ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday adopted the anti-terrorism amendment bill providing for detention of up to six months for those suspected to be threat to security or sovereignty of Pakistan while a protesting opposition rejected it, fearing the bid was designed to curtail fundamental liberties.
“If our laws are seen as instruments of repression, then they will breed hatred rather than peace. But if they are rooted in justice, transparency and respect for rights, they will command the full moral support of the people,” argued Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) Parliamentary Leader in the House Barrister Syed Ali Zafar while speaking against the bill.
The bill, already passed by the National Assembly, was not referred to the House standing committee for consideration and report and was taken up for immediate consideration after the House carried a motion to this effect amid voices of ‘no’ by the opposition.
The PTI and JUIF lawmakers also staged a walkout from the Senate after voting against the bill as a mark of protest against the legislation, whereas two JUIF senators -- Dilawar Khan and Ahmad Khan -- did not join the walkout, a move that was later appreciated by the law minister.
JUIF legislator Kamran Murtaza moved some amendments, which were rejected by a majority voice vote of the ruling coalition, and his suggestion for referral of the bill for advice from the Council of Islamic Ideology was also ignored.
As Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry sought to move the bill in the House, the PTI parliamentary leader was on his feet to insist that the amendment would empower the law enforcement agencies to detain anybody for three months, extendable to another three months without any cogent reasons, and without affording him/her an opportunity to seek a legal remedy.
He wondered if the amendment would strengthen Pakistan or weaken the constitutional rights which the lawmakers had sworn to protect. He also billed the anti-terrorism act as one of the most powerful and most controversial laws in the statute book.
Ali Zafar emphasized that the act had been enacted under extraordinary circumstances, to protect Pakistan from extraordinary threats but as lawmakers “we must always remember: every extraordinary power given to the state can both be used and misused”.
“There is no doubt that terrorism must be eradicated from the country and terrorists must be punished, but warned that urgency must not eclipse wisdom,” he contended.
Ali Zafar feared that after this amendment, the ATA would not only become a violation of fundamental constitutional rights — Articles 9, 10A, 15 and 19 — but also undermine the credibility of counter-terrorism framework. “Counter-terrorism cannot mean counter-democracy. The law must be targeted, comprehensive and just. If the proposed amendment is meant to counter terrorism, then it must contain safeguards,” he emphasised, seeking the bill’s referral to the standing committee concerned.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the amendments and said that the country was facing severe terrorism threats and the proposed amendments were necessary to strengthen anti-terrorism laws.
He contended that the bill had already passed judicial scrutiny and included a three-year sunset clause, besides many safeguards, insisting the armed forces would have the power to place somebody under preventive detention only in the areas where these have been called in aid of civil power under Article 245 of the Constitution, with the consent of the federal or provincial government concerned, as the case may be.
“According to Clause 2 of the amendment, detainees will have to be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest. Only those who pose a threat to security of Pakistan and sovereignty of the state and could possibly be used by inimical forces against Pakistan will be detained under the law for an inquiry and claimed that the law was not repugnant to the Constitution,” he contended.
PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said that her party added many safeguards to the law to make it more effective and she explained, “Our legislative committee noted that it is the same bill all parties passed via an APC after the Army Public School attack. It was in force for two years. This time round the PPP put in another sunset clause, an explanation for cause for detention, we see a right of appeal and review and a definition of who is a terrorist.”