Members of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) on Tuesday expressed anger for not being consulted over the release of Afghan Taliban prisoners.
They decided to seek briefings from the defence and foreign ministries as well as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director-general (DG) in this regard.
A PCNS session was held at the Parliament House which was chaired by Senator Raza Rabbani. The committee also issued 15 recommendations to bring the intelligence agencies role under the parliamentary scrutiny.
Pakistan released 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners in two phases during the past few months in a bid to boost the peace process with Afghanistan. Afghan peace negotiators have welcomed the move, saying that this underlines Pakistan’s support for talks with the Taliban.
A source in the PCNS informed Pakistan Today that the matter was raised by PCNS Chairman Raza Rabbani which was seconded by several other members.
“Finally, the PCNS decided to write letters addressed to the ministry of defence and foreign affairs to inform the PCNS why it had not been consulted over the process. Moreover, the DG ISI would also be asked through the letter to inform the committee which forum had taken the decision without taking the parliament into confidence regarding release of Taliban prisoners and talks with the Taliban,” source added.
Security sources, however, reject the PCNS reservations, saying that that the PCNS reservations were unnecessary as all stakeholders are taken onboard prior to taking such important decisions.
“The facilitation of Afghan peace process is under parliamentary guidelines. The parliament has already passed several resolutions in this regard,” said a security official, requesting not to be named.
Pakistan released 18 Taliban prisoners in the first phase followed by another eight. Among them the most important Taliban leader was Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, the former justice minister of Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Turabi is considered a hardliner in Taliban ranks. He also had prevailed upon Mullah Umar to get Bamiyan statues bombed.
Meanwhile, the PCNS also issued 15 recommendations on the cases pertaining to the missing persons in Pakistan to bring the intelligence agencies role under the parliamentary scrutiny.
According to the recommendations, a person’s arrest by any agency or department should be in accordance with Article 10 of the constitution while activities of intelligence agencies should be regulated.
The recommendations also read the chief justices (CJ) of the Supreme Court and high courts should form special benches in their respective courts to hear the cases of missing persons.
“Strict action in accordance with the constitution and law should be taken against the officers who detain people illegally,” the recommendations proposed.
The recommendations also proposed that the government should enter the names of those arrested in a computerised register within 24 hours of the arrest, adding that the arrested people should be informed about the sections used against them within 24 hours of their arrest.
It was also recommended that all training institutions of the army, intelligence agencies and police should be administered in accordance with law. “The government should announce immediate prison reforms and also take measures to provide knowledge of fundamental rights to its police trainees,” it added.
The recommendations also said that no action would be taken against officials who present the missing persons in court within the given time.
Talking to reporters after the session, Senator Raza Rabbani said 15 recommendations would be presented in the Senate and the National Assembly, adding that to recover the missing persons the government should implement the committee’s recommendations.
