Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday passed a resolution, stating that the president should not pardon a Rangers’ personnel convicted of murdering a man in Karachi.

They said that dual laws for the victim and murderer could tarnish the image of the country.

The Senate Human Rights Committee, which met on Tuesday, expressed grave concern over reports that presidential pardon was going to be granted to the Rangers personnel convicted of the 2011 murder of a young man Sarfraz.

The committee met in Parliament House. Senator Nasreen Jalil was in the chair. The issue came up when Senator Farhatullah Babar asked for permission to discuss ‘any other item with the permission of chairperson’ after the conclusion of agenda. “This is an unacceptable affront to the human rights of victims and their families. It is a license to uniformed personnel to brandish guns and kill innocent people at will and with impunity,” he said. Official sources quoted in the media reports lent it credibility, he said. “It is not easy to erase the images of a terrified Sarfaraz Shah beseeching his innocence with folded hands and the sadistic pleasure writ on the face of the shooter. The shameful images would continue to shake conscious even in a distant age and distant clime and long after all characters involved had vanished,” he said.

“A presidential pardon to the criminals would only make the shameful images as horrifying also and a cruel joke with the victims and their families. Any pardon without consent of the victims, will further embolden the law enforcement agencies to take law into their hands at will and with impunity,” he said.

“It will be a monumental pity if President Mamnoon left behind a highly dubious legacy that criminals and convicts who once wore the uniform are a breed apart from criminals who have never worn a uniform. This legacy would turn the already broken criminal justice system on its head,” he said. All members of the committee invited by the chairperson to condemn the move and demanded that a powerful message be sent across in the form of a unanimous resolution against pardoning criminals. Minister for Human Rights Barister Usman Ibrahim endorsed the sentiments of the members, saying that the subject was dealt with by the Interior Ministry. He said he would take it up with the ministry. He also claimed that the Ministry of Human Rights did not have any information about sending summary for granting pardon to the convict in the Sarfaraz Shah killing case. Till now, the minister said that president has never granted pardon to any criminal. The committee deferred various bills related to the rights of transgender for further discussion and taking inputs from Islamic Ideology Council (IIC). The committee was informed that representatives of transgender community would attend the meeting that would be held on January 16. The IIC will hold its meeting in this regard on January 17.

Published in Daily Times, January 10^th 2018.