P 091125Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL PESHAWAR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7179
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AMCONSUL PESHAWAR

UNCLAS PESHAWAR 000714 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER EAID MOPS PK
SUBJECT: FATA: PRIMER - JUDICIAL PROCESS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION 
 
REF: A) PESHAWAR 686 B) PESHAWAR 592 C) PESHAWAR 559 
 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶1. This is the fourth in a series of primers on Pakistan's 
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).  This cable 
describes how tribesmen in the FATA and Frontier Regions (FRs) 
resolve disputes in an area that is not subject to the laws that 
govern the rest of Pakistan.  The concentration of judicial and 
executive powers in the hands of the Political Agent and the 
continued predominance of the Frontier Crimes Regulations of 
1901 allow dispute resolution in the FATA to be heavily 
influenced by a small number of individuals whose actions are 
seldom subject to judicial review.  Subsequent cables will 
address topics such as the 2001 "devolution" reforms.  End 
Introduction. 
 
The Colonial Legacy 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  The FATA and Frontier Regions do not have an independent 
judicial system.  The Political Agent (PA) in the seven FATA 
agencies and the Assistant Political Agent (APA) in the six 
Frontier Regions exercise judicial as well as executive 
authority (Refs A and C).  While this cable will examine the 
varying degrees of the PA/APA's authority in the FATA, the 
Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) of 1901 empowers these 
administrators to adjudicate disputes and to enforce their 
decisions. 
 
¶3.  The FATA's colonial legacy continues to play a dominant role 
in how tribesmen settle disputes today.  The FCR was first 
established in 1871 as an attempt by the British to balance a 
need for better law and order with the tribes' fierce desire to 
remain independent in managing internal disputes.  This 
compromise, which today remains intact under the 1901 iteration 
of the FCR, allowed the tribes to settle criminal and civil 
disputes according to tribal customs or "riwaj" when the 
political administration has no direct stake in the conflict. 
The jirga, or council of elders, remains the primary forum in 
which tribesmen negotiate settlement of disputes in the FATA and 
implement tribal custom.  Jirgas also play a predominant role in 
the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) and even the 
settled districts of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) due 
to the common tribal heritage of the Pashtun people. 
 
Jirga 
----- 
 
¶4. A jirga is a gathering of two or more people convened to 
discuss and decide any issue ranging from personal affairs to 
inter-tribal blood feuds.  A jirga may also be constituted to 
communicate a tribe's grievances to the government.  The size 
and composition of a jirga depends on the scope of the issue 
under consideration.  There is no quorum required to assemble a 
jirga.  It is an informal institution characterized by sparse 
documentation and flexible processes which may be manipulated to 
best address a specific concern.  A jirga begins after the 
parties to a dispute select a mediator who serves as the head of 
the council of elders.  The mediator obtains consent from the 
disputing parties that the jirga's decision will be binding. 
Members of the council then consider the information provided by 
the disputing parties, deliberate, and come to a consensus 
decision. 
 
¶5. A jirga's decisions are based on a combination of "riwaj" 
(tribal custom) and Sharia (Islamic law).  Customary law among 
Pashtuns is informed by a strong sense of retributive justice 
(Badal), asylum (Melmastai) and forgiveness (Nanawatai).  Riwaj 
may also be understood to be a body of informal and partially 
codified customs such as not carrying arms on Fridays.  These 
customs vary widely between the tribes residing in the FATA.  An 
informal system of precedent also plays an important role in 
tribal custom, and members of a jirga will often refer to past 
cases during deliberations. 
 
Agreements vs. Undertakings 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. Jirgas interface with the FATA's political administration 
 
through agreements and "undertakings."  In an agreement, both 
the political administration and the tribe are parties to the 
jirga and are considered to be bound by its decision.  An 
undertaking is a one-way notification or reiteration of a 
previous decision where tribesmen or the political 
administration agree to carry out a specific action.  An 
undertaking may also be an official acknowledgement of riwaj by 
the political administration. 
 
Limits of the Political Agent's Judicial Authority 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7. A distinction is frequently drawn between "accessible" and 
"inaccessible" areas of Pakistan's tribal areas.  Accessible 
areas include government installations such as forts, posts, 
cities, hospitals, schools, post offices, roads and tribal areas 
immediately adjacent to roads.  Political Agents consider an 
area to be inaccessible if there are no security forces present 
such as the Frontier Corps and Khasadars (Ref. B).  Inaccessible 
areas tend to be remote and inhabited by tribes hostile to 
government intervention in internal affairs. 
 
¶8. The Political Agents have played a more significant role in 
the dispute resolution process in the accessible areas where 
they retain the right to appoint a jirga's elders.  Disputants 
in civil cases such as land disputes, loan settlements or 
disagreements over women, however, frequently choose the members 
of a jirga by mutual consent.  Political Agents refrain from 
interfering in cases where they do not have a direct stake.  In 
criminal cases, the political administration is considered to be 
the "aggrieved" party and those charged with committing crimes 
are required to appear before a PA sponsored jirga.  Political 
Agents are authorized to use enforcement mechanisms granted 
under the Frontier Crimes Regulation if the suspected criminal's 
tribe refuses to produce him or her.  The jirga's decisions in 
the accessible areas are advisory, and Political Agents may 
choose to disregard them. 
 
¶9. In the inaccessible areas, Political Agents indirectly 
supervise the judicial process.  The distinction between civil 
and criminal cases does not apply as it does in the accessible 
areas because tribesmen settle both types of disputes via 
"riwaj."  Although, the tribes may approach the Political Agent 
to seek assistance in resolving disputes, the majority of 
conflicts are settled by jirgas whose membership is determined 
by tribal elders who can render binding decisions. 
 
¶10. The distinction between the Political Agent's role in the 
"accessible" and "inaccessible" areas is becoming less relevant 
with time.  The Political Agent's influence over the dispute 
resolution process is greatest where relationships with the 
tribes are robust.  Political Agents depend on tribal elders to 
garner support for their decisions, and the elders in turn look 
to the Political Agents for government funds.  Lack of 
infrastructure has historically served as a hindrance to the 
Political Agents' ability to exert influence in the inaccessible 
areas.  Thirty percent of the FATA has been, until recently, 
defined as "inaccessible."  The deployment of nearly 100,000 
security forces to the FATA and the acceleration of 
communications and infrastructure capacity have led many local 
observers to consider the whole of the FATA to be "accessible." 
 
Right of Appeal 
--------------- 
 
¶11. Tribesmen living in the FATA and FRs may not appeal a 
Political Agent's decision in Pakistan's High Courts or the 
Supreme Court.  Instead, tribesmen may first request that the 
Political Agent constitute another jirga to reexamine the 
dispute.  Influential families are generally more successful in 
convincing the Political Agent to convene a review jirga.  If a 
review jirga is not deemed necessary or if the decision is still 
unfavorable, a tribesman may approach the FCR Commissioner in 
the NWFP Home Department for judicial review.  Appeals against 
the decisions of the FCR Commissioner are heard by an FCR 
tribunal composed of the NWFP Home Secretary and Secretary of 
Law (Ref. C). 
 
Enforcement Mechanisms 
---------------------- 
 
¶12. Political Agents are granted broad powers by the Frontier 
Crimes Regulation to enforce jirga decisions.  An entire tribe 
may be held collectively responsible for the actions of an 
individual.  Political Agents may also preemptively imprison 
individuals "acting in a hostile or unfriendly manner" towards 
the political administration.  Other sections of the FCR allow 
Political Agents to levy fines, order the demolition of 
buildings and separate feuding parties. 
 
¶13. In practice, Political Agents exercise their rights under 
the FCR by levying financial sanctions, imposing blockades and 
authorizing the use of force.  If a tribe refuses to cooperate 
with the political administration, a Political Agent will first 
stop salaries to influential members of the tribe.  Political 
Agents may then stop all government salaries, including Khasadar 
pay, and will seize the businesses and property of members of 
the offending tribe located anywhere in Pakistan.  If 
noncompliant behavior continues, Political Agents will move to 
impose a blockade on the tribe (historically, using Frontier 
Corps forces).  Roads in and out of tribal territory may be 
sealed in order to stop the flow of trade and foodstuffs to the 
offending tribe and any member of the tribe may be arrested. 
Political Agents are also authorized to use force in order to 
ensure compliance with jirgas' decisions.  The use of tribal 
Lashkars, Levies, Khasadars, the Frontier Corps and, most 
recently, the Pakistani army, may be employed to enforce the 
writ of the government (Ref. B). 
 
Current Strains on the Tribal Dispute Resolution System 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶14. Many aspects of the FATA's dispute resolution system have 
come under increasing criticism.  Parties to a jirga are 
required to deposit money in order to have their case 
adjudicated.  Increasing mediation costs and a growing 
perception of inaccessibility have led many tribesmen to seek 
alternate avenues of dispute resolution.  The rise of militancy 
in Pakistan's tribal areas has led many to question the 
Political Agents' effectiveness.  Dissatisfaction over delays in 
disputes mediated by the government has in part fueled the 
popularity of militants who make a point of providing "quick" 
justice.  While the PAs remain the agency's chief executives, 
overlapping areas of operation with the military, as well as the 
presence of militant commanders, have led to a perceived erosion 
of the Political Agents' authority. 
 
¶15. Collective responsibility, preemptive imprisonment and lack 
of judicial accountability of the Political Agents remain highly 
contentious in the FATA.  The principal of collective 
responsibility was promulgated in a time when members of a tribe 
were geographically proximate to one another.  The FCR, as it 
exists today, allows Political Agents to punish members of a 
tribe who have no relationship with the offending individual and 
are often located in distant provinces.  Preemptive imprisonment 
allows imprisonment of up to three years with no right of appeal 
except to the FCR tribunal who are often seen to rely on the 
opinion and records of the Political Agent's office.  The FCR is 
also frequently criticized for lacking any mention of women's or 
children's rights. 
 
¶16. This cable was cleared with Embassy Islamabad. 
TRACYLM