HRW urges govt to stop using NAB to ‘intimidate, harass opponents’

NEW YORK: The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called on authorities to cease using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to “intimidate and harass opponents” and urged the government to follow up on the recent Supreme Court decision which criticised the anti-graft watchdog.

In a statement, the rights organisation said: “The court granted the men [Khawaja brothers] bail and criticised the NAB for showing ‘utter disregard to the law, fair play, equity and propriety,’ ruling that the ‘case was a classic example of trampling of fundamental rights [and] unlawful deprivation of freedom’.”

Referring to the judgment, Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said the apex court’s decision “is just the latest indictment of the NAB’s unlawful behaviour”.

Pakistan’s parliament should carry out urgent reforms to make the anti-corruption body independent, the statement said. “In its decision, the Supreme Court also expressed concern about the use of the NAB as an instrument to target government opponents,” it said. “The court cited a February report by the European Commission that criticized the NAB for bias, noting that ‘very few cases of the ruling party ministers and politicians have been pursued since the 2018 elections, which is considered to be a reflection of NAB’s partiality,’” it added.

The rights organisation quoted the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council who had welcomed the top court’s decision and criticized the NAB as “a tool for arm-twisting of political opponents.”

“In February, both bodies said they ‘strongly condemn’ the summons issued to an opposition leader, Bilawal Bhutto, calling it an ‘act of political victimisation’,” said the HRW. “In March, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court ruled that the NAB had made arbitrary use of its arrest powers,” it added.

The rights organisation pointed out that NAB was created by an ordinance during the Gen (retd) Musharraf era and that it gave the anti-graft body “unchecked powers of arrest, investigation, and prosecution”. It pointed out how, as per the ordinance, authorities may detain people arrested for up to 90 days without charge.

It quoted the Supreme Court’s comments on NAB’s arbitrary use of powers of arrest, noting that an arrest “has to be justified.… The power of arrest should not be deployed as a tool of oppression and harassment.”

The HRW mentioned the illegal arrest and detention of veteran journalist Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by NAB, who is in the anti-graft body’s custody since March.

“The National Accountability Bureau arrested Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, editor-in-chief of the Jang group, the largest media group in Pakistan, in Lahore on March 12 on charges relating to a 34-year-old property transaction. He has remained in the agency’s custody ever since,” said the organisation.

The international NGO spoke of former president Asif Ali Zardari, who had to appear in person after the anti-graft body denied his request to record a statement through a video link because of his ill-health and the prevalent Covid-19 situation in the country.

“Zardari previously spent 11 years in prison — more than half in NAB custody — without a conviction,” it said.

The HRW cited the example of Mian Javed Ahmed, a professor of the University of Sargodha, who died in NAB’s custody in December 2018. It quoted Dr Mujahid Kamran, the former vice-chancellor of the Punjab University, who was also arrested by NAB on allegations of illegal appointments at the university, saying that NAB’s detention centres were like torture cells.

In the concluding statement, Adams called on the government to either amend or repeal the NAB ordinance to ensure principles of fair trial, due process and transparency were not compromised.

“Pakistani authorities should uphold the government’s human rights obligations,” Adams said. “Pakistan’s parliament should amend or repeal the NAB ordinance to ensure that the principles of fair trial, due process, and transparency are not compromised on the pretext of accountability.”