O 121122Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL PESHAWAR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8239
INFO AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 
AMCONSUL LAHORE IMMEDIATE 
AMCONSUL KARACHI IMMEDIATE 
AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 
AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 
USMISSION USNATO IMMEDIATE 
NSC WASHINGTON DC
CIA WASHDC
DIA WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
AMCONSUL PESHAWAR

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