go unpunished.” Israel accuses Tehran of funding and arming Hamas. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month that his country is in a “multi-arena war,” being attacked from seven arenas, including Iran. “We have already responded and acted in six of these decrees” he said. On Wednesday, Russian President Putin condemned “terrorism in all its forms” in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi after the blasts. Putin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, has been accused by Kyiv and international bodies of numerous acts of terror during his war in Ukraine. Both the European Union and the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres also condemned Wednesday’s blasts and called for the perpetrators to be held responsible. The US has also stepped up its military involvement in the Middle East recently. Last month, the military carried out airstrikes on Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah and “affiliated groups” in Iraq after an attack

At least 14 people killed and a number of people injured in an Israeli bombing of a house belonging to the Salah family west of Khan Younis. Nine Hezbollah members killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday amid Lebanese border clashes. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah says his fighters are not afraid of war, but avoided any declaration that his forces would escalate attacks after killing of Saleh al-Arouri. At least 22,313 people have been killed and at least 57,296 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139. Saudi Arabia rejects Israeli ‘extremist remarks’ on displacing Gaza residents Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country rejects “extremist remarks” by two Israeli ministers who called for the displacement of Gaza’s population, the reoccupation of the strip and the construction of settlements. It also stressed the importance of efforts to activate international accounting mechanisms towards persistence of the Israeli government in violating the international humanitarian law. Israel’s military detains hundreds for questioning in prolonged raid The raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank lasted 30 hours, Israel’s military said in a post on its official X page. In addition to detaining hundreds of “suspects”, Israeli forces confiscated weapons and destroyed “terrorist infrastructure” during the incursion, the Israeli military said. Since October 7, Israel has arrested close to 5,000 Palestinians, holding many in their custody without charge. Click here to share on social media Saleh al-Arouri’s assassination in Lebanon opens ‘Pandora’s box’ Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, has told Al Jazeera that US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby pointing out that military attacks cannot eradicate the Hamas ideology is a significant step. But “it was disappointing that Kirby did not go far enough talking to Israel about the way they carried out the assassination of a Hamas leader [Saleh al-Arouri] in Lebanon,” he said. “I think it would be much better to condemn the way that attack was conducted. This is way outside the war zone that Israel has declared with Gaza,” Barakat added. “It was done in a sovereign neighbouring country, and it is going to open the Pandora’s box as to what can happen if nations do not respect that type of sovereignty.” Click Likud minister dismisses talk of Palestinians leaving Gaza Miki Zohar, Israel’s culture and sports minister, has said it is “not realistic” for Palestinians to leave Gaza, even if some Israelis would like to see it happen. “It’s not realistic, and it’s clear that the international community will not accept it,” Zohar told Israeli news site Ynet, adding that this subject should not be discussed publicly. “With things like this, even if you have a belief or a goal like this, it can be discussed and debated behind closed doors.” Zohar’s remarks follow calls from Israel’s national security minister to “encourage the emigration” of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to make way for Israeli settlers. Click Israeli army committing ‘massacres’ in ‘safe’ areas: Gaza media office “During the past three days, the occupation army has committed six massacres by forcing civilians to flee their homes to other areas it claimed were safe in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, and then bombed them, resulting in the death of 31 people,” the government media office said in a statement. “The Israeli occupation army has repeated the crime of forcing civilians, under threat of weapons and death, to flee from their safe homes and residential neighbourhoods to other areas that it claimed were safe, but it bombed them.” Click here to share on social media China says Red Sea shipping must be protected “China opposes attacks against civilian vessels,” a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says. “I believe all sides need to play a constructive and responsible role in safeguarding the security of shipping lanes in the Red Sea.” China is not a member of the US-led naval coalition patrolling the Red Sea. However, as one of the world’s largest shipping countries, it has a strong interest in seeing stability there after Houthi attacks on commercial vessels. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/4/israel-hamas-war-live-bloody-day-for-hezbollah-tensions-with-israel-soar