Families of Terror Martyrs Send Protest Letter to Pakistani Government

Families of terror martyrs wrote a protest letter to the Pakistani government following recent terrorist attacks in the southeast of the country.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the Habilian Foundation (Family of Terror Martyrs of the Country) sent an open letter to the government of Pakistan following the recent terrorist acts in the southeast of the country, calling for a serious and decisive action against terrorist groups.

We, the big family of the victims and martyrs of Iran's terrorist attack, express our deep concern about the recent terrorist and violent acts of takfiri terrorist groups in the southeastern regions of Iran, including the group known as "Jish al-Adl" (with the new title "People's Fighter Front"), and we consider Islamabad's failure to deal with these groups and their elements to be one of the main causes of the violation of the rights of our country's citizens in Sistan and Baluchistan province, the insecurity of this region and its consequences.

By abusing the conditions at the border points, agents of terrorist groups easily move into Pakistan and settle and take shelter in some areas. This continuous and long-term procedure cannot happen without the knowledge of some local and central authorities in Pakistan. Pakistani media reports and conversations with elements of these terrorist groups confirm this point.

We draw the attention of the government of Pakistan to the fact that what happened and is being repeated is not only a political or human rights issue from the side of the families of the terror victims in Iran. Rather, in addition to political considerations and human rights, there is also a set of legal obligations and international cooperation frameworks that must be taken into consideration.

1. Territorial sovereignty, in addition to rights, also brings responsibility. In the Palmas Island Arbitral Award (1928), it is stated that territorial sovereignty is associated with the obligation to protect the rights of other states within the territory, especially their right to integrity and immunity. The International Court of Justice in the case of Corfu Strait (1949) considered the obligation of each state not to knowingly allow the use of its territory in actions contrary to the rights of other states as one of the general and accepted legal principles.

2. Resolution 1373 (2001) of the Security Council was issued based on Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter and is binding on all members, including Pakistan, according to Article 25 of the Charter. Paragraph 2 obliges all governments to:

Refrain from any kind of active or passive support to individuals and institutions involved in terrorist acts (paragraph 2-a);

Do not give shelter to the designers, supporters and perpetrators of terrorist acts (paragraph 2-c);

prevent the use of their territory against other governments and their citizens (paragraph 2-d);

put the perpetrators and supporters to trial (paragraph 2-e);

By effective border control, prevent the movement of terrorists and terrorist groups (paragraph 2-g).

Paragraph 3 of the same resolution also calls on governments to exchange operational information about the movements of terrorist elements and networks (paragraph 3-a) and cooperation through bilateral and multilateral arrangements (paragraph 3-c). Resolution 1566 (2004) also calls on governments to fully cooperate, especially with countries that are victims of terrorist acts, and to implement the principle of "extradition or trial".

3. The Declaration of Friendly Relations of the United Nations General Assembly (Resolution 2625, 1970) forbids states from organizing, assisting, inciting, financing or tolerating subversive, terrorist or armed activities with the aim of violently overthrowing the government of another state. General Assembly Resolution 60/49 (1994, Section II, Clause 5(a)) also calls on states to refrain from organizing, inciting, facilitating, financing, encouraging or tolerating terrorist activities and to take practical measures to prevent the use of their territory to prepare or organize terrorist acts against other states or their citizens. The global strategy to counter terrorism (Resolution 60/288, 2006, Part II) also emphasizes the adoption of preventive measures. These documents should be separated from binding treaties and decisions of the Security Council; The legal requirement of each case must be weighed against the applicable legal source.

4. Article 40 of the Constitution of Pakistan considers efforts to maintain and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries and to expand goodwill and friendly relations with all nations as one of the principles of government policy. Pakistan's National Action Plan in 2014 also states that militant groups and armed gangs will not be allowed to operate in the country. These documents are internal frameworks of Pakistan and should not be introduced as bilateral treaties.

5. According to the articles on the responsibility of states for international wrongful acts, approved by the International Law Commission in 2001, the responsibility of the state arises when a behavior, whether an act or an omission, can be attributed to the state according to international law and constitutes a violation of an enforceable international obligation of that state (Articles 1 and 2). In case of realization of responsibility, the responsible state must stop the continuing wrongful act and, if the situation so requires, give appropriate guarantees of non-repetition (Article 30) and make full compensation for the resulting damage (Article 31). These articles are not binding on themselves.

6. In addition to multilateral commitments, the two countries also have bilateral frameworks for border and judicial cooperation: the Iran-Pakistan Border Management Agreement of 1960, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan has considered as one of the existing border cooperation frameworks in the statements of the High Border Commission in 2017 and 2019; and the "Treaty on Extradition of Criminals and Accused between Iran and Pakistan" which the joint statement of April 24, 2024 refers to and its ratification in 1960.

Also, in the joint statement of April 24, 2024, the two governments emphasized cooperation and regular exchange of views between the political, military and security authorities of the two countries to deal with threats such as terrorism, hostage-taking and kidnapping (paragraph 5), terrorism as a common threat and the use of existing bilateral mechanisms (paragraph 11) and treaty-based extradition (paragraph 20).

We know that these commitments are a commitment to due care and action according to the power and capabilities of the government, not a commitment to an absolute result. However, the continuation of the practice in which terrorist elements continuously and openly travel and reside in the territory of Pakistan is not compatible with any reasonable standard of due care.

Based on this, the family of 23,000 martyrs of Iranian terror expects from the government of Pakistan:

1. prevent the residence, organization and activity of the elements of these groups in their territory and remove their shelters;

2. establish effective border control and exchange operational information related to the movements of these groups with the Iranian government;

3. prosecute the perpetrators and supporters of these actions in accordance with international obligations and applicable laws, in its jurisdiction effectively, or, if the conditions stipulated in the extradition treaty are fulfilled, return them to Iran;

4. establish a joint security and judicial mechanism with Iran;

5. announce his official and written response to this letter.

6. Considering the direct effects of terrorist acts on the families of the victims, establish an official and continuous mechanism to receive the documents and information provided by the families of the martyrs of the Iranian terror and provide information about the process of dealing with related cases and make it possible to follow up on these demands.

The relations between the two countries and the people of Iran and Pakistan have always been based on love and brotherhood since the independence of this Muslim country. These relations are considered one of the most unique among other countries and nations neighboring Iran. But the terrorists and their supporters with their violent and insecure actions, among other goals, have also targeted the destruction of the ties between the two countries. In such a situation, the expectation of the Iranian nation and especially the extended family of 23,000 martyrs of terror is from the political and military authorities of Pakistan to respect these relations and prevent them from being damaged.

Habilian Foundation (family of the country's terror martyrs)