When a supposed National Cyber Crime Agency (NCCIA) official witness, who could not even produce a valid NCCIA identification card, is cross-examined in this alleged cybercrime case and declares that using the term “enforced disappearance” in a tweet amounts to propagating a terrorist narrative, the farce underlying both the First Information Report (FIR) and the trial stands fully exposed.

The absurdity deepens when it is pointed out that the very same term has been used repeatedly by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, the Islamabad High Court, and other high courts; by politicians, including the current chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif; and that Pakistan itself has an official Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. Yet the witness insists that when others use the term, it does not constitute terrorist propaganda, but when the accused uses it in this particular trial, even in a similar legal and factual context, it suddenly does.

This contradiction lays bare not only the falsehood underpinning the prosecution but also its mala fide intent. It shows how, in today’s Pakistan, words are being weaponized – stripped of their legal meaning and context – to silence human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and all those who question or criticize the policies and actions of the state and its institutions.

Take the term “enforced disappearance.” The NCCIA would do well to educate itself. Enforced disappearance is not a political slogan; it is a well-established concept in international law and international relations, particularly since the aftermath of the Second World War.

The first documented instance of systematic enforced disappearances occurred during WWII, when Nazi Germany covertly abducted thousands of people from occupied territories under the infamous 1941 Nacht und Nebel Erlass – the Night and Fog Decree.

The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal addressed this policy directly. Its judgments relating to the Night and Fog decree constituted the first application of international law to enforced disappearances. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, who was responsible for implementing the decree, was tried and executed for his role. As legal scholars have noted, the Nuremberg judgments established that conduct underlying enforced disappearance was prohibited under the customary laws of war and constituted a war crime carrying individual criminal liability (Brian Finucane, “Enforced Disappearance as a Crime Under International Law: A Neglected Origin in the Laws of War,” Yale Journal of International Law, 2010). These judgments also underscored that enforced disappearance amounts to a crime against humanity, not merely a war crime.

Against this backdrop, how can the government of Pakistan justify filing a cybercrime case against an individual simply for using the term “enforced disappearance,” accusing them of furthering a terrorist narrative?

The argument that referencing enforced disappearances necessarily accuses the state, law enforcement agencies, or intelligence services is also legally untenable. International law has always defined enforced disappearance within these parameters.

“In today’s Pakistan, words are being weaponized – stripped of their legal meaning and context – to silence human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and all those who question or criticize the policies and actions of the state and its institutions.”

 

A clear distinction exists between kidnapping by non-state actors and enforced disappearance. Kidnapping is an unlawful seizure carried out by individuals and is addressed under ordinary criminal law. Enforced disappearance, by contrast, involves the arrest, detention, or abduction of a person by state agents, or by non-state actors acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the detention or concealment of the person’s fate or whereabouts.

This places the individual outside the protection of the law, making enforced disappearance not only a crime but a grave human rights violation.

This distinction is reflected consistently in United Nations’ resolutions and in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED). Pakistan’s position further undermines the NCCIA’s claims because the country did not oppose two key UN General Assembly resolutions on enforced disappearances: Resolution 33/173 in December 1978 and Resolution 47/133 in December 1992. Both were adopted unanimously.

The 1978 resolution expressed deep concern over reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances resulting from excesses by law enforcement or security authorities and called on states to hold perpetrators accountable and assist in locating the disappeared. It also urged UN bodies to take action to prevent such practices. The 1992 resolution adopted the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and paved the way for the ICPPED.

Although Pakistan is not a party to the Convention, its definitions reflect the consensus expressed in those earlier, unanimously adopted resolutions.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has itself relied on the same definition, including in the Mohabbat Shah case. Article 1(2) of the ICPPED states that no exceptional circumstances — whether war, political instability, or public emergency — may be invoked to justify enforced disappearance. Article 2 defines enforced disappearance as the deprivation of liberty by state agents or those acting with state acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the detention or concealment of the person’s fate.

Enforced disappearances are not unique to Pakistan. They have occurred across the world — from Latin America to Asia and Africa — particularly during the Cold War era. The Indian state, for instance, has been implicated in enforced disappearances in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 1989, as well as in Punjab and Manipur during the 1980s and 1990s.

In many Latin American countries, the end of military dictatorships and the restoration of democracy led to the cessation of enforced disappearances and, in some cases, accountability for past crimes.

In Pakistan, however, impunity continues to prevail, despite our international commitments against enforced disappearance.

Recently, Pakistan’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry held a prejudicial and inflammatory press conference and commented on the subject matter of Imaan and Hadi’s ongoing trial. It reveals the real origin of the case, making it clear that it is no longer possible for any court in Pakistan to adjudicate upon the matter in a fair and unbiased manner.

This trial is about whether Pakistan will uphold the rule of law, respect international legal norms, and protect the fundamental right to speak the truth.

Shireen Mazari

The writer is a defense and security analyst and served as Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022.

The post How My Daughter’s Trial Exposes Pakistan’s Assault on Human Rights appeared first on Dissent Today.

In 2022, Shireen Mazari, the then human rights minister, claimed that the bill had gone missing after being sent to the Senate following approval by the relevant standing committee and the National Assembly.

Subsequently, Mazari also made the claim that she was summoned to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters regarding the bill. She further mentioned that after the bill was presented in the National Assembly (NA), it was referred to the interior committee where unidentified individuals attempted to alter its clauses. She expressed disappointment that the bill went missing en route to the Senate.

The matter of the bill being “missing” came up in the Supreme Court on January 2 during a hearing on enforced disappearances. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa expressed his astonishment at the bill’s disappearance from the Senate. He noted that this incident took place when the PTI was in power, saying that a serious allegation had been made against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

In a statement released on Monday, the Senate Secretariat referred to the Supreme Court hearing on January 2 and acknowledged that a bill, originating from the National Assembly, appeared to have vanished during transmission to the Senate.

The statement denied the allegations that the Senate chairman hindered the federal minister’s attempt to have the bill passed. “Still, a false impression was created in the media that the bill actually went missing and Senate chairman or Senate Secretariat had a role in it,” it noted.

The issue of the criminalization of enforced disappearance was put on the backburner after the bill disappeared during the PTI government. Recently, caretaker Prime Minister Anwar Kakar attempted to justify the practice. He criticized those who are extending support to the ongoing Baloch sit-in in Islamabad against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

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But ask yourself whether this is why Imran Khan finds fault with the military. Obviously not! I cannot think of a single occasion where he has criticized the army’s business interests, land grabs, pursuance of enmities with our neighbors, or deplored the Taliban’s atrocities. Khan’s only gripe with the army is that after hoisting him into power it lost enthusiasm and turned “neutral”. Only animals are neutral, he famously said. We all know how earlier on he proudly would repeatedly declare that he and the army are – to quote his famous phrase – “on the same page”.

In a nutshell, Imran Khan will happily reconcile with the army as long as it will help return him to power. He hopes that they can be on the same page again. But that page is not one of democracy, more personal liberties, elimination of corruption, or economic equality through land reform. PTI’s protests are only about one thing – returning Khan to the throne which he believes rightly belongs to him. He has no manifesto for doing away with the systemic ills that have plagued Pakistan since its birth; in fact they are not even mentioned these days. Khan’s is a naked power grab. Democrats and progressives need to understand that.

Senior leaders leaving PTI – a case of coercion?

Meanwhile, senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari has announced she is quitting PTI and active politics after her release from jail. Many other leaders have left the party in the past few days. This is indeed a clear case of coercion. While Mazari and others have my sympathy – and I hope they do not get physically hurt – please note that these people didn’t stand for any principle and their stint in power was only to defend their boss and his policies. Never did they do anything to recover the thousands who went missing in Balochistan. Mazari has jumped parties countless times and was always very close to the army, but ultimately had to choose between that and her boss. Others like Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan have also been forced to jump off the bandwagon. Those who had enjoyed power – which is all that they wanted in any case – are unwilling to bet on Imran Khan anymore.

A superior force is getting its way. May 9 has become a rallying cry for the army. Imran Khan badly miscalculated the consequences of taking the army head-on in this way. His party will now be broken up and whittled down to a bunch of die-hards. Is this resurgence of the military good for Pakistan? No, not at all.

Still, in the larger scheme of things, it does not matter whether or not the army, PTI, and PDM negotiate it out. It’s the economic collapse which is more serious. And still more serious is the drift towards extremism of a large, religiously intoxicated population which, in the blink of an eye, can be whipped up into a frenzy and which lynches anyone accused of blasphemy. In all essential matters the army, PTI, and PDM are very much on the same page. What Pakistan needs to do is turn the page.

Failure of project Imran – any lessons learned?

The military establishment has learned no lessons from the failure of Project Imran. The army is too powerful, too entrenched, and too deeply imbued with the notion that it is the only savior of Pakistan. The retreat we are presently seeing is purely temporary, and the offence posture is coming back. Yes, Project Imran crashed and therefore last November we had outgoing General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s famous mea culpa where he confessed that for seven decades the army had “unconstitutionally interfered in politics”.

May 9 has become a rallying cry for the army. Imran Khan badly miscalculated the consequences of taking the army head-on in this way. His party will now be broken up and whittled down to a bunch of die-hards. But this resurgence of the military is not good for Pakistan.

Even with Project Imran’s failure, the army’s thinking is much as before: those “bloody civilians” will make a mess of things if given too much latitude and so the army sees itself remaining the final guardian of Pakistan’s national interest. Of course this “interest” is that which the army perceives. It does not coincide with that of the ordinary Pakistani. While many emerging countries have also suffered periods of military dictatorship – Indonesia and Argentina being examples – there was enough learning there, and military rule did not recur. Pakistan is different.

As things stand, the oligarchy that rules Pakistan is largely Punjabi and largely military with just a smattering of civilians. It sees no way to preserve its extraordinary privileges except through a large military which justifies its size by invoking Kashmir. Fortunately for them, Kashmir has no foreseeable resolution. The army wants to keep the country in a state of mind just short of war; and so Kashmir gives sanction to the military’s permanent dominance over every other institution. Civilian leadership is not allowed to challenge this basic, written-in-stone rule. Where and when needed, fanatical religious groups – Deobandi earlier and Barelvi later – are to be cultivated and used as per the need of the moment.

Even with Project Imran’s failure, the army’s thinking is much as before: those “bloody civilians” will make a mess of things if given too much latitude, and so the army sees itself remaining the final guardian of Pakistan’s “national interest”.

What triggered attacks on military installations?

A broader sense of frustration among the masses due to the economic crisis was surely part of the reason for the May 9 protests and ransacking of military installations. With a single naan costing 18+ Rs. and petrol hovering around 280 Rs. per liter, there would surely be anger at those at the top. But that’s not a good enough explanation for such extreme actions. There is also a strong sense of betrayal. Let’s remember that the vandalisation of the corps commander’s house happened in Lahore where every third street is named after some war hero. The PTI protesters were venting anger at the fact that the army had now turned against the greatest and most wonderful of their heroes, i.e. their party’s leader.

But this is still not the full explanation. Normally a sensible person does not go even near an army or ISI installation. One knows that their visible fortifications are supplemented with hidden surveillance cameras – and possibly snipers as well. So how did the rioters manage to pick up so much courage? Why was there no resistance? Could it be that there were people inside who had assured them of their cooperation? Many questions remain.

Drawing parallels with 1971

Imran Khan recently drew equivalence between the establishment’s treatment of PTI and atrocities committed against the people of East Pakistan in the lead up to the creation of Bangladesh. Following this, his supporters on social media have been pushing the narrative that PTI is being treated the way Awami League and its supporters were treated by the military in the 1970s. I wonder why it took Imran Khan 50 years to realize that East Pakistan had been wronged by West Pakistan. Never before had he made any such mention. Drawing parallels with 1971 couldn’t be more absurd. The Bengalis were not just against being ruled by the army but also by the entire political elite of West Pakistan. They were victims of ethnic prejudice by virtue of being shorter and darker. Their denigration started in 1948 with Mr. Jinnah seeking to impose Urdu upon Bengalis during his very first post-partition visit to Dacca. That went on with Bengalis becoming second-class citizens in their own land. Is Mr. Khan saying he and his supporters are being treated like Bengalis? There can’t be anything more absurd.

That Khan should attempt to equate the severity of the present repression with that of 1971 is even more nonsensical. Let’s remember that there were millions of Bengalis who fled to India, and that mass rape was used as a weapon of war. The infamous General Tikka Khan is on record of saying “hum in haramzadon ki nasl badl daengay” (We will alter the race of these bastards). And let’s not forget that the students of Dacca University were machine gunned while sleeping in their hostels. That’s not even remotely connected with the present.

Mobs as a form of political expression

There are basically only two ways by which any conflict can be handled. The first is by trying to outshout your opponent or, if that does not work, by using fists and then guns. The second is through exercise of reason, understanding your opponent’s position, and then seeking to either win him over or defeat him through the force of logic. Unfortunately the upbringing and education of Pakistanis is strongly anti-logic, so PTI and PDM are equally illogical. Our heroes are those who lived by the sword, not those who lived by the pen. Mohammed bin Qasim and Mahmood Ghazni are hugely admired but Al-Farabi and Ibn-e-Rushd are barely known. Imran Khan idolizes Ertugrul, remember?

That mobs have become an important form of political expression is proof of how faith overpowers reason within our culture. In the present case it is not religious craziness but, rather, it is faith in Imran Khan as the messiah who will deliver Pakistan from every evil.

Justice is the right of all humans, and PTI rioters should be tried as per rules of the criminal justice system. Trying civilians in a military court violates the basic principles of justice. Instead, they must be allowed to defend themselves in a fair, transparent trial with access to their legal counsels.

Pervez Hoodbhoy

The author is an Islamabad-based physicist and writer

The post Dismantling Of PTI And Lessons Unlearned appeared first on Dissent Today.

Several PTI leaders were arrested under MPO following the violent protests that erupted in the wake of former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. The MPO was promulgated by the martial law administration of General Ayub Khan in the 1960s to curb dissent and has been termed by human rights quarters as a draconian piece of legislation.

The former minister has been arrested thrice in the last few weeks and earlier the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also declared her arrest under MPO illegal and ordered her release from Adiala Jail. However, shortly after she was released from Adiala Jail, she was arrested by Punjab police.

Imaan Mazari had moved LHC Rawalpindi against rearrest of her mother. Mazari’s daughter had requested the court to declare that the move was illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of fundamental rights.

Hearing the arguments made by the former minister’s lawyers, the LHC ordered her immediate release, declaring her arrest under MPO “unlawful”.

Shireen Mazari’s daughter Imaan Mazari had also accused the Islamabad police of manhandling her.

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PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Senator Falak Naz were rearrested soon after they were released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) directives that had declared their arrest under MPO unlawful. However, the police rearrested the leaders.

According to Shireen Mazari’s daughter Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, she was unaware of the whereabouts of her mother after she was rearrested last night. She also filed a habeas corpus petition through her counsel in Islamabad High Court. She had also alleged that she was manhandled at a police station. She had also accused police of torturing the former minister.

Shireen Mazari was arrested along with several PTI leaders in connection with violent protests following the arrest of party chairman Imran Khan.

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Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir has also moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) against her mother’s arrest, claiming the former minister was at home when the protests erupted across the country against the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan.

Fearing that her mother’s life is in danger, Imaan Mazari also demanded that she be shifted to a hospital for a medical checkup.

Expressing concerns over the former minister’s poor health, she said her mother has prior health issues, including high blood pressure.

Dr @ShireenMazari1’s health is in a precarious state as she is detained at Adiala jail under MPO despite not attending any protests.

Her daughter @ImaanZHazir describes the ordeal, at the Islamabad High Court where she is filing a petition for her release. She must be released. pic.twitter.com/vthD24Ub9y

— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) May 15, 2023

She has also claimed that her mother was at home when the violent PTI protests erupted across the country.

After violent protests by PTI supporters against the arrest of their leader Imran Khan, several party leaders, including Shireen Mazari, were arrested by police for “inciting violence”.

Shireen Mazari was arrested in a late-night raid at her house on May 12.

PTI’s Pun­jab chapter president Dr Yasmin Rashid was also arrested the same day, however, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered her release.

Soon after LHC’s verdict, the Lahore police arrested Dr Yasmin Rashid again in cases registered at three different police stations. Due to her medical condition, she is being detained at Services Hospital.

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