UN inquiry says Benazir Bhutto murder was 'avoidable'

UN inquiry says Benazir Bhutto murder was 'avoidable'

A long-awaited UN report on the assassination of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto in 2008 has been highly critical of the government of the day.
It says Bhutto's death at a rally near Islamabad could have been prevented if proper security measures had been taken by Gen Pervez Musharraf's government.

The report also criticised the subsequent investigation and urged Pakistan to launch a "credible" probe.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said it was satisfied with the inquiry. Senior party leaders told the BBC that the findings were "exactly what they had been saying all along".

The report would give a shot in the arm to ongoing police investigations, spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. Another aide said it could pave the way for a proper police investigations and possible penal proceedings.

Crime Scene 'Hosted'

The report, compiled by an independent commission appointed by the UN, concluded that the pervasive presence of Pakistan's politicised intelligence agencies hampered the investigation.
It said the crime scene in Rawalpindi was hosed down immediately after the explosion.  This, the report said, could not have happened without the knowledge of higher authorities. The commission was set up in July last year in response to a request from Pakistan.

Speaking at a news conference at the UN in New York, the head of the commission, Heraldo Munoz, said the authorities had failed to protect Bhutto and to investigate her assassination properly.

"A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts, first to protect Ms Bhutto and second to investigate with vigour all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack but also in its conception, planning and financing," he said.

"Responsibility for Ms Bhutto's security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police," he continued.

"None of these entities took the necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary fresh and urgent security risks that they knew she faced."

Mr Munoz said Bhutto would have not been killed had the Rawalpindi district police taken adequate security measures.

"The security arrangements for Ms Bhutto by the Rawalpindi district police were ineffective and insufficient," he said.

Nor, the commission head added, had the police chief acted independently of higher authorities when the decision to hose down the crime scene was taken.
"The collection of 23 pieces of evidence was manifestly inadequate in a case that should have resulted in a collection of thousands of pieces of evidence."

The report strongly criticised Pakistan's powerful intelligence agencies for conducting parallel investigations, gathering evidence which was only selectively shared with the police.
"The commission believes that the failure of the police to investigate effectively Ms Bhutto's assassination was deliberate," the report said.
"These officials, in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken."
The commission urged Pakistani authorities to carry out a "serious, credible" criminal investigation into the assassination "and bring those responsible to justice".

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York says that will be difficult because the report has said enough for Pakistanis to know that any credible criminal investigation would have to interrogate the powerful military establishment.
At the memorial to Ms Bhutto in Rawalpindi, near the scene of her assassination, people passing by had their doubts.
Asked if he thought her killers would be brought to justice, local taxi driver Tariq Ayub told the BBC's Orla Guerin: "Never, Never."

The report said police did not investigate effectively - in part because they feared involvement by Pakistan's clandestine intelligence agencies. Those same powerful forces could hamper any new attempts to identify those behind the assassination, our correspondent says.

Publication delay

The UN report had been due to be published at the end of March but was delayed for two weeks at the request of Bhutto's widower, Pakistani President Asif Zardari, who had called for the investigation.

The government said it wanted extra time to include input from Afghanistan, the US and Saudi Arabia, three countries that had apparently warned Bhutto of a death threat.

The three-member panel was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances of Bhutto's death, not assign criminal responsibility.

Gen Musharraf declared that the late head of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, organised the assassination.

Bhutto herself wrote that four suicide squads were after her, some linked to al-Qaeda.

But she also accused a group of senior politicians and intelligence officials of plotting to kill her, and many of her followers blame elements of the military establishment and Gen Musharraf's government for her death.