|
Rights Group: Pakistan Storing Relief Aid
A U.S.-based human rights group on Saturday accused Pakistani officials of storing tents and other relief supplies instead of immediately distributing them to earthquake survivors. The government denied the accusation. The charges came as the U.N. appealed for more aid two weeks after the Oct. 8 earthquake, warning of another wave of deaths if survivors do not get shelter and food before the Himalayan winter sets in. NATO has agreed to send up to 1,000 troops to Pakistan to boost relief efforts."We urgently need tents, shelter and helicopters for inaccessible areas," said Jan van de Moortele, the UN's humanitarian aid coordinator for Pakistan. "Time is against us. We can buy everything with money, but not time." Relief operations have taken on increasing urgency as temperatures drop. In Kashmir, snow has already fallen in the high mountains, and in upland villages, temperatures are below freezing at night. Van de Moortele said at the current rate, some 200,000 tents will be in the country by winter â only enough to house about half the homeless families. New York-based Human Rights Watch accused civilian authorities, working under military supervision, of storing tents and other needed relief goods at a supply depot in Muzaffarabad, the city at the heart of the quake-shattered region in Pakistani Kashmir. Pakistani officials at the scene told the organization this was being done "so that they would be able to avoid problems when senior military and civilian officials demand supplies that otherwise would not be available," the group said in a statement. One official said he would be fired if he gave out tents, the group added. "Tents are the difference between life and death," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "It is essential for the public to know that aid is being handled in a non-arbitrary, nondiscriminatory manner." Pakistan's chief army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, called the accusation "a totally baseless and wrong report."
Posted by: Fred 2005-10-23 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=132900 |