Daily Times

The Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) is back to square one. The opposition, as was expected, attempted to block the passage of the bill in the Senate. Being in a majority in the lower house, the government had been able to override the opposition in the National Assembly and literally bulldozed the bill through the house on April 7. During their recent meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had decided on a joint meeting between the legal heads of both the parties to address the anomalies of the bill. That the meeting did not happen, and the treasury decided to push the bill through the Senate, where it did not have a majority, shows the government’s eagerness to adopt the bill come what may. There is no doubt that the country needs stronger anti-terrorism laws. However, the bill accords untrammelled powers to the law enforcement agencies. Already there are many complaints of these agencies operating above the law. Any new legislation that provides them with additional freedom to operate would be detrimental to the security of the people. We are short of trust in the police system. They are known for being harsher than the criminals they detain. Torture and extrajudicial killings are their hallmark. Can we rely on the present police system, or on the paramilitary forces, found to be trigger-happy on more than one occasion, to judicially use the powers devised for them in the PPO? The bill empowers the law enforcement agencies to detain a suspect in an undisclosed location for 90 days. They can also shoot any person considered suspicious on sight. The security forces can carry out raids without a search warrant and conduct secret trials of suspects. Internationally the law is bound to attract negative repercussions, especially regarding the 27 international human rights conventions we are signatories of. The European Union GSP Plus status can be withdrawn if human right violations are found to have been made part of the legal system.
The opposition in the Senate recommended forming a committee comprising all the parliamentary parties to revisit the bill and make it acceptable. The Senate’s standing committee on interior, where the bill had been routed after it failed to be introduced on the floor, is dominated by the PML-N. Even if, as suggested by the Chairman Senate, the opposition Senators attend the committee’s sessions, will the PML-N address the grievances of the opposition that it has blatantly ignored so far? The government should make the law in compliance with the constitution and the international human rights conventions so that justice is not only done, but be seen to be done. The struggle against terrorism cannot succeed through unjust provisions that violate the citizens’ rights.*