While there is a dire need of an effective witness protection programme in Pakistan, the issue has not been dealt with with the seriousness it deserves. The government has at best given lip service to this important issue. Thus, it remains a cause of serious concern for the common man who continues to face the effects of successful terror attacks planned and executed by suspects who are freed by the courts due to lack of testifying witnesses. One cannot blame the courts for letting these men go free, as they have to go by the book. It is the duty of the government to provide a secure environment to the witnesses of terror attacks so that they come forward to testify to what they saw. Indeed, for optimum and effective justice, such security is also required for the families of those investigating, prosecuting and judging the terror suspects beyond the career line of these officials.
Those who dare to come forward in the absence of an effective witness protection programme meet the fate of Haider Ali, the sixth and last witness to the murder of the Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar. Haider Ali was murdered in Karachi on November 11 last year. As per reports, there were more than 20 witnesses to Wali’s murder in January 2011, and six took the risk of testifying, with each being gunned down in a systematic manner. Haider, who had extra protection by the order of the Sindh High Court, was killed despite being underground. Policemen have also figured among the murdered witnesses. These killings exposed the indifference of the state and its inability to provide protection to witnesses when it knew that witnesses of acts of terror were at risk of elimination. Witnesses in other high-profile terrorism cases have also met the same fate. This has created an alarming situation where witnesses fearing for their lives will not testify and the killers will walk free.
The fate of witnesses who testify in terrorism cases has been such a frightening factor that the trial of the lone living terrorist caught from the massacre site at the Ahmadiyya place of worship in Lahore during the twin attacks on their places of worship where more than 90 Ahmadis offering their Friday prayers in May 2010 were killed, is at a standstill. The state’s continued failure at providing witness protection has caused the witnesses in this case to refrain from coming forward to testify, and as per press reports, the Anti-Terrorism Court has issued arrest warrants for 57 witnesses. The same brave people who could catch the terrorist firing with an automatic weapon and hand him over to the police are refraining from identifying themselves to the terrorists for fear of their own lives and of their living dear ones. In the city where even their dead were not allowed to rest in peace with their graveyard being vandalised in December last year, their fear is not unfounded. The government needs to placate their fears and arrange for their effective protection.
It is ironic that the government of the PPP that can pass, in a matter of days, constitutional amendments that require a two-thirds majority in both houses, is unable to make the stakeholders table a witness protection bill in any of the provinces. In Sindh too, where Wali Khan Babar was killed, it has failed to table a bill for witness protection although it has the most comfortable of majorities and its own co-chairman, our president, is reported to have ordered such legislation. It is nothing short of criminal negligence that both the federal government and the opposition who rule in Punjab are letting people die and terror outfits prosper due to their inaction. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by terrorists, while Bashir Bilour also laid down his life fighting terror. If these great sacrifices could not move these politicians to carry out legislation that assists in bringing to justice the perpetrators of terror, one wonders what will.
We do not have to reinvent the wheel. A number of countries in the world have excellent witness protection programmes, which can be modified as per local needs in Pakistan. In the US, there is a programme at the federal level administered by the US Department of Justice, while some states have their own programmes as well .These can be looked into for guidance. With Balochistan under Governor’s rule, the JUI-F’s sympathy for the radicals will not be an issue and the National Assembly can legislate for it. All other provincial assemblies are functioning and the federal government should see to it that a uniform and effective programme is approved by all. Funding for such a programme needs to be provided by the federal government, as fighting terrorism is a national agenda. Despite the cost to the nation, what we all see lacking is a comprehensive anti-terrorism policy. Will we, for a change, see the government act responsibly at the end of its term?
The writer can be reached at [email protected]