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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>Slain, in the line of duty: A year on, Saleem Shahzad’s culprits remain at large</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386072/slain-in-the-line-of-duty-a-year-on-saleem-shahzad%e2%80%99s-culprits-remain-at-large</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386072/slain-in-the-line-of-duty-a-year-on-saleem-shahzad%e2%80%99s-culprits-remain-at-large#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 12 04:40:58 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Commission’s recommendations yet to be implemented.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A year after journalist Saleem Shahzad was assassinated, his killers are yet to be apprehended and recommendations of an inquiry commission formed to probe the incident implemented, said the victim’s family and human rights groups.


By not pointing out the culprits behind Shahzad’s murder, the commission’s findings have granted a ‘licence to kill’ to those who target journalists covering the war on terror in Pakistan, said Hamza Ameer, contributor to Asia Times Online and Shahzad’s brother-in-law.

The sentiment was echoed by Amnesty International (AI) which, in a press release on its website, said that “Pakistan must take urgent steps to bring his killers to justice and properly investigate claims of intimidation against journalists, including, by intelligence services.”

Incomplete inquiry

Shahzad was abducted from Islamabad on May 29, 2011 while heading to a television station. His body, bearing signs of torture, was found several kilometres outside Islamabad on May 31.

A commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was subsequently formed by the government and tasked to inquire into the background of the incident and identify the culprits involved. The commission was also asked to probe the constitutional implications of this situation, and recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

In its report published in January this year, however, the commission said it was unable to identify Shahzad’s killers. It speculated that any of a number of state, non-state or foreign actors, including al Qaeda or the Taliban, could have been responsible.

The inquiry also revealed a trail of missing evidence that could have helped identify the perpetrators, including Shahzad’s mobile phone log, the vehicle he had been abducted from, and footage from the security cameras across Islamabad.

Not a single witness to his abduction came forward, even though the route from Shahzad’s home to a TV station where he had been due to conduct an interview passed through several police checkpoints, AI said, quoting the inquiry report.

The inquiry had criticised police for failing to question the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) adequately about Shahzad even though the panel itself allowed the ISI representatives to submit prepared statements, and subjected them to limited questioning, AI added.

Reining in the agencies

Among other recommendations, the commission had suggested “that the more important agencies (Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau) be made more law-abiding through a statutory framework carefully outlining their respective mandates and role; that their interaction with the media be carefully, institutionally stream-lined and regularly documented; that all the agencies be made more accountable through effective and suitably-tailored mechanisms of internal administrative review (and) parliamentary oversight.”

Resigned to fate

The slain journalist’s widow, Anita Saleem, appeared resigned to the lack of justice.

“We didn’t have any expectations from the investigations, that is why we don’t have any response on the commission’s decision,” she said.

Ameer, talking to The Express Tribune, added that most of the commission’s recommendations, vis-à-vis the family, have not been implemented so far either.

The commission had recommended financial compensation to the family, free education for Shahzad’s three children – 15-year old Fahad, 13-year old Amna, and Rehman Shah, 10 – and a job for Shahzad’s wife.  So far, the government has only provided the financial compensation to the family, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Temper, temper</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/340793/temper-temper</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/340793/temper-temper#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 12 20:05:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.shafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=340793</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saleem Shahzad: Who gave ISPR the right to comment on the findings of a Commission headed by a serving SC judge.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[What else this week but about the ludicrous, loud, rude, and completely inappropriate statement of the seemingly out-of-control ISPR attempting to trash the press release of the respected Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the findings of the Saleem Shahzad Commission. And some other propaganda unleashed in the press by certain trolls.

Whilst the contents of the ISPR statement are laughable at best, e.g., “Unheard of court actions have been initiated by the apex court regarding ISI / intelligence agencies and the unprecedented obedience/compliance...” (which says it all doesn’t it, friends?), what is unforgivable is the naming of two of HRW’s staff, Brad Adams and our own Ali Dayan Hassan. This is like fingering the two in much the same way as the mafia does to those it considers its enemies.

The HRW is a well-thought of human rights watchdog that is represented worldwide, and which has done great work in exposing HR violations everywhere. Whether they have to do with the plight of Filipina maids and nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or excesses in the United States prison system including at the Guantanamo Bay prison, Human Rights Watch has always been in the forefront protesting the violations. It therefore ill behoves any government agency anywhere in the world to name the names of those who work for the organisation. It is wrong, it is amoral, it is sneaky.

In any case, who gave ISPR the right to comment on the criticism of the findings of a judicial Commission headed by a serving judge of none other than the Supreme Court of Pakistan? If the HRW statement was so unacceptable, it was up to the Commission to debunk it. How possibly can the ISPR, representative of those organisations alleged to have had a hand in the ghastly murder of Shahzad, come out in blatant support of the Commission’s findings considered by many to be faulty and not credible at all?

Indeed, what if someone agitates the superior judiciary against the findings of the Commission? Will the ISPR issue another statement against that? Will it become a party to the case, Athar Abbas becoming the defendant? Who knows what this all-powerful state within a state within a state will do next! May the heavens save us from its ire.

A little aside on the Report before we move on to the trolls. On pages 65 and 66 Brigadier Zahid of the ISI is quoted as saying about Saleem Shahzad: “Though I do not have any concrete evidence, but Saleem Shahzad in my presence stated that he was approached by Indian Intelligence Agency (RAW) and now he has to present a paper in UK on which he wanted the input of ISI. He also stated that he is in contact with the intelligence agency in UK. I do not remember the exact date of this meeting, but perhaps it was in the month of October, 2010.”

Now, what is this statement, if it is true that is, meant to convey? That Shahzad was a RAW friend/agent too? Most straight-thinking people would find Shahzad’s informing the ISI that he had been approached by RAW to speak at a conference in London, and could he have the ISI’s input on whatever he was supposed to speak on, an act of great patriotism. How does this make him an enemy of Pakistan please? Quite frankly, Saleem Shahzad should be decorated with a high civil award for this act alone.

And now to the most clumsy attempt by the trolls to defend the Army/ISI in a long piece published in an English daily known to be a leader of the Ghairat Brigades. As noticed frequently, both the tenor and the language of the trolls leave much to de desired. Indeed, the unnamed writer needs to be given six of the best as used to be administered by Colonel AWE Winlaw, MC, Principal of Cadet College, Hassan Abdal, for murdering the English language so brutally. Given here are just two excerpts:

“But despite subservience to the rule of law, questions are framed doubting its sincerity. One of the questions in fashions is that why Pakistan army intervenes and interrupts the civilian governance whereas the much asked question should have been why the political system and the stalwarts show incompetence, negligence and dishonesty? This is the high time that we should say goodbye to the idea that army is keen to disrupt the political system. At the same time we must admit that the army, judiciary, establishment and other patriotic forces have always supported the civilian government despite all sorts of labels on latter’s poor governance, corruption etc.

“In present day scenario, we especially need to appreciate Pakistan army and the ISI for preventing all kind of aggression by both our naked and cloaked enemies and safeguarding territorial integrity of our motherland. The significant role played by army and the ISI in bringing normalcy in relations with when called upon by a political authority or in any untoward and critical situation at national and international level is laudable, indeed.

Therefore, it is high time for us to act sombre and not fall prey to the enemies within. Our army and the intelligence agency are the backbones of our country.

“We are only going through a rough patch that is not going to last long, however, all we need is to stand united and display a responsible and mature attitude towards issues of national interest. Dragging the Pakistan army and ISI into courts for infamous events merely to settle personal vendettas is likely to bring embarrassment to the perpetrators and the country at the international level.

“The impact of injured image and bruised prestige of army and ISI will have its impact on entire nation also. Besides, mudslinging on the army and ISI may result into deepening jealousies and contemptuous environment. It is call of the hour to rise above and put a halt to the internal smoldering before it becomes a volcanic surge.”

I ask you!

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>We killed Saleem Shahzad</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/338412/we-killed-saleem-shahzad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/338412/we-killed-saleem-shahzad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Feb 12 18:40:56 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sana.saleem]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=338412</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[We killed Saleem Shahzad. If you read the report carefully, it lays the blame on us.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Since the judicial inquiry has been unable to identify people responsible, it is time we step forward. We killed Saleem Shahzad. If you read the report carefully, it lays the blame on us. It blames us for doubting the country’s intelligence agencies for the murder of a journalist, because of course, they can never be held in doubt, let alone be responsible, or worse be at fault.

Let me explain: the most consistent feature of the report is perhaps the way in which it attacks Ali Dayan Hasan, of Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Hameed Haroon for being responsible for ‘casting’ doubts on the country’s intelligence agency. Following the failure of the judicial commission in identifying culprits involved in Saleem Shahzad’s murder, the HRW released a report, demanding the government to take every step possible to identify the culprits and that the judicial commission appeared fearful of confronting the ISI.

The claims of the HRW aren’t unsubstantiated and it has documented these incidents. They can be substantiated by the stories of the missing people, the condition of the Adiala eleven detainees; there are innumerable instances to support these claims. Yet, instead of taking note of the concerns of human rights organisations, The ISPR did what it always does most effectively, demonise the critic, cast doubt on their integrity and — in this instance ­— resort to not-so-veiled threats. Its press release said: “With this press release, HRW appears to have seriously jeopardised the bipartisan and objective nature of its work. It will be in fitness of things to expect HRW to withdraw this biased statement...”

Not denying its right to refute claims alleging the ISI’s involvement, the harsh language and the demand of withdrawal reflects uneasiness and anger of being held accountable or criticised. The situation begs to ask a simple question: If a man leaves a note naming people responsible in case of his death, is abducted and killed in a pattern known to be signatory of the accused, and a judicial inquiry fails to name the culprit, what are human rights activists, people in general or the media supposed to deduce?

The fact that a culture of complete lack of accountability of certain institutions is perhaps responsible for the perception that there is more to it than meets the eye in the case of the murdered journalist. Now, if those who brought forward evidence of harassment are being held responsible, we must step forward and accept equal responsibility. We are at fault, for not demanding that the ISI focus on counter terrorism and intelligence, rather than chasing journalists and human right activists, and for always believing and helping propagate the fallacy that demanding accountability is akin to demonising our soldiers and overlooking their sacrifices, and for not questioning when we ought to be and for isolating those that do.

The light is at the end of the tunnel is a deception unless we own up to our mistakes and vow to mend them.

If the guns are being blazed at human rights activists and media heads for helping the judicial inquiry with the evidence they had, if their integrity is being put at stake, if they are being blamed for seeking justice, then the least we can do is support them, step up, lest they be isolated.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>A sharp riposte</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337883/a-sharp-riposte</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337883/a-sharp-riposte#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 12 20:01:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=337883</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Given the times that we live in, some will wonder if mentioning names is some kind of a threat.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The response of the ISPR to a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) — which suggested that the ISI hindered the investigation into the death of journalist Saleem Shahzad in May last year — is rather alarming in its tone and tenor. It called the HRW document “biased”, “derogatory” and comprised a “sinister media campaign”. Tensions between the US rights watchdog body — which has gained a reputation for its strong comments on Pakistan — and the intelligence apparatus, which has come under repeated criticism for its alleged involvement in Balochistan or its failures vis-a-vis the May 2 Abbottabad and PNS Mehran incidents, have been growing for some time. The HRW testimony before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs also raised some hackles in certain quarters and perhaps contributed to the ire evident in the ISPR’s press statement.

The ISPR insisted in its terse statement that the judicial commission did an exemplary job and received full support from the ISI. It should be noted that the HRW is not the first to question the contents of the document. Much of the mainstream English print media, including this newspaper, also criticised the findings of the commission and in particular, its inability to find out exactly who was behind Saleem Shehzad’s murder. What is also worrying is that the ISPR statement mentions names — something which is rarely done. Brad Adams, the Asia Director of HRW and Ali Dayan Hasan, its director for Pakistan, are both individually named. Given the times that we live in, some will wonder if this is some kind of a threat. We can only hope that threatening them was not the military’s intention. Over the past few years, too many journalists have died and too many killings have remained unsolved. One particularly brutal case was that of Hayatullah Khan in North Waziristan in 2006, which remains unsolved to this day. Unfortunately, it seems that the gruesome murder of Saleem Shehzad will remain unsolved as well. No wonder then Pakistan is branded as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>HRW report on ISI hindrance in Saleem Shahzad investigation biased: ISPR</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337388/hrw-report-on-isi-hindrance-in-saleem-shahzad-investigation-biased-ispr</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337388/hrw-report-on-isi-hindrance-in-saleem-shahzad-investigation-biased-ispr#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Feb 12 11:48:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=337388</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Statement issued by ISPR says Human Rights Watch report saying ISI marred investigation process is biased.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) hit back hard on Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday for its news release claiming that the intelligence agency hindered the investigation process of journalist Saleem Shahzad murder.

In a strong-worded statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR), its spokesperson said that the HRW report titled “Shahzad commission results marred by free ride for ISI” published on January 30 this year was “found to be extremely derogatory, biased and contradictory in terms”.

The ISPR statement held Brad Adams, HRW Asia Director, to be having his “head buried deep in sand” and alleged that his “thought process and ability to logically analyze a given situation suffers from serious bias”.

The ISPR also applauded the Supreme Court and the chief justice of Pakistan for their services and claimed that the HRW report has not only “demonized” the intelligence agency, but was also “out of character of the Honourable Court”.

It added that the ISI, as well as the other intelligence agencies, have provided the judicial commission probing the case with “unprecedented obedience/compliance”.

In the statement, the ISI categorically denied the allegations and the spokesperson said the HRW report was “a well orchestrated and sinister media campaign, in which, HRW and the likes of Brad Adams and Ali Dayan Hassan may have been unwittingly drawn into”.

“It raises serious questions on the partisan nature of HRW and Brad Adam’s objectivity.”]]>
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			<title>ISI beyond reach of justice system: HRW</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329671/isi-beyond-reach-of-justice-system-hrw</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329671/isi-beyond-reach-of-justice-system-hrw#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 12 04:54:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=329671</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Spy agency’s role must be monitored independently, say journalists.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After the completion of the judicial inquiry into journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern over the commission’s inability to name the culprits taking specific notice of Pakistan’s top spy agency’s role in such incidents.


A news release by the Human Rights Watch on Monday claimed that it had extensively documented the Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) alleged intimidation, torture, enforced disappearances, and killings of many journalists, and feared that the commission’s failure in naming a culprit hinted back to ISI’s “stronghold over the country’s judicial system.”

HRW Asia Director Brad Adams, in the release, said: “The commission’s failure to get to the bottom of the Shahzad killing illustrates the ability of the ISI to remain beyond the reach of Pakistan’s criminal justice system… The government still has the responsibility to identify those responsible for Shahzad’s death and hold them accountable, no matter where the evidence leads.”

Adams added that Shahzad had made it clear to the HRW that should he be killed, the ISI should be considered the principal suspect. “He had not indicated he was afraid of being killed by militant groups or anybody else.”

The HRW release said that the power of the ISI over the commission was visible from the fact that journalist Umar Cheema was not called to record his statements in the case. Cheema was also abducted, tortured and then dumped 120 km from his residence in Islamabad in September 2010. Cheema had alleged that his abductors were from Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

It is inexplicable that the commission failed to seek Cheema’s testimony despite his very public allegations against the ISI and repeated offers to testify before the commission, HRW said.

“ISI abuses will only stop if it is subjected to the rule of law, civilian oversight, and public accountability,” Adams said. “It is the government’s duty to insist on such accountability and the military’s duty to submit to it. The ISI needs to stop acting as a state within a state.”

Review meeting of the commission

Representatives of the journalist community expressed concerns over the findings of the judicial inquiry report into Shahzad’s murder and suggested a ‘parliamentary oversight’ referring to the role of the country’s secret agencies.

Members of the Media Commission of Pakistan (MCP) and South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) floated the idea while reviewing the judicial inquiry report.

The participants stressed that parliamentarians and media organisations should play an active role to highlight this issue. They were of the view that ISI’s role must be monitored by a minister or an ombudsman.

SAFMA President Imtiaz Alam said: “It is unfortunate that no tangible steps have been taken to arrest the hands behind the murder of Shahzad.”

He reiterated the view that the commission had not completely investigated the policies and practices of the ISI and now parliamentarians must introduce a bill to monitor the role of the spy agencies.

Shahzad was abducted while driving from his house in Islamabad on May 29 last year, two days after he alleged in an article that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy.

A judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar, presented its report to the prime minister after six months of its formation but did not hold anyone responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Did no one kill Saleem Shahzad then?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329342/did-no-one-kill-saleem-shahzad-then</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329342/did-no-one-kill-saleem-shahzad-then#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 12 17:58:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[farrukh.khan.pitafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=329342</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Commission's inquiry report manages to raise more questions than answering the existing ones.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[James Jesus Angleton, former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) counter-intelligence staff was credited with coining the term ‘wilderness of mirrors’, for the world of espionage. Paranoid as he often was, he also strongly believed that the Soviet spy agency, KGB was capable of influencing CIA’s perceptions without leaving behind a trace. Upon reading the report presented by the Saleem Shahzad Murder Inquiry Commission, one feels lost in the very wilderness. However, in our wilderness, traces of manipulation are visible.

Instead of an impartial inquiry, one might have expected the report presents the image of a witch-hunt and indulges in voodoo magic to preserve the soul of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency. The Commission was primarily tasked to identify the perpetrators of the crime and shed light on circumstances leading to it. It ostensibly fails to deliver on both counts as it manages to raise more questions than answering the existing ones.

The singular most striking aspect that becomes evident from even a casual reading of the report is the Commission’s cynicism towards journalists and the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which was remarkably in contrast with its gullible attitude towards the intelligence community and its visible lackeys, pretending to be journalists. While it seemed that the inquiry was expecting the journalist community to present nothing short of a smoking gun, two of the three major intelligence agencies were let go upon producing written statements.

Even in the ISI’s case, only Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir was cross-examined at length, and that, too, to the effect that a case is built almost in his favour. And while Mr Ali Dayan of HRW was subjected to rather gratuitous questions about his organisation and work, redoubtable testimonies of self-proclaimed journalists like like Zafar Mehmood, Sheikh Qamarul Munir alias Qamar Yousafzai and Muhammad Raashed were accepted at face value without going into details of their professional competence. This apparently is because the testimony of these gentlemen supported the ISI’s narrative apart from casting aspersions on Shahzad’s person.

Shahzad’s book, Inside al Qaeda and Taliban (Pluto  Press, 2011), has raised serious concerns on the failure of counter-intelligence. When he claimed that Ilyas Kashmiri had influenced some serving and retired officials in the armed forces, did it not become essential to probe whether such al Qaeda moles could have killed him to maintain their cover.

Another glaring omission in the structure and functioning of the Commission was the absence of a dedicated forensic expert and an investigator. In the absence of either, the Commission could expect to be stalled and that is precisely why it had to crack open Shahzad’s email account on its own. Quite astoundingly, it does not make much of the fact that the authorities did not provide much cooperation.

Also, it makes one wonder that the Commission quite clearly did not consider, even remotely, the possibility that the victim’s family might have contradicted Ali Dayan’s version under duress or because of it may have received actual threats. People who recovered the body or had something to do with the discovery were either not probed in detail, or else the account was not worthy of a mention in the report.

The fact remains that Pakistan has a long history of such crimes. Please remember the names of Daniel Pearl, Wali Babar, Moosa Khan Khel, Hayatullah Khan, Umar Cheema and Faraz Hashmi. No conspiracy theory about the seemingly ubiquitous ‘foreign hand’ can hide this fact.

In the end, the Commission does at least one generous thing — that of recommending the release of the three million rupees pledged to the family of the victim. But it should have gone a bit further and recommended that the family of the victim should be shifted abroad as this state and its justice system cannot ensure security for the life and property of journalists.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad: ISI beyond reach of criminal justice system, says HRW</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329272/saleem-shahzad-isi-beyond-reach-of-criminal-justice-system-says-hrw</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/329272/saleem-shahzad-isi-beyond-reach-of-criminal-justice-system-says-hrw#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 12 08:50:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=329272</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Human Rights Watch says government still has the responsibility to identify those responsible for Shahzad’s death.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[After the completion of the judicial inquiry into journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern over the commission's inability to name the culprits and called for the Government of Pakistan to “redouble efforts” in the case.

A news release by the Human Rights Watch on Monday claimed that it had extensively documented the Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) alleged intimidation, torture, enforced disappearances, and killings of many journalists, and fears that the commission’s failure in naming a culprit hints back to the ISI’s "stronghold over the country’s judicial system."

HRW Asia Director Brad Adams, in the release, says: “The commission’s failure to get to the bottom of the Shahzad killing illustrates the ability of the ISI to remain beyond the reach of Pakistan’s criminal justice system… The government still has the responsibility to identify those responsible for Shahzad’s death and hold them accountable, no matter where the evidence leads.”

Adams added that Shahzad had made it clear to the HRW that should he be killed, the ISI should be considered the principal suspect. “He had not indicated he was afraid of being killed by militant groups or anybody else.”

The HRW release said that the power of ISI over the commission was visible from the fact that journalist Umar Cheema was not called to record his statements in the case. Cheema was also abducted, tortured and then dumped 120 kilometers from his residence in Islamabad in September 2010. Cheema had alleged that his abductors were from Pakistan's intelligence agencies.

It is inexplicable that the commission failed to seek Cheema’s testimony despite his very public allegations against the ISI and repeated offers to testify before the commission, Human Rights Watch said.

“ISI abuses will only stop if it is subject to the rule of law, civilian oversight, and public accountability,” Adams said. “It is the government’s duty to insist on such accountability and the military’s duty to submit to it. The ISI needs to stop acting as a state within a state.”

Shahzad was abducted while driving from his house to a television station in Islamabad on May 29 last year, two days after he alleged in an article that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy. His body, bearing marks of torture, was found the next day in a canal near Mandi Bahauddin, a district of Punjab province.

Rights groups and journalists’ bodies had alleged that he was killed by the ISI.

The high-level judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar, presented its report to the prime minister after six months of its formation but did not hold anyone responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist.

Shahzad’s family had termed the report “disappointing”.]]>
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			<title>Shahzad family disappointed by commission report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321777/shahzad-family-disappointed-by-commission-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321777/shahzad-family-disappointed-by-commission-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 12 05:55:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=321777</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Shahzad’s brother-in-law says report merely makes ‘observations’ that already existed.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[For Saleem Shahzad’s family, the judicial inquiry report into his murder was disappointing, to the say the least.


Hamza Ameer, the brother-in-law of the slain journalist, while talking to The Express Tribune, expressed serious concern over the report, saying that a majority of questions remain addressed and after a lapse of more than six months, the report did not reveal any clue into to the identity of the culprits.

Ameer further said that the commission put more emphasis on the welfare and the protection of journalists, making the actual matter of Shahzad’s murder ‘secondary’.

He regretted that the role of the federal and provincial governments as well as national and international human rights and journalist bodies, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ), “was not satisfactory in redressing our grievances.”

“We demand that the federal government declare our brother-in-law as a martyr because he died in the line of duty and he has been recognised all over the world,” Ameer said.

Secondly, he added, the government should take immediate steps in providing compensation to Shahzad’s family who, he said, are leading a miserable life.

The high-level judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Saqib Nisar, was formed to probe the killing in June of last year.

The report, which was presented to the prime minister, has not held anyone responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist.

“The Commission looked very hard for the kind of substantial evidence/tangible material - direct or circumstantial - which would allow it to single out the culprits from the various suspected quarters. Yet such evidence has not surfaced,” the report stated. It went on to state, however, that, “Nonetheless, the Commission urges the government to provide substantial compensation and support to the family of the deceased.”

Anita Saleem, Shahzad’s widow, told The Express Tribune that her husband could not be brought back, but at least they could now provide their children with proper education and living conditions.

Shahzad left behind three children – Fahad, 15, Amna, 11, and Rehman Shah, 8.

Saleem left Islamabad immediately after Shahzad's death and is currently is living in her house in Karachi.

Unanswered questions

Ameer said that four months into Shahzad’s murder, a laptop which was in his (Shahzad’s) possession at the time of incident, was ‘suddenly’ recovered but he was not told how or from whom it had been recovered.

He added that the commission only managed to recover emails from the laptop and questioned the unavailability of other data.

Ameer further stated that the report only made observations that already existed and said there was nothing new that surfaced in the probe.

He said he had already raised suspicions on militant, state and non state actors and even an intelligence agency because of Shahzad’s personal accounts.

SAFMA expresses dismay

The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and Media Commission-Pakistan (MC-P) have also expressed dismay over the failure of the judicial panel to reach a conclusion into the journalist’s murder.

“The commission was supposed to submit its report within six weeks of its formation. However, six months down the line, its findings have shown little, confirming the fears expressed by civil society and media rights organisations,” said SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam in a statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>A whitewash</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321510/a-whitewash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321510/a-whitewash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 12 18:31:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=321510</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It is now up to the prime minister, and the journalist community as a whole, to shun this farce of a report.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Now that the commission tasked to find out who was responsible for killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad has released its detailed final report we can see just how negligent it really was in doing its job. The report is one that the intelligence agencies of the country can be proud of, since it all but exonerates but without providing any convincing reasons for why it has done so. And those reading the report may end up being convinced that Mr Shahzad was killed not by bullets but by the rotten profession of journalism. Among the many travesties in the report is its claim that Mr Shahzad’s killing shows that journalism needs to be reformed and regulated so that inaccurate stories do not end up being published. This is absurd. Whatever problems one may have with the state of journalism in this country, he was killed because he was getting too close to the truth and so was silenced.

We had been promise a commission that was independent but ended up with one that saw its mission as whitewashing the whole affair. What makes this even more galling is that one of the members of the commission was the president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, who should have refused to sign off on a report that blasted journalists for reporting secrets and at every turn seemed to want to find reasons why Shahzad could have been killed by someone other than the country’s security and intelligence establishment.

The testimony provided by Mr Shahzad’s family to the commission is also very disturbing. His wife and brother seem to also be deflecting the blame away from the agencies, despite the fact that Mr Shahzad himself felt his life was being threatened by them. On the face of it, this would suggest that his family was being pressurised by the powers-that-be, something that would have been ripe for investigation by the commission had they any access to the agencies beyond a written statement and a perfunctory appearance by a low-level official. It is now up to the prime minister, and the journalist community as a whole, to shun this farce of a report. Saleem Shahzad deserves a real investigation, not this sham which seems to have ended up, as a headline in this newspaper pointed out, doing everything but pointing to those responsible for his death.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>A dead journalist’s story</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321516/a-dead-journalist%e2%80%99s-story</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321516/a-dead-journalist%e2%80%99s-story#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 12 17:22:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Atika.rehman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=321516</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saleem Shahzad filed a story by way of this report. There is no justice for those killed by a powerful murderer.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[I once attended a workshop organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross where the discussion was about reporting in conflict zones. The event held at the Karachi press club attracted an eclectic group of journalists who shared anecdotes and voiced concerns. One conclusion was drawn at the end of it all: dead journalists don’t file stories. That’s a fact, I had thought at the time. Such a simple statement but it contains a serious warning; don’t get yourself killed in the process of getting a scoop; you may not live to see more bylines in print.

Today, when I read the report published by the judicial commission probing the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad, the meaning of that ‘conclusion’ changed. Allow me to explain.

The report contains statements from those seeking justice, friends, colleagues and well-wishers. An example is the statement of Ali Dayan of Human Rights Watch, in which he said: “I have reasons to believe that Saleem Shahzad was abducted by the ISI. My judgment is based upon my extensive experience of documenting other such incidents committed by the ISI and other security agencies in Pakistan”. Dayan further says that, after Shahzad’s disappearance, credible sources claimed that Shahzad was in the custody of intelligence agencies and would be released and that the slain journalist himself had claimed to have received threats by the ISI.

Another individual who gave a statement to the commission was Matiullah Jan, Deputy Bureau Chief, Dawn News, who said that Shahzad was killed by the ISI. He states: “The way some of the ISI officials approached me and my superiors in Dawn Office, it is a matter of record especially when they asked about the family members and my children and I construe it to be a threat because asking for this kind of information is, in fact, tantamount to intimidation and harassment”.

Apart from this, the report also contains statements from the ISI officers. They defended themselves and their organisation in their statements, claiming that imposters could have threatened Shahzad and even managed to defame him in the process, by mentioning that he proclaimed to have been approached by RAW agents.

This is all relevant, because even in death, Shahzad’s story, this commission report, gives its readers food for thought: even after all the statements, cell phone records, e-mails and a corpse that bore torture signs, no one has been named or pointed to as the killer.

And like every news story, this one’s objectivity can also be questioned. Why did the commission not question the officials in the Obama administration who told The New York Times that they had “classified intelligence” that showed that “senior officials of the spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, directed the attack on him”?

Why is the report’s language framed to make excuses for the ISI? With its rhetoric of “probably” and “could have” when referring to the possibility of Shahzad’s writings offending militants, the commission’s language is in keeping with the ISI’s alibis. It really makes one wonder how easy it is to blame anything on militants; and why these militants would be silent about his death? Since when have they been afraid to claim acts of morbidity?

This dead journalist filed a story by way of this report. It presented two sides of a story, and left you to formulate a conclusion: that there is no justice for those killed by a powerful murderer.

Can our justice system change that reality?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>It’s not breaking news: Impunity goes on</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321352/it%e2%80%99s-not-breaking-news-impunity-goes-on</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321352/it%e2%80%99s-not-breaking-news-impunity-goes-on#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 12 05:22:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[adnan.rehmat]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=321352</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Is it surprising that the most high-profile inquiry ever formed to probe the murder of a journalist drawn a blank?]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Murder is an extreme form of censorship. That journalists in Pakistan are killed at the rate of seven a year, or staggeringly one every 50 days (since January 2000), is hard to accept. That not a single killer has been unmasked, save that of Daniel Pearl, borders on the incredible.


So is it surprising that the most high-profile inquiry ever formed to probe the murder of a journalist has also drawn a blank? The surprise would have been had the Saleem Shahzad judicial commission, headed by a serving judge of the Supreme Court, actually found the security agencies having a hand in the matter.

But the next best thing has happened. The commission has drawn attention to the worst kept secret in the journalist community: Intelligence agencies are key actors in influencing opinion. Harassing hacks to death if need be. The commission’s report says that both state and non-state actors could have had a motive to kill Shahzad, if his foul murder is seen in the context of the ‘war on terror’ – a subject that was all that the late journalist reported about for the past several years.

Furthermore, the commission – and this is the real surprise in the report – calls for greater control and accountability of spy agencies like the ISI and IB, both from within and externally. This is an emphasis that would be astounding even if this were not a probe into the murder of a journalist. But when it is, it only brings to the fore the deep link between the security apparatus and the violence generated by its interface with terrorism and the journalists who are forever caught in-between, in their unhappy responsibility of staying neutral and thereby making one of the armed parties unhappy with them.

The rise of terrorism in Pakistan and its ugly spread over the past decade has coincided with the expansion of the media and an influx of unqualified, untrained journalists (from 2,000 in 2002 to 17,000 now) who had to report terrorism in a culture of secrecy. There were bound to be casualties – reporting conflict even in the best of circumstances is a sensitive, specialized discipline for the experienced, leave alone those being baptized in the profession – and there were: of the 76 killed, 34 were target-shootings, 7 were kidnapped-and-killed, two were beheaded and 13 blown up in suicide bombings.

A high percentage of the 76 journalists have been killed in Pakistan for reporting conflict and naming names. But what has really killed them is what has only been indirectly hinted by the commission report: exercising the fundamental right to freedom of expression (Article 19 of the Constitution) and right/access to information (Article 19A). Because the Pakistani state keeps secrets, its journalists endanger themselves by taking risks in unfriendly environments.

And because there are virtually no opportunities for specialized trainings and no real interest by most media groups to build capacities of their journalists, the risks also remain high because of inattention to ethical and professional journalism. The commission therefore is right in pointing out the need for the press also to be transparent – read professional. Indeed, half the safety lies in ethics.

While it would seem like stating the obvious when the commission report says “it is in the nation’s best interest for the public to know the truth.” This is indeed the bedrock principle of journalism. However, it is disappointing that the commission did not call for mandatory investigation by the state, as a priority, into the killing of the 75 journalists whose cases remain unresolved, and to identify and prosecute their killers. Without bringing their killers to justice, impunity will prevail and a free license will remain available to kill more journalists in Pakistan –four more journalists have been killed since Saleem Shahzad.

Lastly, the media industry – associations of media owners, managers, editors and practitioners – must evolve a basic “charter of safety” that entails prioritizing safety and security of journalists in their constitutions and institution of basic minimum safety protocols within media houses. That’s what will keep journalists safe, not commissions. And as long as lives remain worthier than news, no journalist need die.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad commission: Failure to point out murders was ‘expected’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321354/failure-to-point-out-murders-was-%e2%80%98expected%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321354/failure-to-point-out-murders-was-%e2%80%98expected%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 12 04:54:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=321354</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Experts say unmasking murderers is the police’s job.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[That the judicial commission’s report on Saleem Shahzad’s murder is inconclusive should not be surprising, experts say. Its shortcoming lies in its very foundation – the formation of a ‘judicial panel’ to investigate a murder.


The judicial commission’s failure to point out the murderers of journalist Saleem Shahzad was expected, said Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Asia Programme Bob Dietz.

“I know a lot of journalists had pressed for the judicial panel, but the report now clearly shows that it hasn’t been able to serve its purpose of pointing out the murderers,” Dietz said while speaking to The Express Tribune via phone.

The judicial panel shouldn’t have been tasked with uncovering the murderers of Saleem, simply because this required expertise that they didn’t possess to begin with, Dietz said.

“This is basically the job of the police who are trained to investigate murder cases. In fact it is only because of the inability of the police and the government to uncover the truth that the panel was entrusted with this job,” he said.

Dietz suggested the case should have been investigated by a panel similar to the one that had been formed in the aftermath of Daniel Pearl’s murder in Karachi. “In Daniel’s case, real police work was done by experts in their fields. This led to the arrest of several suspects and eventually some of them were sentenced and sent to jails.”

When asked what was the way forward if the police investigators were vary of probing into a case that allegedly involved senior intelligence agency officials, Dietz proposed that then the media itself would have to do the job of exposing the murderers.

Senior Analyst Mazhar Abbas said he found the report “interesting” and recommended all journalists to go through it “from an academic point of view.”

Abbas pointed out a number of missing links in the commission’s report. For example, he says, the IGP Islamabad’s testimony has not been included in the report to clarify the important point about how Saleem’s vehicle was able to move out of Islamabad all the way to Jhelum without anyone in the police taking notice: “When Saleem was reported kidnapped, did the police pass on a message on their wireless control system about the disappearance?”

Also, he said, that while the commission leaves the door open about the motive and people involved in the incident, it is clear that normally militant groups claim responsibility for their attacks.

“If even for the sake of argument we assume that the Ilyas Kashmiri group was behind the murder [as stated as one of possibilities in the report], then what was stopping them from claiming the attack on Saleem,” he asked.

Pulitzer prize winning author Dexter Filkins, who had written an article in The New Yorker about Shahzad’s death titled “The Journalist and the Spies”, stood by the revelations he had made in his article.

In his piece, Filkins not only connected the dots between Shehzad’s death and militant commander Ilyas Kashmiri’s killing in a drone attack, but also spoke of senior American officials, who alleged that the orders to kill Shahzad came directly from the top army brass.

When asked to comment on the commission’s report, Dexter said in an email: “I’m going to let my article speak for itself.”

ISI’s Brigadier Zahid Mehmood Khan, in his written testimony to the commission mentioned in the report, had lambasted Filkins for his piece.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad murder: Commission report points out everything, but the murderers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320957/saleem-shahzad-commission-report-released</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320957/saleem-shahzad-commission-report-released#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 12 09:29:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Salman Siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=320957</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ISI defends itself at length, frames Shahzad as possible US, Indian agent.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The judicial inquiry report into journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder deals with everything, save pointing out who did it.

The 146-page report gives page after page of recommendations and proposals on how to fix the “systemic causes of tension between agencies and the media.” It even suggests “practical steps” about making the press and agencies law-abiding and calls for a human rights ombudsman. However, despite six months of painstaking work that included 23 formal meetings and examinations of no less than 41 witnesses, apart from access to Shahzad’s 33,000 emails, even the motive behind the murder could not be conclusively drawn.

The commission comprised two judges, Supreme Court Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, who also chaired the Commission and Chief Justice Federal Shariat Court Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan; two senior police officers – Inspector General Police Punjab Javed Iqbal and Inspector General  Islamabad Police Bani Amin Khan; and one journalist, President Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Pervaiz Shaukat.

Yet, about the possible reasons behind the brutal killing of the journalist, all they could come up with was the conclusion that “in all likelihood, the motive behind the incident was provided by the writings of Saleem. What is not so clear is the question of who had that motive and actually acted upon it.”

In fact, deep in the report, the commission says that Hamza Ameer, the brother-in-law and complainant in the case, and Anita Saleem, Shahzad’s widow, “were the two most important persons who should have indicated the motive.”

A beeline of journalists and prominent personalities had met members of the commission, including the Dawn CEO Hameed Haroon, Ali Dayan of Human Rights Watch, Najam Sethi, Nusrat Javed, Hamid Mir, Absar Alam, Umar Cheema, Matiullah Jan, Zahid Hussain, Jugnoo Moshin, Nasim Zehra, Imtiaz Alam and Qamarul Munir Yousafzai.  At least 13 of them either filed their statements in writing or appeared before the Commission to make statements.

Many of them gave testimonies to the effect that intelligence agencies, especially the ISI personnel harass and sometimes even threaten journalists. Even though the commission took note of the alleged culture of threats, it also could not ignore the possibility that theoretically an imposter posing as agency man could have also issued the threats.

However, when it came to pointing out the same lack of authenticity in the alleged recording of a wiretapped conversation between two al Qaeda operatives, in which they supposedly expressed satisfaction over Saleem’s death, the report keeps mum.

Interestingly, the two intelligence agencies, the Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau were not questioned further after they had written to the commission that they had no nexus with the incident.

The ISI, which the report says “bore the brunt of blame right from the day one,” was made to answer the concerns. Brigadier Zahid Mehmood Khan, Sector Headquarter Central Islamabad, contested all allegations.

ISI’s alibi

Brigadier Khan gave a written statement that had “Saleem been threatened or coerced, he would have broken all contacts and refused to interact anymore with the ISI, something he did not do.”

In fact, the official said, Shahzad had himself asked to have a cup of tea, and other rendezvous, with the same officials that, he alleged, had threatened him in the past.  ISI says the last telephonic interaction with Shahzad took place on May 2011, soon after the US operation in Abbottabad in which he was told their DG had been wrongly quoted as saying they were hands-in-glove in the OBL raid.

It even put on the record a telephonic conversation of renowned television personaility Hamid Mir with ISI in which “he condemns Saleem Shahzad being a dubious case, [and] laments Americans for their extraordinary interest in this case.”

In their testimonies before the commission, the ISI build the case that Shahzad was in fact killed by al Qaeda, specifically the Ilyas Kashmiri group since he was increasingly revealing their strategies and assets in his articles.

“The individual named Nawaz Khan, an important militant of the Ilyas Kashmiri (al Qaeda) network, is detained in Adiala Jail on the charges of abduction for fund generation for terrorists and murder. He was in contact with Saleem,” the ISI statement said. “After Saleem’s abduction and murder, while discussing the matter with a front man of the Ilyas Kashmiri group, Nawaz expressed praise for Saleem, but Ilyas Kashmiri’s front man cursed Saleem for the damage that he had done to their network and remarked that a bad man had only met his fate. This, according to the statement of Brigadier Zahid Mehmood Khan of ISI, speaks volumes of the Ilyas Kashmiri group’s enmity with Saleem and provides evidence for al Qaeda’s possible involvement,” the report added.

The brigadier further said “if he was a man of intellectual integrity, and his writings were based on acquired intelligence through his contacts, then obviously he could be considered a great threat to al Qaeda when he dared and promised to expose strategic assets of the terrorist organisation in his article on Mehran Base attack”.

Defaming Shahzad

In an effort to defame the journalist as a possible American spy agent, the ISI statement to the commission said “Why in this case [after Saleem’s murder] from President Obama to every man worth a name in the US felt disturbed. Was he a pawn who could be used at appropriate time to further use the US objectives and create a wedge between establishment and other segments of society?”

Brigadier Zahid also termed Saleem’s article about Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Baradar’s mysterious release, as fake and frivolous.

He categorically denied that the book and writings of Saleem in any way has caused any grievance to the establishment or agencies, and in this context deposed: “I do not think that most of the articles written by Saleem Shahzad were against the national interest, rather those exposed al Qaeda and Taliban; qua their way of working and even their entering into Armed Forces and the Navy. This is particularly so envisaged by his article on ‘Mehran Base.’”

Also no defamation of a journalist can be complete unless he is terms as a possible Indian agent.

“Though I do not have any concrete evidence, but Saleem Shahzad in my presence stated that he was approached by Indian Intelligence Agency (RAW) and now he has to present a paper in UK on which he wanted the input of ISI. He also stated that he is in contact with the intelligence agency in UK. I do not remember the exact date of this meeting, but perhaps it was in the month of October, 2010,” the ISI official said.

Denying threats

Also, when ISI’s Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir was asked whether he had in fact threatened Saleem, which the slain journalist had also mentioned in his email to him, Hameed Haroon and Ali Dayan, he said: “it is correct that the above quotation is a part of this e-mail. I did not respond to this e-mail. Though I found that the quotation portion of the e-mail was wrong and false, but I did not find it expedient to respond”.

ISI’s Commodore Khalid Pervaiz said Shahzad’s article in which he said that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were from PNS Iqbal, which is a naval base, and the boats were also provided by PNS team was totally incorrect, frivolous and baseless. Commodore Pervaiz, who later took charge of PNS Mehran, Karachi that was attacked in 2011, said that he came to know about Shahzad’s explosive article about the issue much later. He said he was very busy in connection with the Mehran Base incident and had no chance or occasion to even read that article. On a further question, he said: “I cannot say whether it was [a] false or [a] correct story because I had never read it … I cannot say if the story is in the national interest or otherwise because I have not read it even so far”. He categorically refuted having threatened Saleem as being imputed by Mr Hameed Haroon or mentioned in the e-mail sent by Saleem to Tony.

In the end, the commission’s report cites lack of ‘substantive piece of evidence’ to pin point the murder to ISI officials.  “It does not allow us to safely conclude that the ISI was the culprit behind this incident.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad: Report to be made public today</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320790/saleem-shahzad-commission-report-inconclusive-media-disappointed</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320790/saleem-shahzad-commission-report-inconclusive-media-disappointed#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 12 20:09:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=320790</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Monetary compensation for family, job for wife, free education for children announced. Police to keep investigating.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that the report of a judicial commission investigating the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad would be released on Friday; however the findings of the report were regrettably inconsequential to the case. 

The commission had submitted its report to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani earlier this week. The information minister said that according to the commission’s report, the culprits involved in the murder of Shahzad could not be traced thus far, but the police and law enforcement agencies had been directed to continue investigations into the case. The commission had also proposed monetary compensation for Shahzad’s family, employment for his wife, and government-funded education for his children.

Talking to the media outside the Parliament House, the minister said that the report was being made public on the directives of the prime minister, and her ministry would be responsible for implementing the recommendations.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The pox on everything else</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320501/the-pox-on-everything-else</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/320501/the-pox-on-everything-else#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 12 17:31:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.shafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=320501</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[What is of utmost importance today is a non-conclusive Saleem Shahzad Commission.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The pox on coup d’états and what they do to the country; the pox on whether Pakistan army generals ably led by the Sipah Salaar will carry one out now or not; the pox on what the Sipah Salaar will or will not do with the elected government; the pox on what will happen to the government ably led by Makhdoom Sahib; the pox on whether the ANP; the MQM; the PML (Shujaat); and the Fata members will leave the coalition or not.

The pox on what happened on the evening and night of January 11 despite the antics of the apoplectic anchor of a particularly raucous news channel who almost choked on his own anger at the elected government; the pox on the self-righteous indignation of the retired army and air force officers who were trotted out by self-same channel, wearing halos around their heads and spouting poison against the elected representatives of the people good, bad, or ugly.

None of that silliness is important. Neither is the extent of the destruction that will result if the Army does foment a coup, even a constitutional one to remove the government; nor the consequences of an engineered ‘caretaker’ set-up and the destruction these arrangements have always wreaked on the country and its institutions, making a mockery of good sense and rectitude,and making us Pakistanis the laughing stock of the world. Been there, too many times.

What is of utmost import today; what is a matter of life or death for many Pakistanis; what will determine whether we are a civilised people or a horde of wild brutes is the shamefully non-conclusive report on the brutal and savage beating to death of journalist Saleem Shahzad. A death foretold by the victim, reportedly to many of his friends, but definitely and publicly to at least two eminent Pakistanis: Hameed Haroon, the publisher of Dawn, and Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan director of the respected Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Let me here and now remind my readers of the contents of Saleem Shahzad’s pleas to any and all who would pay heed, as given in HRW’s statement before the Commission:

“Shahzad had previously complained of threats by ISI agents for his reporting on links between the ISI and al Qaeda. On October 19, 2010, Shahzad sent an email to HRW outlining a recent meeting he had had with the ISI and asking for the email to be released if he or his family were harmed. Shahzad asked Human Rights Watch to make details of the meeting public ‘in case something happens to me or my family in future’.

“Shahzad told Human Rights Watch that he had been threatened by the ISI at the 17 October meeting at the ISI headquarters in Islamabad with the director-general of the Media Wing of the ISI, Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir, and another ISI official, Commodore Khalid Pervaiz. Shahzad wrote that the meeting ended with the following comment from Rear Admiral Nazir, which Shahzad construed as a death threat: ‘I must give you (sic) a favour. We have recently arrested a terrorist and recovered a lot of data, diaries and other material during the interrogation. The terrorist had a list with him. If I find your name in the list, I will certainly let you know.’”

“Shahzad sent the same email and information about other threats to Hameed Haroon, publisher of the English language daily Dawn and president of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, and to colleagues at Asia Times Online. All those who spoke to Shahzad at the time including professional journalists and Human Rights Watch understood that a threat had been made to his life through the statement quoted above. In order to place the threat on record, Shahzad wrote an account of the meeting and emailed it to the recipients.

“Later, in January and March, Shahzad informed Human Rights Watch by telephone of two other instances where he felt threats were made to him by or on behalf of the ISI by people who identified themselves as belonging to the agency.

“Following her husband’s instructions, Shahzad’s wife, Anita Saleem, informed Human Rights Watch of her husband’s going missing on May 30. She told Human Rights Watch that she had received an anonymous phone call saying that Shahzad would be released the same evening. I made inquiries and credible sources claimed that Shahzad was in intelligence agency custody and was expected to be released in the evening of May 30.

“When Shahzad failed to reappear, Human Rights Watch notified the Pakistani and international media of our grave concern that he had been forcibly disappeared. His body was found on 31 May near Mandi Bahauddin, bearing signs of torture.

“On 1 June … (an) ISI official denied that any threat had been made to Shahzad, stating that, ‘The reported e-mail of Mr Saleem Shahzad to Mr Ali Hasan Dayan of HRW’ was ‘being made the basis of baseless allegations’ … the following day, Haroon, the Dawn publisher, went on record to ‘verify that allegations levied by HRW at the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) are essentially in complete consonance with the contents of the slain journalist’s e-mail.’ Haroon added that he wished to ‘state on the record’ that the late journalist confided to him that he had received death threats from various officers of the ISI on at least three occasions in the past five years”.

Now then, a few questions to the Commission:

Were all of Shahzad’s telephone records recovered?

WHO disappeared them in the first place?

Were the “credible sources” who stated that Shahzad was in the custody of an ‘intelligence agency’ questioned?

Were his emails and other pleas treated as dying statements?

In the end, nothing was gained by Shahzad’s horrific killing: The front page of Dawn of January 9 says it all: The poor man was always right.

Final Score: Deep State 10; Hapless Pakistanis including the Commission: 0

The very least the PM can do is to reject the report out of hand and order a new inquiry.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Who killed Saleem Shahzad?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319978/who-killed-saleem-shahzad-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319978/who-killed-saleem-shahzad-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 12 19:26:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=319978</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[By failing its mandate, the judicial commission has also failed in its task to help out vulnerable journalists.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The purpose of government commissions, it seems, is to obfuscate rather than illuminate. They exist not to investigate but to give the impression of hard work. So, it was in the case of the judicial commission investigating the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. The commission was supposed to find out who was responsible for the killing but in its final report has declined to do so. It was meant to wrap up in six weeks but has ended up taking six months. In the end, all the suspicions everyone had after Mr Shahzad was murdered remain but we are no closer to the truth. The commission has recommended giving Rs3 million in compensation to the dead journalist’s family but it has denied them the opportunity of getting justice.

The investigative process of the commission was flawed from the start. It faced inordinate and unexplainable delays in getting Mr Shahzad’s email and cell phone data, information that may have been crucial in solving his case but which could well have been scrubbed of anything incriminating by the intelligence agencies. When he was murdered, the initial reaction among journalists and human rights groups was to blame the military, since Mr Shahzad’s reporting focused on its alleged ties to militants. Indeed, just two days before he was killed, he had written a story on the infiltration of al Qaeda in the Pakistan Navy. The commission’s inconclusive report will do little to allay those suspicions.

By failing its mandate, the judicial commission has also failed in its task to help out vulnerable journalists. Having seen that a prominent reporter can be killed with no consequences for those involved is sure to have a chilling effect on the profession. Will those who report critically on the military refrain from doing so in the future for fear that they may end up in a ditch somewhere? The commission has also shown Mr Shahzad’s killers, whoever they may be, that they can operate with impunity. Already, Pakistan has been described as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists by Reporters without Frontiers, with 10 journalists having been killed here in the last decade. The failure of the commission may have ended up making it just a little more dangerous.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>No culprit named in Saleem Shahzad report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319568/commission-findings-no-culprit-named-in-saleem-shahzad-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319568/commission-findings-no-culprit-named-in-saleem-shahzad-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 12 04:37:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=319568</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Vital questions go unanswered; monetary compensation for family recommended.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Saleem Shahzad Commission was asked to submit its report within six weeks of its formation. Six months down the line however, its final findings show little.  The report, presented to the prime minister on Tuesday, has not held any institution or individual responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist, according to a member of the probe.


In essence, this means that the main purpose of the commission as stated in the law ministry’s June 16, 2011 notification has failed. The notification stated the terms of reference for the commission were: “To inquire into the background and circumstance of abduction and subsequent murder of Saleem Shahzad” and to “indentify the culprits involved in the abduction and subsequent murder of the said journalist”. In addition, it aimed to provide recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such incidents against journalists in the future.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFU) President Pervaiz Shaukat, who is also a member of the commission, told The Express Tribune that while the commission has not held anyone directly responsible, it has, on the other hand, included its doubts and concerns in the final report.

What the report recommended

As far as any concrete steps are concerned, the report includes PFUJ’s recommendations for the safety and welfare of journalists as well as financial assistance to be provided to Shahzad’s family, according to Shaukat. The commission asked the government to establish an ombudsman office in order to redress the grievances of journalists, and that the government bear education expenditure for the children of the slain journalist. In addition, his family is to be provided financial compensation worth Rs3 million.

How the commission investigated

Shaukat said the commission had recorded the statements of 41 individuals that are part of the report relating to the incident, including representatives of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), police, journalists, legal heirs of Shahzad, doctors and eyewitnesses.

The commission also visited the crime scene, both where the slain journalist’s car and his body were recovered, he added. A member of the panel also said that the government has given an ‘assurance’ that it will take action against the culprits in accordance with the findings – although the findings have found no culprits.

Complainants in case dissatisfied

While talking to The Express Tribune, Hamza Ameer, the brother-in-law as well as complainant in both cases registered at Islamabad and Mandi Bahauddin (on the charges of abduction and murder respectively), said that he has not yet received a copy of the report of the judicial commission. He added that he had contacted Shaukat in this regard who said he was ‘not in a position’ to provide a copy at this point.

Ameer said that while the recovery of laptop or phone sets, which was necessary for the investigation, was not a problem, it was vital to retrieve phone and email data on time. The cell data should have been retrieved from the telecommunication company earlier, Ameer complained.

Shahzad was abducted while driving from his house to a television station in Islamabad on May 29 last year, two days after he alleged in an article that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy. His body, bearing marks of torture, was found the next day in a canal near Mandi Bahauddin, a district of Punjab province.

Rights groups and journalists’ bodies had alleged that he was killed by the ISI.

The high-level judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar, was formed to probe the killing in June last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Six months later, Saleem Shahzad commission submits report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319378/six-months-later-saleem-shahzad-commission-finally-submits-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/319378/six-months-later-saleem-shahzad-commission-finally-submits-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 12 16:42:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=319378</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The report includes the commission’s findings as well as recommendations by the Pakistan Federal Union of...]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A judicial commission probing the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad has submitted its report to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. 

“The report includes the commission’s findings as well as recommendations by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists for the journalist community and financial assistance to Shahzad’s family,” said Pervaiz Shoukat, PFUJ president and a member of the probe commission.

The commission was constituted by the government on June 16, 2011, six weeks after Shahzad’s mutilated body was found in Mandi Bahauddin. Shahzad went missing from Islamabad on May 29 only to be found murdered a day later. It was supposed to submit a report within six weeks but following inexplicable delays, the report was presented by the commission’s secretary six months later.

According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on July 16th, 2011 obtained by The Express Tribune read: "S.RO. (I)/2011 –Whereas the heinous murder of Saleem Shahzad, a journalist has taken place and cause and circumstances leading to are to be ascertained."

The commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Saqib Nisar, met through June 2011 and January 2012 to compile the report. It interviewed journalists, intelligence officers, human rights activists and Shahzad’s widow. It also examined CCTV coverage of the highway where Shahzad’s car was found.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly noted the date of the commissions formation as June 21. This has been corrected. The error is regretted.]]>
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			<title>Tribune’s Gamechangers 2011: Saleem Shahzad</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/317565/tribune%e2%80%99s-gamechangers-2011-saleem-shahzad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/317565/tribune%e2%80%99s-gamechangers-2011-saleem-shahzad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jan 12 10:30:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=317565</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Reporting on radicalisation in Pakistan Army.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In a country that is high on the list of the most dangerous places for journalists, Saleem Shahzad dared to accuse the Pakistani army of having militant sympathizers within its ranks.

In a report that was later said to be the reason for his disappearance and subsequent murder, Shahzad quoted unnamed officials within the Pakistan navy that claimed there were al Qaeda loyalists within the armed forces. Shahzad was found dead, with visible torture marks on his body, two days after he was kidnapped by unknown persons.

Quote of the year: "Given that Shahzad alleged in his lifetime that he had been threatened by the ISI, and given that we believe that the allegation was credible, the onus is on the ISI to prove that it was not holding him in illegal detention, and that its personnel were not responsible for his death." -  Ali Dayan Hasan Human Rights Watch]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad commission to present report in 2-3 weeks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/306121/saleem-shahzad-commission-to-present-report-in-2-3-weeks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/306121/saleem-shahzad-commission-to-present-report-in-2-3-weeks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 11 17:03:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=306121</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Commission went to great lengths to obtain evidence hence contributing to the delay when some witnesses were late.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The commission investigating journalist Saleem Shahzad's murder has stated that they had completed proceedings and deliberations, and were in the process of finalising its report, the result of which would be available in two to three weeks time, the secretary of the commission said in a handout on Tuesday.

In a press release issued by the commission, the secretary of the Saleem Shahzad murder commission noted that there were certain concerns over the proceedings having been extended. However, the delay is attributed to certain inevitable factors, in that, some of the important witnesses were either abroad or were unable to appear, for certain very valid reasons, the release explained.

It further added that Brigadier Zahid Mehmood Khan, Commander Sector Headquarter (Central) Islamabad, who represented the ISI in the matter availed some time to prepare and produce before the Commission the written version of the agency. The commission took further time to examine ISI officials including Brigadier Zahid Mehmood Khan, Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir, Head of the Media ISI, Islamabad, Brigadier Iftikhar Ali Khan, Deputy Director General, ISI Headquarter, Islamabad and Commodore Khalid Pervaiz, Director ISI. These were all summoned and had appeared before this Commission from time to time for their statements, the statement acknowledged.

The statement further attributed the secretary as claiming that the commission was extremely careful and meticulous in ensuring that evidence was collected from every possible source, covering all aspects. For this press releases and advertisements were placed in the media. Representative bodies of the journalist were also approached to bring forth any evidence through its members which could be helpful for the purpose of the commission.

The statement added that the Commission made it a point to access the e-mail accounts of the deceased journalist Saleem Shahzad. It said that the commission then had to carefully sift and analyse through the voluminous nature of e-mails comprising over 37,000 messages. Voluminous telephonic record of the deceased was also scanned for the purposes of GEO fencing, the statement noted.

The Commission will be submitting its final report to the Government within two to three weeks from today, the Secretary stated.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad murder: Commission to release report by end of December</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/300503/saleem-shahzad-murder-commission-to-release-report-by-end-of-december</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/300503/saleem-shahzad-murder-commission-to-release-report-by-end-of-december#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 01 Dec 11 04:09:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=300503</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ISI officials summoned for the second time for questioning.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The judicial commission investigating the mysterious murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad will release its report by the end of this month, according to one of its members.


President Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Pervez Shaukat told The Express Tribune after the commission’s meeting at the Supreme Court building, on Wednesday, that 34,000 emails of the slain journalist have been recovered from his laptop and are being microscopically analysed. He said the commission had summoned ISI officials for cross-examination. Shaukat however avoided commenting on the proceedings and said it was the second time ISI officials had been summoned.

The premier spy agency had been blamed for Shahzad’s death in view of his emails stating he had been threatened by an army official. Shaukat said Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir, Brig. Zahid, Commodore Raja Pervez Khalid appeared before the commission and were interrogated for more than two hours. He said the inquiry officer deputed to investigate Shehzad’s murder in Mandi Bahauddin has also been summoned to record his statement at the next meeting. “The commission has nominated me to meet Shahzad’s wife in Karachi before the next meeting on December 8,” he added.

The commission, headed by Justice Saqib Nisar of the apex court, comprises Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court Agha Rafique, IG Punjab Javed Iqbal, IG Islamabad Binyamin and president PFUJ. The meeting was also attended by secretary information Taimur Azmat who is also the commission’s secretary and Justice Sabir Sultan, the registrar.

Saleem Shahzad disappeared on May 29 after he left home for a television interview. His body was found near a canal in Mandi Bahauddin the next day. Speculation that the ISI was involved in his mysterious murder triggered countrywide protests. When the PFUJ discovered that the protests had had no effect on the government, it decided to approach the Supreme Court for justice for the slain journalist.

The chief justice had constituted a commission to unearth the mystery behind his murder. The commission convened several meetings and recorded statements of journalists and Shahzad’s family. The commission had to press hard to retrieve Shahzad’s cell phone data which was erased and his email record that finally led it to some clue leading to his brutal killing. It would seem that the commission has reached some conclusion that it will share with the public and the journalist community in accordance with their longtime demand.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad's laptop recovered</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/282433/saleem-shahzads-laptop-recovered</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/282433/saleem-shahzads-laptop-recovered#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Oct 11 14:19:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=282433</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Final investigation report into the murder of journalist to be provided in November, says commission head.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The judicial commission probing the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad obtained his laptop on Wednesday, reported Express 24/7.

The laptop and phone records of Shahzad had been reported missing after his murder in May this year. The commission earlier was successful in getting access to his phone but the laptop remained missing.

Chairman Justice Saqib Nisar chaired the commission session in Islamabad on Wednesday, during which different angles for investigation into the murder of Shahzad were reviewed.

Briefing the media after the session, one of the commission members Pervaiz Shaukat, who is also the president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), said that the record of Shahzad’s laptop was not accessible in the past.

He said that Justice Nisar has directed all members to submit their recommendations till Tuesday, while the final shape will be given to the report during the month of November.

The commission is headed by Supreme Court Justice Nisar while members include Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court Agha Rafiq Ahmad, Inspector-General of Islamabad Police Bani Amin, Inspector-General of Punjab Police Javed Iqbal and President PFUJ.

Shahzad, who worked for an Italian news agency and a Hong Kong-registered news site and had reported about militants infiltrating the military, went missing en route to a television talk show and his body was found May 31 south of the capital, bearing marks of torture.

The journalist disappeared two days after writing an investigative report in Asia Times Online saying al Qaeda carried out a recent attack on a naval air base to avenge the arrest of naval officials held on suspicion of al Qaeda links. Intelligence agencies were blamed for his murder.]]>
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			<title>Mixed reaction: Utility of inquiry commissions questioned</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197785/mixed-reaction-utility-of-inquiry-commissions-questioned</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197785/mixed-reaction-utility-of-inquiry-commissions-questioned#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 11 04:49:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[taha.siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=197785</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Experts stress unless findings are made public, they hardly serve any purpose.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After weeks of outcry, the government finally gave in to the voice of opposition and the journalist fraternity by setting up two separate judicial commissions to probe the Abbottabad Operation and Saleem Shahzad’s murder.


However, law experts have mixed feelings about the commissions, saying that the findings of these commissions are rarely ever made public. More importantly, recommendations after their completion are never implemented, making them ineffective and a waste of government resources.

Zaman Khan at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says that setting up such commissions was better than nothing as they may act as deterrence to similar crimes. However, he felt that secrecy in reports did not make sense, especially when the media played such an integral role in disseminating information. “It is a colonial mind set which exists till date. Civil servants were not answerable to the public but to the Raj. Thus, we see [inquiry] reports remain undisclosed.”   In the past, the Hamoodur Rahman Commission’s findings were actually leaked to the Indian press, after which the Musharraf government declassified it. But action was never taken on the report.

Khan hopes the findings of the investigation into the Kharotabad killings will be made public. The inquiry tribunal is due to submit its report to the Balochistan government.

Justice (retd) Wajeehuddin says that such commissions have given false security to the people in the past and that circumstances seemed to be the same today. “Knowing that there is a lack of transparency, the ruling elite pursues a policy of secrecy. And eventually when the government is forced to make inquiry commissions, they are usually just eyewash for the public,” he added.

A sitting judge who has been involved with many of the recent judicial commissions and has chaired some of them, on the request of anonymity, says that it is beyond his understanding why most reports of such fact-finding commissions are not made public. He stressed that if findings were open to the public, they would benefit civil society. The judge added that most of the commission findings in the past have deserved a public audience, however since none of them are ever made public, the exercise is of no remedial value.

“It is a culture of secrecy in this country that exists from top to bottom. The government feels that it isn’t in its interest to reveal the findings,” said constitutional expert Asad Jamal.

Jamal explained that making a sitting judge a part of such a commission could lead to conflict of interests. For instance, during criminal investigations, prosecutors may find evidence contrary to the commission’s finding which could indirectly dent the credibility of the judge and/or the investigation team.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Slain journalist : Probe commission wants Saleem Shahzad’s records preserved</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197784/slain-journalist-probe-commission-wants-saleem-shahzad%e2%80%99s-records-preserved</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197784/slain-journalist-probe-commission-wants-saleem-shahzad%e2%80%99s-records-preserved#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 11 04:47:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=197784</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Public asked to share information about the journalist by July 5.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The judicial commission constituted to probe into the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad started proceedings on Monday.


The commission, which convened its first session at the Supreme Court registry in Lahore, directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to preserve all of Shahzad’s records.

Head of the commission, Supreme Court judge Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and other members, Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Agha Rafique Ahmad Khan, Punjab and Islamabad’s inspector generals of police, Javed Iqbal and Binyamin respectively, and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists’ president Parvez Shaukat attended the proceedings.

The federal secretary for information and secretary of the commission, Taimoor Azmat Usman, also joined the hearing and produced available record.

“The commission directed the FIA to access emails of the murdered journalist and produce them before the commission at the next hearing on July 6,” Usman told journalists at the end of the proceedings.

He added that the commission had directed the PTA chairman to produce a complete record of calls made and received on Saleem Shahzad’s cell phone.

Usman said that a secretariat of the commission had been established at Pakistan Television’s Islamabad centre. He added that if any of the deceased journalist’s relatives, friends, journalists or the general public had any information, they should submit it before the commission by July 5. He said that the commission had directed both IGPs to continue investigations and keep the commission informed about the progress.

Speaking to the media, PFUJ president Pervez Shaukat said he was satisfied with the commission, but did not give details of the discussions. Shaukat said the commission will achieve the desired results if the proceedings are kept secret.

Meanwhile, the federal government has asked provincial governments as well as police and other law-enforcement agencies to ensure the security of journalists, The Express Tribune learnt on Monday.

(WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ASAD KHARAL IN LAHORE)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Abbottabad raid, Shahzad’s murder: PM forms probe commissions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193880/pm-gilani-approves-formation-of-commissions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193880/pm-gilani-approves-formation-of-commissions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 11 04:20:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=193880</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gilani approves summaries sent by the law ministry for the constitution of inquiry commissions.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After weeks of bitter controversies, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has formed two judicial commissions mandated to investigate how Osama bin Laden managed to live undetected in Pakistan and the inability of the armed forces to intercept the surgical strike conducted by US commandos to kill him and to investigate the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad.


Gilani reconstituted the commissions he initially announced earlier this month, both headed by serving Supreme Court judges, after Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was formally approached for a consultation on the nominations. He gave his consent after the government wrote to him on Sunday through the law ministry. The commissions crashed before taking off when the judges Gilani nominated to head them refused to undertake the assignments without the chief justice’s consent in violation of judicial norms.

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was blamed for intelligence failure when US commandos killed Bin Laden in Abbottabad. Fingers were once again pointed at the agency when Shahzad, famous for his news stories revealing alleged links between Pakistani security service and al Qaeda, was kidnapped and brutally killed. While the ISI said it was embarrassed by the American raid, it denied involvement in Shahzad’s murder.

Justice Javed Iqbal, the second senior most judge of the Supreme Court will head the commission. The other members of the commission are Abbas Khan, former commandant of the Frontier Constabulary, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, former ambassador to the US and a career diplomat, Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, former chief of the National Disaster Management Authority.

Gilani approved the summaries sent by the law ministry for the constitution of inquiry commissions for the Abbottabad incursion and the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, according to a handout.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Shahzad was killed in Islamabad: Police</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193850/shahzad-was-killed-in-islamabad-police</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193850/shahzad-was-killed-in-islamabad-police#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 11 02:43:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=193850</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[One suspect rounded up for alleged involvement in the abduction.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Punjab police have concluded that investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad was killed in Islamabad, and not in Sarai Alamgir, where his body had been dumped.


The autopsy report into Shahzad’s murder states that he had died 48 hours before the autopsy was conducted. Police suspected that his body was dumped in the Upper Jhelum Canal near Sarai Alamgir to mislead investigators since his car was taken there and parked on GT Road after the murder, according to the investigation report, a copy of which was made available to The Express Tribune.

Islamabad police have arrested a suspect for his involvement in the abduction and murder of Shahzad while the Punjab Police have not yet made any arrests. Shahzad, who was bureau chief of Asia Times Online in Pakistan, disappeared after driving off for a talk show on Dunya TV.

There is not a single lead that could help narrow down the scope of the investigation  and “bring into sharp relief any possible suspect(s),” stated the report. The investigation was entrusted to a three-member team headed by DIG Establishment Punjab Shoaib Dastageer.

Allegations against an intelligence agency are based on a perceived sequence of events that came into evidence after Shahzad’s death. He felt seriously threatened after his story on the assault on the PNS Mehran was published and confided to Dawn Group CEO Hameed Haroon and Ali Dayan Hassan of Human Rights Watch that the ISI had issued him a veiled death threat. This was corroborated by his brother-in-law Mudassar Hamza Amir who confirmed that Shahzad had no personal animosity.

Amir also said he had his cell phone and laptop with him when he was abducted which have not been traced. Experts have failed to access his e-mail account that could have yielded a list of Shahzad’s contacts. All this has greatly hindered the investigation. Most callers have been identified after Call Data Record analysis, but the police has gone a step further and contacted Telecom companies and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for access to Tower Traffic data which has not been provided.

The statements of Shazad’s relatives and colleagues have been recorded except for Haroon and Hassan who will give their statements after they return to the country. According to senior journalist Asif Khan, Shahzad had told him he wished to settle abroad a week before his death.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Seeking answers: CJ names heads of Abbottabad, Shahzad probes</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193221/seeking-answers-cj-names-heads-of-abbottabad-shahzad-probes</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193221/seeking-answers-cj-names-heads-of-abbottabad-shahzad-probes#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 11 03:11:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=193221</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Justice Javed Iqbal to head May 2 commission; Justice Saqib Nisar to head Saleem Shahzad murder commission.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has nominated Justice Javed Iqbal to head the judicial commission to probe the Abbottabad operation, while Justice Saqib Nisar will head the commission to probe journalist Saleem Shahzad’s killing.


The government, through the law ministry’s secretary, had approached the Supreme Court registrar on Sunday to request the chief justice to appoint apex court judges to head inquiry commissions into the two incidents.

Earlier on Monday, the court temporarily disposed of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists’ (PFUJ) petition and directed that while nominating other members for the commissions, the government must keep in mind that their status should not be less than the president of the commission, ie, a judge of the Supreme Court.

At the outset of the hearing the PFUJ petition through Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir, Chaudhry observed that while this petition is being heard, another journalist was reportedly tortured by police in Islamabad.

The chief justice informed the counsels about the government’s letters. While appreciating the government’s move, he observed, “All things should not come to the court, let the government do its job.” He asked Jahangir to take the time to decide whether she wants to pursue the petition or the formation of the commission.

After deliberations in Jahangir’s office with leading journalists, a consensus emerged that the petition will be withdrawn but under certain conditions. The bench was informed in writing about the decision.

Counsels Muneer A Malik and Jahangir told the court  that Shahzad’s murder was a matter of basic human rights thus the scope of the judicial commission should be expanded.

They said that this pattern of harassment of journalists should also be investigated as 74 journalists have been killed in the recent past.

Terms of reference of the commission should be clearly spelt out and petitioners will have the right to file an application to reopen the case even if it is disposed off by the court.

The government’s representative, Babar Awan, assured the court that that government wants a transparent investigation into Shahzad’s murder and all agencies, including the Inter-Services Public Relations, have also supported the commission. We are committed and ready to go the extra mile, he said.

Chaudhry asked the counsels to make the commissions’ reports public as had earlier been done in the dyke breaching case and the Bank of Punjab scam. “If you will not do it, I will make it public,” he said.

The inspectors-general of Punjab and Islamabad police also submitted their reports to the bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>CJ appoints Justice Saqib and Justice Iqbal as heads of commissions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/192156/abbottabad-raid-government-asks-sc-to-appoint-commission-head</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/192156/abbottabad-raid-government-asks-sc-to-appoint-commission-head#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jun 11 13:15:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=192156</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Justice Saqib to head the Saleem Shehzad murder probe while Justice Javed Iqbal to head the Abbottabad raid probe.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry appointed heads of the judicial commissions, on Monday, formed to investigate the May 2nd  Abbottabad raid and journalist Saleem Shahzad's murder.

Justice Saqib Nisar will reportedly head the Saleem Shahzad murder  commission while Justice Javed Iqbal will head the Abbottabad raid commission.

The Supreme Court has informed the Law Ministry about the appointment  of the commission heads, while the PFUJ had also sought extension in the scope of inquiry  commission's mandate.

Earlier the Supreme Court on Monday had directed the federal government to form a commission to probe the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the petition filed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in Islamabad.

The court had disposed of the petition and ordered the government to form a commission.

The chief justice had earlier said he would nominate a judge to head the commission by this evening. He had announced that the law ministry has written a letter to the court for nominating a sitting judge of the SC to head the commission to probe the murder.

The journalists are seeking an extension in the commission’s mandate, saying that the pattern of harassment of journalists should also be investigated as 70 of them have been killed in the recent past.

Updated from print edition (below)

In double climbdown, govt turns to CJ

The government was forced into a double climbdown on Sunday when it fired off a missive as well as a ministerial petition to the apex court chief justice, seeking sitting judicial nominations for separate commissions probing last month’s US raid in Abbottabad and slain journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder.


“I have received a letter from the government, requesting the chief justice to appoint a judge as head of the independent commission,” Supreme Court registrar Dr Faqir Hussain told The Express Tribune on Sunday. The nominated judge will head the independent commission into the Abbottabad incident.

Separately, the information ministry has also requested the chief justice through the ministry of law and justice to nominate a judge to head the commission which will probe the killing of investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad.

“We have written to the ministry of law to request on its behalf to the chief justice of Pakistan for nomination of a judge to head the commission,” said Information Secretary Taimur Azmat. The government will also submit a copy of the letter to the apex court bench hearing Shahzad’s murder case, he added.

The twin decisions are being seen as further evidence of a government prone to procrastination and ignoring procedures set down instead of  saving  itself from embarrassment.

The letter was drafted by Law Secretary Masood Chishti in consultation with Law and Justice Minister Maula Baksh Chandio. “The chief justice may appoint a judge for heading the commission to investigate the (May 2) Abbottabad incident,” the two-page letter said.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani nominated Justice Javed Iqbal as head of the commission without consulting Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.  Other members were: Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmad, Abbas Khan, a former inspector-general of police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and former ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.

Adopted after a marathon session on May 14, the resolution said: “The joint session of parliament calls upon the government to appoint an independent commission on the Abbottabad operation, fix responsibility and recommend necessary measures to ensure that such an incident does not recur. The composition and modalities of the commission will be settled after consultations between the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition.”

Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jehangir questioned the manner in which the commission was appointed, terming it contrary to the established principles of law.

Justice Javed Iqbal, the second senior-most judge of the apex court, had conditionally accepted his appointment, and reportedly asked for the consent of the chief justice.

The commission set up to investigate killing of Shahzad was embroiled in a similar controversy when Justice Mian Saqib Nisar refused to head the investigations.

Nisar was of the view that he could not agree to the job because the prime minister had not consulted the Supreme Court chief justice in this regard in violation of established judicial norms.

Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan tried to justify the government’s move, saying consulting the chief justice was not required for setting up the commission.

She cited the example of Abbottabad probe commission in this regard, where a sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice Javed Iqbal, was appointed head of the commission without prior permission from the chief justice.

However, it has been learnt that the government was considering writing a letter to the chief justice, urging him to appoint a judge to head the commission for investigating Saleem Shahzad’s murder.

The fate of the Abbottabad probe commission still hangs in the balance because one of its nominated members Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ibarahim had declined the nomination.

Moreover, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had complained that he was not consulted as it was envisaged by the parliamentary resolution.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Who killed Saleem Shahzad?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191621/who-killed-saleem-shahzad-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191621/who-killed-saleem-shahzad-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jun 11 20:34:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[khaled.ahmed]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191621</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saleem Shehzad could have been killed by army and intelligence officials who have crossed over to the militants.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[President of All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) Hameed Haroon says Saleem Shahzad had told him that he was receiving threats from the ISI. He thus endorsed a similar claim made by Ali Dayan of Human Rights Watch, which the ISI had condemned as false. Another victim of the agency hoods, reporter Umar Cheema, has confirmed in his article in The New York Times (14 June 2011) that the people who thrashed him nearly to death had made it clear that they were not Taliban or al Qaeda.

After what Saleem Shahzad has revealed in his book Inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 (Pluto Press 2011), other more dreadful possibilities are open for consideration. It could be somebody representing al Qaeda inside the ISI. The book actually tells us how deeply the Pakistan Army is infected. Saleem was a confidant of such a group of officers and could have been killed for revealing too much when he wrote about how Ilyas Kashmiri had attacked PNS Mehran after failing to cow the naval chief into releasing the arrested al Qaeda members found embedded in the navy.

Saleem got the inside track on al Qaeda starting with Captain Khurram Ashiq, who had defected to al Qaeda to die fighting the Nato troops in Helmand in Afghanistan. Khurram’s brother, Major Haroon Ashiq, followed him to North Waziristan along with another officer, Major Abdul Rehman. The Ashiq family was Salafi and the brothers were steeped in Ibn Taymiyya and Syed Qutb, the two presiding saints of al Qaeda. They believed in the Ghazwa-e-Hind hadith and thought the End of the World was near with armies of Imam Mehdi rising from Khurasan (Afghanistan-Pakistan).

Haroon left the army and joined Lashkar-e-Taiba which he told Saleem was an extension of the army. Alienated from the army under Musharraf, he joined Harkatul Jihad alAlami (HUJI) and thus got closer to al Qaeda. As an al Qaeda terrorist, Haroon enjoyed contacts inside the army: “Haroon developed a silencer for the AK-47. This became an essential component of al Qaeda’s special guerrilla operations. He then visited China to procure night-vision glasses. The biggest task was to clear them through the customs in Pakistan. Haroon called on his friend Captain Farooq, who was President Musharraf’s security officer. Farooq went to the airport in the president’s official car and received Haroon at the immigration counter. In the presence of Farooq, nobody dared touch Haroon’s luggage and the night-vision glasses arrived in Pakistan without any hassle [Farooq was a member of the Hizbut Tahrir, a fact discovered by the military intelligence as late as nine months later his posting as Musharraf’s security officer. After being spotted, he was briefly arrested and then retired from the Pakistan Army.]” (p.88)

Haroon is now in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after failing to kidnap an Ahmadi, Sarwar Khan, in 2009: ‘In custody he admitted to killing Major General Alavi and kidnapping Hindu filmmaker Satish Anand with the help of one Major Basit from Karachi. After he discovered that Anand had no money to give he released him on orders from al Qaeda’s Ilyas Kashmiri — ‘if he embraced Islam’ — which Anand immediately did. Later al Qaeda decided that to refill its empty coffers it will abduct only non-Muslims, in particular, Ahmadis’ (p.95).

Saleem Shahzad’s book highlights the dominance of al Qaeda in Pakistan, including a highly infected Pakistan Army, and gives only a marginal status to its ancillary terrorists. The Punjabi Taliban he subordinates to the Haqqani Network, which in turn is a wing of al Qaeda but is known as a protégé of the Pakistan Army.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>On accusations by the media</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191605/on-accusations-by-the-media</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191605/on-accusations-by-the-media#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jun 11 19:16:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191605</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Investigations in to the murders of journalists have seldom been completed let alone reached an end to implicate ISI.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[On June 17, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement where it expressed concern over what it said were “unfounded and baseless insinuations” on the involvement of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the death of journalist Saleem Shahzad by “some sections of the media”. The statement went on to say that “such negative aspersions and accusations were also voiced against the ISI in some previous cases but investigations proved those wrong”. Given the sensitive nature of Shahzad’s killing and a public denial by the ISI of any involvement in his death, the release of a statement by the ISPR warrants a comment, not least because it comes just as the Supreme Court has taken up the matter. For starters, the media has highlighted the threat that the journalist had received from intelligence agencies on various occasions. In one particular case, following a story that he did in 2010 on Mullah Baradar, the journalist sent an email to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) alleging that two officials of the ISI had met with him regarding the said story.The journalist concluded that the meeting constituted an indirect threat to stay away from such reporting. When his body was found, this communication was made public by HRW and the APNS. That the media highlighted this does not amount to “negative aspersions” being cast.

The other aspect relates to the point made that “such negative aspersions and accusations” were also made against the ISI in the past “but investigations proved them wrong”. In the past, accusations were made on the involvement of intelligence agencies when journalist Hayatullah Khan was killed in 2006 after reporting that an al Qaeda terrorist had died as the result of a drone strike and not, as claimed by the government and the military, in an explosion. At that time, fingers were pointed at the agencies because Hayatullah’s reporting had embarrassed the government of Pervez Musharraf. However, no investigation was conducted into the death, and if one was, then its findings were never made public. The same can be said also for the dozens of people who have died in Balochistan over the years or been picked up and held incommunicado for long periods of time. Only the Supreme Court has come to their rescue.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>CIA not operating in Pakistan: Rehman Malik</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191546/cia-not-operating-in-pakistan-rehman-malik</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191546/cia-not-operating-in-pakistan-rehman-malik#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jun 11 08:46:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191546</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Malik says those with expired visas being deported; govt to accept SC verdict on Saleem Shahzad commission.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday said that the United States (US) spy agency, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was not operating on Pakistani soil.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament House in Islamabad, the interior minister said that those foreigners who were staying in Pakistan illegally and those with expired visas were being deported. He said that Pakistan was a sovereign state and the government will not allow people arriving on visit visas to work in the country.

Earlier, it had been reported that between 35 -40 people had been picked up by intelligence agencies across Pakistan for facilitating the CIA for the May 2 US raid that resulted in Osama bin Laden being killed in his Abbottabad compound.

Malik said that the intelligence agencies were serving the country and should not be criticised.

Govt to accept SC verdict on Saleem Shahzad commission

Malik said the government will respect the Supreme Court’s verdict on the investigation commission being formed to probe journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder.

On the resurfacing of the call record data of Shahzad, Malik said that the data had been available and the stories of it going missing were being created to spread negativity.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) had filed a petition requesting the court to pass an order for setting up a high-powered commission to investigate Saleem Shahzad’s murder to be headed by a high official of integrity who is extended full cooperation.

Security stepped up in Islamabad

Malik said that security in Islamabad has been stepped up and there were more security officials being deployed in civilian clothing. He said the government had removed check posts from across the city earlier, but had brought them back considering the situation and last few incidents in the capital.

He also said that more than 40 security personnel had been killed in Karachi during the last three months.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad murder: Mobile phone data resurfaces, quietly</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191350/saleem-shahzad-murder-mobile-phone-data-resurfaces-quietly</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191350/saleem-shahzad-murder-mobile-phone-data-resurfaces-quietly#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jun 11 02:55:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191350</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The data is now said to be in the possession of the police.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The call record data of slain journalist Saleem Shahzad has resurfaced as quietly and mysteriously as it had first vanished.


The Punjab police is already sifting through it as part of its investigation into his abduction and murder.

The vanishing of the call data, some 10 days ago, had set off a number of alarms. It even found its way into the opening day’s arguments in the Supreme Court, which took up a petition regarding the formation of a commission to probe the murder on Friday.

Counsels representing journalists contended that Saleem Shahzad’s call data was deleted which can only be done by ‘a powerful agency’.

However, the data is now said to be in the possession of the police.

What’s in the data?

According to the call data, a total of 14 incoming and outgoing calls and text messages were placed from Shahzad’s phone between 8:37 am and 5 pm on May 29. The data also shows that Shahzad was mostly around Blue Area in Islamabad, except for a brief stopover in F-7 Markaz. His last call was at 5 pm, which he made to Dunya TV’s Islamabad office.

After 5 pm on May 29, the call record has no more information on Shahzad’s location. However, over the next two days, he did receive 92 text messages. A person’s cell-phone does not need to be on for the mobile telecommunications company to be able to log their text messages.

Meanwhile, police officials in Islamabad have yet to decide whether or not to add charges of murder to the abduction charges against unknown persons.

Police in Mandi Bahauddin, the town where Shahzad’s body was found, have also recorded the statements of Shahzad’s brother-in-law Hamza Ameer, his driver Arif, and three close friends of Shahzad: Muhammad Faizan, Zafar Sheikh and Asif Khan.

Police officials from Islamabad have finally contacted the victim’s family by telephone, Ameer told The Express Tribune, 16 days after the case was first registered, though just one day after it was announced that the inquiry commission would be headed by a Supreme Court judge.

The investigating officer on the case in Islamabad, Shafiq Ahmed, claimed that he had been on leave and would only be able to provide further details on the case when he reported back for duty on Saturday (today).

Meanwhile, Muhammad Aslam, the investigating officer in Mandi Bahauddin, said that he has completed initial legal formalities and recorded statements, including from the three Punjab irrigation department employees who found Shahzad’s body.

Recovery memos prepared by Mandi Bahauddin and Saray Alimgeer City Police have  revealed that 48 articles including a car, identity cards of Shahzad and Hamza Ameer, CDs, mobile phone and other utility bills, clothes, and papers, etc have been recovered from the vehicle of slain journalist’s car and crime scene.

 

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Justice for Saleem Shahzad: As SC takes up case, military supports commission</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191343/justice-for-saleem-shahzad-as-sc-takes-up-case-military-supports-commission</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191343/justice-for-saleem-shahzad-as-sc-takes-up-case-military-supports-commission#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jun 11 02:47:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191343</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Punjab, Islamabad police chiefs directed to submit the progress report of investigation.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The military’s information wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “strongly supported” on Friday the formation of a commission to probe the kidnapping and murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad – on a day that also saw the Supreme Court take up a petition regarding investigations into the matter.


Through a spokesperson, the military, whose intelligence agencies have borne the brunt of accusations in the case, said that, “The case must be investigated thoroughly and facts made known to the people.”

On its part, the Supreme Court summoned three federal secretaries and two police chiefs on Monday to give their stance in response to a constitutional petition by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) seeking justice for the slain journalist.

The court has ordered the police to present the investigation record of the murder of 76 journalists.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has issued notices to federal law, interior and information secretaries, while the inspectors general of Punjab and Islamabad police have been directed to submit the progress report of the ongoing investigation. The court has also asked the investigation officer to appear along with the case record.

President Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir filed the petition late Thursday night after Justice Saqib Nisar refused to head a five-member commission constituted by the government without the CJ’s consent.

On the first day of hearing, PFUJ’s counsels Asma Jahangir and Munir Malik appeared before the bench and submitted that press freedom will be eroded if the government or the court neglects to take notice of this incident – in which a known journalist was abducted and brutally killed in broad daylight.

Killed for highlighting grey areas, journalists cannot perform their duties for fear of death, the lawyers contended, adding that it is the court’s responsibility to protect people’s fundamental rights. It was also maintained that the chief justice should have been consulted by the government before constituting the commission. Saleem Shahzad’s call data was deleted which can only be done by a powerful agency, the counsels charged.

Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Advocate General Punjab Khwaja Harris have been appointed as amicus curie in the case. Apart from PFUJ President Pervez Shaukat, President Islamabad National Press Club Afzal Butt, a number of journalists including Absar Alam and Hamid Mir were present in court. Incidentally, Saleem Shahzad was not a member of the PFUJ, but he was a fellow journalist, according to the union’s representatives.

The PFUJ has requested the court to pass an order for setting up a high-powered commission to investigate Saleem Shahzad’s murder to be headed by a high official of integrity who is extended full cooperation.

Military ‘concerned’

Also on Friday, a spokesperson of ISPR voiced concern on the accusatory fingers continuously being pointed at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the media.

It called the ‘insinuations’  “unfounded and baseless”, adding that, “Such negative aspersions and accusations were also voiced against ISI in some previous cases but investigations proved those wrong.”

With additional input from news desk

 

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad: New judicial commission sought in plea before SC</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191130/saleem-shahzad-new-judicial-commission-sought-in-plea-before-sc</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/191130/saleem-shahzad-new-judicial-commission-sought-in-plea-before-sc#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 11 22:26:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=191130</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Lawyer urges court to move quickly before evidence is destroyed.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[An application has been filed before the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court (SC) requesting it to constitute a new judicial commission headed by a sitting or retired judge of the SC with the consent of the chief justice (CJ) of Pakistan to investigate on an urgent basis the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad.


Barrister Zafarullah Khan had filed the application as part of his already filed petition requesting that his petition be fixed for June 7 and that a new judicial commission be constituted as the earlier two judicial commissions constituted for the same purpose had become ineffective.

He said so far the government had formed two judicial commissions - one headed by a judge of the Shariat Court which had been rejected by the All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation and the other headed by an SC judge but without the consent of the CJ. He said the consent of the CJ was a legal, administrative and proprietary requirement.

Khan said the judge notified as head of the judicial commission had also declined the position.

He said the government’s move to constitute that commission was a deceptive political move against the independence of judiciary.

He said notifications for both commissions were therefore ineffective and the journalists had only one remedy which was to approach the SC.

The barrister said he feared that in absence of prompt action by the SC, the evidence will be destroyed. He said it had been learnt that the investigation was not making much progress so far and evidence available was being destroyed methodically. This included finger prints obtained from the deceased’s car. He prayed the court that a judicial commission be appointed soon and be headed by a sitting or retired judge of SC to so that the death was investigated before the evidence is destroyed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad killing: ISPR concerned over 'baseless insinuations' against ISI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190885/saleem-shehzad-killing-ispr-concerned-over-baseless-insinuations-against-isi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190885/saleem-shehzad-killing-ispr-concerned-over-baseless-insinuations-against-isi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 11 13:44:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=190885</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ISPR says similar accusations against ISI proven wrong in the past.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) has expressed concern over “unfounded and baseless insinuations” on the involvement of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, as reported by some sections of the media.

A statement released by the ISPR on Friday said that similar accusations had been against the intelligence agency in the past “but investigations proved those wrong”.

The statement also said that the ISPR supported the formation of a commission to investigate the murder of Shahzad and called for a thorough investigation, including disclosure of facts to the people.

Speculation that the ISI was linked to the slaying of Shahzad has added pressure on the agency, already facing criticism following the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. The ISI had issued a rare media statement denying it was behind the killing.

“It’s regrettable that some sections of media have taken upon themselves to use the incident for targeting and maligning the ISI,” an official of the agency said.

Investigative journalist Shahzad was found dead near the Head Rasul area in Mandi Bahauddin, nearly 130 kilometres from Islamabad, after going missing from Islamabad.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had earlier expressed alarm about Shahzad’s disappearance and described as “exceedingly disturbing” reports that he might have been abducted by a state agency.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad: SC summons federal secretaries over commission formation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190805/saleem-shahzad-sc-summons-federal-secretaries-over-commission-formation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190805/saleem-shahzad-sc-summons-federal-secretaries-over-commission-formation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 11 06:39:56 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=190805</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CJ hears PFUJ petition requesting the court to form a high-powered commission, hearing adjourned till June 20.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court on Friday summoned the Secretaries of Law, Interior and  Information over an application filed for the formation of a commission to  inquire into journalist Saleem Shehzad’s murder.

The application filed by Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma  Jehangir requests the court to form the commission. The application has been filed on behalf of the Pakistan Federal  Union of Journalists (PFUJ), who rejected the commission filed by the government on Thursday.

The government's nominee to head a commission to probe journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder, Supreme Court judge Mian Saqib Nisar, refused to lead investigations shortly after his nomination on Thursday.

Nisar said he would not undertake the job because Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani did not consult Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry prior to nominating him, in violation of established judicial norms.

After the proceedings, Asma Jehangir told the media that the request for  a high-powered commission is justified. She said only intelligence agencies have the capability to erase cell  phone records, adding that the inquiry commission must be formed with the consultation  of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad  Chaudhry heard the application and adjourned the hearing till June 20.

Hundreds of journalists from across the country marched on the Constitution Avenue in the federal capital on Wednesday before staging a 24-hour sit-in next to the Parliament House, demanding that the government form a judicial commission headed by a Supreme Court judge to probe the killing of Saleem Shahzad.

Saleem Shehzad who was the Asia Times Online Pakistan bureau chief was kidnapped from Islamabad on May 29. His body was found from Mandi Bahuddin on May 31.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad Commission: Govt commissions another controversy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190676/saleem-shahzad-commission-govt-commissions-another-controversy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190676/saleem-shahzad-commission-govt-commissions-another-controversy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 11 02:43:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=190676</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Supreme Court judge refuses to lead investigations on the plea that the chief justice was not consulted.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government appears to not only have missed the nail but also created another controversy for itself.


Its nominee to head a commission to probe journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder, Supreme Court judge Mian Saqib Nisar, refused to lead investigations shortly after his nomination on Thursday.

Nisar said he would not undertake the job because Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani did not consult Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry prior to nominating him, in violation of established judicial norms.

Meanwhile, justifying the government’s action, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said that consultation with the chief justice was not required for setting up the probe commission. She cited the example of Abbottabad probe commission, where a sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice Javed Iqbal, was appointed head of the commission without prior permission from the chief justice.

The Abbottabad commission was slammed by the opposition and legal fraternity which raised questions over its composition and the procedure adopted by the government to constitute it.

Righting its wrong

Critics say the government is attempting to right its previous wrong, hand-picking a sitting Supreme Court judge without consulting the chief justice, through the present commission. Speaking to the media, President Asma Jahangir criticised the way the government made the nomination, arguing that an apex court judge’s appointment without consulting the chief justice was tantamount to violating the judiciary’s independence.

Hand-picking sitting judges at whim is interference in judiciary’s affairs, said Jahangir, adding that the chief justice would have had no issues over the nomination had he been consulted.

The main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also blamed the government for mishandling the issue by dealing with it casually.

“The government is not serious … the way the whole thing is being handled shows how callous it is,” said PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rasheed in a statement issued to media.

Attempt to defuse tension

The government had agreed to appoint a judge from the country’s top court after an overnight sit-in by journalists on Constitution Avenue, right across the parliament.

Earlier this week, Gilani nominated Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan to lead the probe commission but the move was slammed by associations of media persons.

They demanded that a judge from the Supreme Court must be assigned to lead the investigations of the murder that is widely interpreted as a threat to journalists covering the complex and covert ties between militant groups and Pakistani security establishment.

The media fraternity ended its protest after an assurance by Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday morning that their demand had been met.  According to a notification issued from Prime Minister Secretariat earlier on Thursday, Justice Nisar was assigned to lead a five-member commission to investigate Shahzad’s murder, if he accepted the nomination.

The notification did not, however, mention who would be assigned the job in case Nisar refused.

Nisar, however, said he might accept the nomination if the chief justice endorsed it.

Commission terms

Other members of the commission include Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Agha Rafique, Islamabad deputy inspector-general, additional inspector-general investigation Punjab and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists’ president.

The commission will set up its office in the information ministry and submit a report within six weeks, the notification read.

It would inquire into the background and circumstances of abduction and subsequent murder of Shahzad. It would also be mandated to identify the culprits involved in the kidnapping and killing, the notification added.

The commission was also asked to recommend measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

SC agrees to hear petition

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Thursday approved a petition for hearing filed by Jahangir on behalf of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, calling for formation of an independent commission to probe Shahzad’s murder.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by the chief justice will commence hearing on the petition on Friday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad murder: SC accepts Asma Jahangir's petition</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/189663/saleem-shahzad-murder-this-one-will-not-go-in-vain</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/189663/saleem-shahzad-murder-this-one-will-not-go-in-vain#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 11 21:00:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=189663</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asma Jahangir submitted petition for formation of an independent commission.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court (SC) accepted Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir’s petition, late on Thursday, for the formation of an independent commission to probe Saleem Shehzad's murder.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice(CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will hear the petition on Friday.

This development follows a five-member bench judicial commission formed by the federal government earlier on Thursday, to be headed by  Justice Saquib Nisar.

However, Justice Saquib Nisar had refused to accept his charge citing improper conduct of the government.

Express 24/7 correspondent Faisal Shakeel reported that, Justice, who said that Saleem Shehzad was like a son to him, would have accepted the chair of the commission if the government would have taken the Chief Justice into confidence first.

Additionally, in the original notification which was made public early Thursday morning, Justice Saquib Nisar was named as being 'associated' with the commission rather than heading it.

The government on Thursday agreed to the terms and conditions of journalists for the probe into journalist Saleem Shahzad's murder. 

The announcement was made by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan this morning outside the Parliament House where journalists had organised a sit-in demanding the formation of judicial commission headed by a Supreme Court judge to probe the killing of Saleem Shahzad.

Awan said Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was woken up from sleep to sign the summary for  the judicial inquiry that will  take place to probe into the murder. She said Justice Saqib Nisar has been appointed head of the  commission.

The government issued a notification for the formation of  a five-member commission to investigate the murder of journalist Saleem  Shehzad.

Other members of the commission include Federal Shariah Court Chief  Justice Agha Rafique, the Islamabad DIG, Additional IG Investigation Punjab and  Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president. The commission will set up its office in the Information Ministry and  will submit a report into the murder within six weeks.

The information minister said the government is committed to providing security to journalists.

Journalists have called an end to the sit-in after the  announcement.

Updated from print edition (below)

Saleem Shahzad murder: This one will not go in vain

This one, it seems, will not just fade away.


Though dozens of their colleagues have been killed over the last decade, journalists seem to be adamant to ensure that the kidnapping and brutal beating to death of reporter Saleem Shahzad will finally be a case where truth will be unveiled.

Hundreds of journalists from across the country marched on the Constitution Avenue in the federal capital on Wednesday before staging a 24-hour sit-in next to the Parliament House, demanding that the government form a judicial commission headed by a Supreme Court judge to probe the killing of Saleem Shahzad.

The call for the protest was made by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) after journalists rejected the government’s appointment of the chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court as the head of the commission probing the journalist’s death.

Journalists said that they would accept no less than a sitting Supreme Court judge to conduct a free and fair inquiry into the killing of the journalist, who was kidnapped from Islamabad on May 28 and murdered by yet ‘unknown’ elements. His beaten and tortured body was found from Mandi Bahauddin on May 30.

“We have no political agenda. We are here to demand a fair judicial inquiry into the murder,” said Pervaiz Shaukat, the president of the PFUJ.

A permanent camp was set up next to the Parliament House where various leaders of journalists’ representative bodies made speeches amid emotional sloganeering.

They were, from time to time, joined by parliamentarians belonging to almost all political parties, who expressed solidarity with the journalists’ demand for justice.

Farahnaz Isphahani, the media adviser to the president, said that she would convey to the prime minister and the president the journalists’ demand.

“The government had constituted a commission earlier as well which was not acceptable to them, therefore, we (parliamentarians) will meet both the President and the Prime Minister on Thursday,” she told The Express Tribune.

After offering prayers for Shehzad, she assured the journalists of her unyielding support. However, Isphahani found herself in a difficult situation when she tried to assert that the government was serious in handling the matter. She was interrupted by loud slogans by young journalists, who reiterated their demand for a sitting Supreme Court judge to head the commission.

Earlier, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif visited the journalists’ camp and told journalists that he agreed with their demand for a sitting Supreme Court judge to conduct the judicial inquiry into the murder.

“The invisible elements active behind (all) such activities must be uncovered now,” said Sharif.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the government needed to take immediate action on Shehzad’s killing.

A number of foreign journalists also participated in the sit-in, providing extensive foreign coverage.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Journalists under threat</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190171/journalists-under-threat</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190171/journalists-under-threat#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 11 18:05:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=190171</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies accused of picking up people and using intimidatory methods against them.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The ‘dharna’ by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in Islamabad demanding adequate inquiry into the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad has finally forced the government to take the promised inquiry commission to the level of the Supreme Court. The refusal of journalists to accept a probe at any level less than that of the Supreme Court indicated the determination of the profession to get to the bottom of a series of acts of violence against journalists of late. Investigation of the death of Saleem Shahzad — he had already indicated to a press organisation and a human rights body that an intelligence agency had given him threats — by a judge of the Supreme Court will go beyond just the usual ‘damage control’ devices applied by cornered governments.

Violence has crept into all sections of society — students attacked the press club in Multan and killed an innocent citizen — but the beginning has been provided by the war against terrorism in which both sides of the conflict have sought to suppress what they thought was adverse coverage. It is unfortunate that while terrorists have punished those who revealed their atrocities, the state, too, has killed to hide its derelictions. Journalists reporting from the tribal areas have faced this two-pronged danger and many have died because it was humanly impossible for them to abide by the diktat of the two sides at once. Pakistan is today in the front row of countries where journalists lose their lives or are thrashed mercilessly. Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies have been accused of picking up people and of using intimidatory methods against them. In the case of Sarfaraz Shah, his brutal and merciless murder by Rangers personnel was caught on tape and seen by many a shocked and angered Pakistani. All this must come to an end and the appointment of a Supreme Court judge as chairman of the inquiry commission on the gruesome murder of Saleem Shahzad is expected to contribute to the righting of a wrong being endured by the people.

The protest launched by the PFUJ has achieved an initial success by forcing the government to take the death of Saleem Shahzad seriously. What the PFUJ might achieve further is the ‘alternative’ narrative that Shahzad honestly contributed to the ‘official version’ about the origin and spread of terrorist activities in Pakistan. His steady stream of on-the-spot reporting, interviews with al Qaeda leaders, and his book Inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 will challenge the integrity of the inquiry commission and will persuade it to take another look at the ‘infection’ of al Qaeda within the establishment and, above all, the affair of Lal Masjid, which the judiciary has not been able to comprehend so far. The following insights mentioned in Shahzad’s book will give Pakistan the opportunity of self-correction that it direly needs:

1) It is al Qaeda rather than the Taliban who plan militant attacks in Pakistan and the Taliban execute no operations without the former’s permission; 2) jihadi organisations are subservient to al Qaeda; 3) the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan was shaped by al Qaeda through Uzbek warlord Tahir Yuldashev after the 2007 Lal Masjid affair; 4) ‘retired’ army officers, earlier handling proxy jihad, defected to al Qaeda but continued to use their personal contacts with elements in the armed forces; 5) Benazir Bhutto was killed by al Qaeda and not Baitullah Mehsud; he was merely an instrument; 6) the Mumbai attack was carried out by al Qaeda through former military officers and with help from the Lashkar-e-Taiba without the knowledge of the ISI; 7) freedom fighters trained by the military for the jihad in Kashmir have spearheaded al Qaeda’s war against the armed forces; 8) Islamic radicalisation of Pakistani society and media, mixed with fear of being assassinated by al Qaeda agents — which include former military officers — have tilted the balance of power away from the state of Pakistan to al Qaeda; and 9) the so-called ‘Punjabi Taliban’ operate under the Haqqani network, which, as accusations go, is given sanctuary by the establishment.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Pulling punches</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190219/pulling-punches</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/190219/pulling-punches#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 11 17:48:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[gibran.peshimam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=190219</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The ISI has unleashed on the ones they purportedly serve a rein of fear and terror that has been unmatched.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[This article has been some time in the making.

Its completion was kick-started by the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, and eventually sped-up after reading Ejaz Haider’s fabulous open letter to our country’s top spy master of June 8, in The Express Tribune, titled “An open letter to General Pasha”.

One cannot try to match Ejaz’s coherence and lucidity — at least I cannot. Yet while what he says is brave and close to unprecedented — given the general fear of the institution that he is addressing — it still stops short of what is on the minds of so many Pakistanis, or at least on my mind.

It’s a pulled punch.

One cannot blame him. At least he has set the bar slightly higher. Made the tone slightly stronger.

But it’s still a pulled punch.

Amidst the debate on how far we can go in our criticism, and how much further we are willing to go, I am reminded of a fabulous piece on another beyond-reproach organisation.

Written by Irfan Malik, the article, captioned, “The abyss gazes into you”, appeared in Dawn in the wake of the carnage unleashed in Karachi on May 12, 2007. He wrote: “The politics of terror is self-defeating in the sense that the number of victims can never be limitless. This is a big city. Starting with me and you, how many can they kill? Their cover, what was left of it, is blown for good.

“They thrive on fear, so let none be shown. Let them do their worst.

“To retain its hold, the psychology of terror demands deafening silence. Eik, dou, teen… But the dams have burst and the unthinkable is being said — openly by some and with the thinnest of disguises by others constrained by corporate policy, not personal choice... In any case, the chinks in the armour are widening, the facade is cracking... There must be no letting up, no papering over, no reconciliation.”

I will not deliberate on how successfully, or not, that window was utilised. It is the notion of the writer that is important.

In any case, the situation is similar to that of the ISI today. It released a clarification pleading innocence in the matter, a rare, if not unprecedented, act on its part. It is on the back foot, and some have, and few more may, get away with saying things in this window of opportunity. It seems to be closing fast with veiled warnings of patriotism and nationalism.

So here goes. Who killed Saleem Shahzad? Come on. Who else could wipe out his cell phone data from the system? And if one is still unconvinced, consider that the ISI should at least be able to uncover who did do it. Surely, it is not beyond the ability of the country’s most powerful spy agency.

Surely, in either scenario, this is at least a case of complicity.

They still might ‘catch’ some poor sap, a fall guy, perhaps a major, perhaps even a colonel. But it won’t really put the doubts to rest.

Surely this is not simply a case of a ‘few bad apples’.

Yet we will never say openly, in print, that the orchard is rotten; that the charges are so much more than Saleem Shahzad. That the ISI has unleashed on the ones they purportedly serve a rein of fear and terror that has been unmatched. Unmatched by India, unmatched by the US and unmatched by all our so-called enemies, even put together.

That they have patronised, or at least turned a blind eye to, elements that are inimical not only to the West, but have proven to be a cancer that has spread across the country, crippling the nation’s heart, body and mind. That their draconian policies have pushed, beyond reconciliation, already disgruntled parts of our population. That their meddling has brought us to the verge of being declared a pariah state. That their manipulation has grievously harmed, if not completely maimed, our political process.

The trial, the inquiry, the commission, should be not only of the abduction and brutal beating-to-death of Saleem Shahzad, but of the organisation itself. This is the window of opportunity.

It should feed a total rethink of what this organisation does, what purpose, what interest it serves, and whether the people of Pakistan want it to continue functioning.

Once, and if, the evidence comes forward, it will be time to stop pulling punches.

We don’t need to pluck the bad apples.

The orchard needs to be cleared.

Completely.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Making sense of suo motu</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/188804/making-sense-of-suo-motu</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/188804/making-sense-of-suo-motu#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jun 11 17:38:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=188804</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[SC of Pakistan has been empowered by the Constitution to take suo motu action for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[There is a clichéd ancient Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”. And with interesting comes the unpredictable. Certainties are preciously rare in Pakistan today. Yet one can be sure that each day someone someplace will come on television and ask for the Supreme Court to take ‘suo motu’ cognisance of something. This sureness should evoke ambivalence. In the public discourse, there are disagreements, sometimes ferocious, about particular suo motu actions and, in some case, the lack thereof. However, the general principle of the desirability of the suo motu is hardly questioned, at least not meaningfully.

The legal argument for suo motu action is simple. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been expressly empowered under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution to take suo motu action for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution. The self-evidently lucid article of the Constitution establishes the mere ‘permissibility’ of suo motu notice for the Supreme Court (note it does so only for the Supreme Court, the power for the High Court is never explicitly mentioned and is extremely tenuous at best). It is significant to notice that it establishes permissibility and does not mandate or oblige the Supreme Court to do so in specific cases. It is one of those laws that are in theory impossible to infringe. Hence, the Supreme Court can choose not to take suo motu notice at all. In any event, I disagree, albeit respectfully, with the very existence of the power of suo motu. My argument should not be construed as being against the Honorable Supreme Court, but rather the principle of suo motu. More significant than the formalistic legal argument is the normative acceptance of judicial intervention.

The Latin term ‘suo motu’ literally means ‘on its own motion’. Hence, the logical and semantic absurdity of demanding a suo motu should be obvious. It could not be entirely suo motu if requested. However, my problem with suo motu and the demand for it is faintly more fundamental and qualitative. The suo motu notice makes victims of impossibly horrific tragedies into raucous attention-seeking school children. It re-enacts the ‘Court’ in the antiquated sense, where courtesans sinisterly battled for regal notice, each trying shamefully to burn more brightly than the others. Sometimes, even when the notice is taken, as for example in the missing persons case, it can only be accorded momentary attention and hence leaves the subjects thoroughly unsatisfied and teased due to splendours withheld. Those wronged by ghastly actions are left to plead for clemency, rather than assert any right. The suo motu has transformed us into a nation waiting for providence.

In Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, the miserable Mr Bumble is intimated by Mr Brownlow, the lawyer, who says that the law supposes that ”your wife acts under your direction”. Mr Bumble replies saying: “If the law supposes that... the law is a ass — a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.” The licentious pre-emption of Oliver Wendell Holmes by Mr Bumble has an uncanny profundity, especially applicable to Pakistan. Suo motu, like any other law, cannot be viewed or applied in a vacuum completely impervious to our experience. The rationale used extensively to justify exhaustive judicial activism in general and suo motu in particular has the underlying assumption that parliament and the executive are incompetent and have failed to deliver. There is not a lot intrinsically wrong with the argument, except that it has been used on multiple occasions in our checkered history to justify periodic ‘military activism’. The fact that elected people are circumvented and, perhaps, even worse, they themselves ask to be bypassed almost every time suo motu cognisance is taken, is a frighteningly familiar principle. It feeds the archaic urge of being governed by a ‘benevolent dictatorship’, it is the lust for totalitarianism.

An apparently more meritorious and subtle utilitarian argument is that suo motu notice at least allows some people to attain justice, which is more desirable than an equitable unfairness for all. A case in point is the suo motu notice of the brutal murder committed by Rangers in Karachi. Individual cases like these are unexceptionably hard to argue with. Yet for every Sarfaraz Shah, there are several Saleem Shahzads that go ignored and various Atiqa Odhos hogging valuable time and energy. It stifles the formation of a system where the heirs of Sarafraz Shah and Saleem Shahzad are able to go to court and get justice as a matter of human right, not due to hazy munificence. The essence of unfettered discretion is inequity. Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil impliedly argues that despotism is not necessarily oppressive law, but rather is the “tyranny of capricious law”. And there is admittedly arbitrariness in suo motu actions. There is bound to be randomness as carte blanche is to be exercised by mortals, even if it is by mortals of great wisdom and equanimity. The distinction between ‘rule of law’ and ‘rule of men’ is instructive. Suo motu powers confer a grandiosely divine supremacy on to unelected government officials. The fact that they are seasoned, meticulously appointed government officials cannot obscure the fact that they remain unelected.

The trite saying “give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish, you feed him for life,” is relevant. Suo motu notices allow for the sordid, discriminatory legal system to flourish with a lucky draw being conducted one day at a time. The people are being sent a message that instead of approaching the courts, which would also necessitate the establishment of a uniformly accessible justice system, they should weakly hope for a miracle. Miracles are hardly ever democratic. Laziness thrives under this dispensation. Suo motu notice allows for fleeting relief from systemic problems, while inadvertently according legitimacy to those very systems it seeks to fight.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad’s murder: Shariat court CJ to head new commission</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/188583/sharia-courts-cj-agha-to-head-saleem-shahzad-murder-probe</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/188583/sharia-courts-cj-agha-to-head-saleem-shahzad-murder-probe#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jun 11 03:42:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[umer.nangiana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=188583</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Journalist community to discuss the new govt move.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government on Monday gave in to growing protests by the journalist community and formed a commission to investigate the abduction and subsequent killing of investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad.


Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court Justice Agha Rafiq will head the commission which will probe into the mysterious murder of Shahzad, who was the bureau chief of Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online in Pakistan.

The journalist community had rejected an earlier commission formed by the government — which comprised a police official each from Islamabad and Punjab and a representative of the journalist community. Media men demanded that a sitting judge of Supreme Court should head such a commission.

The body of Shahzad was found on May 31 in a canal in Mandi Bahauddin, about 150 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, two days after he went missing on his way from his home to a television interview in another part of the capital.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has given the government until June 15 to form a commission to investigate Shahzad’s killing or else it would stage a countrywide protest campaign and a sit-in outside parliament on Wednesday.

Reacting to the reports of the new commission, PFUJ President Parvaiz Shaukat said representatives of journalists would meet at the Supreme Court Bar Association building to discuss the matter. “We will see if the commission is acceptable to us,” he told The Express Tribune.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Nawaz Sharif and the military establishment</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186921/nawaz-sharif-and-the-military-establishment</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186921/nawaz-sharif-and-the-military-establishment#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jun 11 20:19:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=186921</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-N leader has spoken out in defence of an aspect of democracy that has gone missing in Pakistan.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Speaking at the headquarters of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Lahore on June 10, on the occasion of a reference meeting to protest the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif called on the Pakistan military to change its mindset. He called for its accountability under the country’s democratic system, asked the GHQ to abandon its hold on the foreign policy of the country, especially its India-centric obsession, and its tendency not to tolerate criticism. It was clear which institution he was addressing as he made reference to his own policy of détente with India after acquiring nuclear status for Pakistan. He said former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit was sabotaged by an unauthorised invasion of Kargil to pre-empt his party’s initiative. He said: “End your domination of foreign policy if you wish the criticism to end”. Careful to avoid indicting the entire institution, he pinpointed his observation: “The army is under the domination of a handful of people with a specific mindset”.

Since the SAFMA reference was about the death of a journalist with clues pointing to some elements in the establishment, Mr Sharif urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the killing, pledging that he and his party would stand with the journalist community “till the killers are brought to book”. Given that a campaign is on to muffle the public protest against the killing of Saleem Shahzad, the PML-N leader has spoken out at the right time and in defence of an aspect of democracy that has gone missing in Pakistan.

The positive side of the PML-N policy is its steady adherence to the strategy of normalising relations with India as a corollary of its stance on Pakistan’s status as a nuclear power. The unspoken rule in nuclear theory and practice is that after having achieved nuclear deterrence, two rival states must achieve agreement on status quo. Mr Sharif’s reference to Kargil was actually aimed at conveying the fact that the Pakistan Army was wrong to pursue conflict — overt or covert — after the 1998 nuclear testing by Pakistan when he was prime minister.

Stemming from the PML-N’s adherence to the 2006 Charter of Democracy signed with the PPP, its policy plank of seeing with India goes against the continuing India-centrism of the GHQ, abhorred by the international community and diagnosed by it as the root of the strategic mismatch in the war against terrorism. This is also the fatal bedrock on which the GHQ is isolating Pakistan in the world, confirming the impression that some elements with the Pakistani state are interfacing with al Qaeda instead of fighting it.

This is not the first time that Mr Sharif has expressed his determination to continue his post-1998 policy with India. His repeating it on June 10 points to the dynamic nature of his thinking often identified by his opponents with policy contradiction. The effort to remove Pakistan from the rut of isolationism apparently contradicts his party’s position that the war against terrorism is not Pakistan’s war. If the PML-N wants the GHQ to relent on India and thus ensure Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence, it will have to own this war — the journalist Mr Sharif came to SAFMA to defend died saying Pakistan was wrong in not owning this war. As the PML-N policy stands today, it persuades one to focus on the various unexamined aspects of its relationship with the army. When it says the war against terrorism is not our war, it is getting cosy with the elements in the armed forces sympathetic to the cause of the extremists willing to interface with al Qaeda. Less directly, its rather strident expression of anti-Americanism also allows it to retain its influence within the rank and file of the army. Since Mr Sharif has criticised the current military leadership rather than the institution itself, one must understand PML-N’s anti-Americanism as a less permanent part of its domestic rivalry with the PPP with whom it expects to contest the next elections.

Mr Nawaz Sharif knows that his right-wing party has more traction within a Punjabi-dominated army than the PPP. Everyone else knows that only his party can achieve normalisation with India to clinch the war against terrorism. The world outside is also realising this.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Excellence in journalism: Top Italian prize for Saleem Shahzad</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186684/excellence-in-journalism-top-italian-prize-for-saleem-shahzad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186684/excellence-in-journalism-top-italian-prize-for-saleem-shahzad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jun 11 05:54:28 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=186684</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Jury notes he had to pay with his life for his desire to tell the truth at all costs.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Italy’s Ischia Prize Foundation announced on Friday that it will confer a posthumous honour upon Pakistani reporter Syed Saleem Shahzad. The decision to award Shahzad was a unanimous one and was backed by all members of the jury. The annual prize honours excellence in journalism and communication.


Shahzad, Pakistan correspondent for Adnkronos International, Asia Times Online and La Stampa, was abducted in Islamabad and tortured to death by unidentified men on May 29. He was found dead two days later, some 150 kilometres southwest of Islamabad.

In their citations, members of the Ischia prize jury described Shahzad as “inquiring and enthusiastic” journalist who “did in-depth reporting in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he interviewed various jihadist commanders, as well as in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, Iran, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.”

“An expert in international terrorism, Shahzad with his illuminating analyses of international terrorism, and the social and cultural reality so different from our own, he embodied a passionate and courageous model for journalism which viewed the profession as the supreme mission for peace and culture,” said the Ischia Prize Foundation.

“Through his articles published by AKI, and his in-depth reports and stories for the various dailies he worked for, Shahzad managed to bring to an Italian audience the complex reality of that region of the world of which he was an acute and intrepid observer. He paid with his life for his desire to tell the truth at all costs.”

Shahzad is survived by his wife and three children aged 7, 10 and 13. His wife Anita will collect the award.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Journalist’s assassination: Sharif demands Shahzad murder probe commission</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186685/journalist%e2%80%99s-assassination-sharif-demands-shahzad-murder-probe-commission</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186685/journalist%e2%80%99s-assassination-sharif-demands-shahzad-murder-probe-commission#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jun 11 05:40:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saleha.rauf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=186685</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[SAFMA organises a condolence reference in memory of slain journalist.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder and demanded the government to set up a commission to probe the incident.


While addressing Shahzad’s condolence reference at the South Asian Media Centre here on Friday organised by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), Sharif said the PML-N would ensure that Shahzad’s murderers are arrested.

“We will not tolerate breaching of law, torture of journalists and suspension of the constitution in the future,” he said.

“The Abbotabad Operation conducted by US, Mehran Naval airbase attack in Karachi and drone attacks are all outcomes of our weaknesses and negligence, however, we have to take serious notice of these incidents” he added.

Sharif said “the situation of Pakistan is a tale of lost ideology. The army budget should be discussed in the cabinet. A house committee should be established for the accountability of the security institutions.”

“If we let them do whatever they think is right for the country, we’ll face more killings like this,” he added.

The event was arranged to pay tribute to the martyred journalist and probe the causes behind his death.

Meanwhile, South Asian Media Commission (SAMC) secretary-general Najam Sethi formed a commission, Media Commission Pakistan, to monitor attacks on media personnel and safeguard the freedom of press. The commission will pursue ongoing cases and audit the content of media, besides proposing a code of ethics, said a press release issued by the SAFMA here on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad remembered: Independent inquiry into journalist’s murder sought</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186491/saleem-shahzad-remembered-independent-inquiry-into-journalist%e2%80%99s-murder-sought</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186491/saleem-shahzad-remembered-independent-inquiry-into-journalist%e2%80%99s-murder-sought#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jun 11 04:21:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=186491</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Commission being formed for protection from attacks: Presidential spokesperson.]]>
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				<![CDATA[All fingers at a memorial reference for journalist Saleem Shahzad were pointed towards Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency for his kidnapping and killing.


Participants at the reference, organised by the South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) on Friday, demanded an independent inquiry commission to probe into the case.

Shahzad, the Pakistan bureau chief of Asia Times Online, went missing days after writing an article in which he contended that Al Qaeda attacked the naval base in Karachi after their talks with the navy to release some arrested persons fell through.

He had left his house in Islamabad to participate in a television programme on May 29. But he never reached his destination. Two days later his body and car were found some 150 kilometres from Islamabad.

After receiving a complaint that Interior Minister Rehman Malik did nothing for the welfare of the bereaved family, Safma has announced a special account to accommodate the victims.

Senior journalists including Ashfaq Saleem Mirza, Hamid Mir, Nusrat Javed and Kishwar Naheed spoke on the occasion. Besides journalists, a large number of members of civil society also participated in the reference to commemorate the journalist.

Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar praised Shahzad’s journalistic achievements and told the participants that a summary has been forwarded to the Ministry of Law for the formulation of an inquiry commission to investigate the incident.

He added that following the orders of the president, a special cell for the protection of journalists in the information ministry was being set up, which will help detect such threats in future, he added.

Lt General (Retd) Talat Masood said Shahzad’s murder exposed the three-decade-old mindset of both civilian and state institutions.

“We are not blaming investigation agencies but at the same time we say that if our intelligence agencies are not involved in the murder of Shahzad, then why don’t they fulfil their duty to expose the hidden hands behind the brutal killing of a citizen (Saleem Shahazad),” he said. A traitor is not the person who points out the weaknesses of a country but the person who hides them, he added.

PML-N MNA Ayaz Amir criticised the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release issued after the corps commander meeting on Thursday night.

He said that he was not aware of the term ‘perceptual biased’ used in the press release adding that the new words show ISPR’s frustration.

He said the Abbottabad operation on May 2 changed the public perception of the army. These institutions have the public charmed, but if one engaged them in dialogue, their weaknesses and poor assumptions come through.

Similar assumptions led to the murder of Saleem Shahzad, he added.

The brutal murder of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer and celebrations over it shows that we are sick nation, he said, adding we are illiterate and self-righteous, a society where the concept of tolerance has no significance.

Ashfaq Saleem Mirza said that South Asian Media Commission Secretary General Najam Sethi, after consultation with various media and civil society organisations, formed a media commission, to monitor increasing attacks on media persons and defend press freedom in Pakistan. The commission will not only defend journalists under attack and pursue their cases but also audit the content of media, besides proposing a code of ethics.

 

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sailing close to the wind</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186280/sailing-close-to-the-wind</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/186280/sailing-close-to-the-wind#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jun 11 19:46:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[amina.jilani]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=186280</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Saleem Shehzad's last interview to media lends further credence to theories that ISI is behind his and other murders.]]>
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				<![CDATA[There is much about this country that belongs to shadowland. Balochistan, on a daily basis, is littered with bodies of those killed by ‘unknown’ state and non-state actors, as is Karachi with victims of the daily politico-mafia ‘target killings’. And the horrible death that Saleem Shahzad died lies firmly in shadowland.

Floating around cyberspace, easily available on the internet, is what is said to be the last interview Shahzad gave to the media. On May 21, he spoke with Paul Jay, the senior editor of The Real News Network in Washington. And it provides pointers as to why he may have offended what and whom.

The opening question: “Based partly on what you’ve written, it seems that the more pressure the US puts on the Pakistan Army to participate in the Afghan war and to deal with the al Qaeda-Taliban elements, the more it splits the army. How serious a division is there?”

Saying what we all know, but what many refrain from voicing, Shahzad’s response was simple; not only had the military establishment supported the Taliban through the mid-1990s up into the 21st century, but it also had ‘agreements’ with them and with al Qaeda. When questioned as to the possibility of “a kind of mutiny” in the army, he was quite frank. “Well, it is quite possible.” He spoke of the post-9/11 attacks on president-general Pervez Musharraf, in each of which was found a connection to the Pakistan armed forces and in particular the involvement of “southern Pakistan Air Force officials”. “So you just cannot set aside the element of a limited mutiny in the Pakistan Army. There would certainly be a backlash because you have to appreciate the fact that the Pakistan Army has always been closely allied with Islamist forces.”

He reiterated the ‘agreement’ factor and mentioned the visit of the then ISI chief, Lt-General Mahmud Ahmad, to Kandahar immediately after 9/11 to meet the Taliban government in Afghanistan, as well as al Qaeda, where he “verbally assured Osama bin Laden that Pakistan would not mount any operation against al Qaeda, they would not try to arrest them, and al Qaeda would not retaliate against Pakistan either. So, under the very same agreement, Osama bin Laden and all the top al Qaeda members were allowed to sneak inside Pakistan.”

“Crackdowns” against the jihadis and al Qaeda, as Shahzad termed them, were accelerated in 2003 when “Pakistan intelligence wrongly reported” to Musharraf that al Qaeda was responsible for an attack on his motorcade. “So the element of a limited revolt or mutiny within the Pakistan Army is there and you just cannot ignore it.”

On urban public opinion, Shahzad had it that “the majority of urban Pakistan is completely disillusioned with the Pakistan military establishment... and is very much concerned that Pakistan has turned into a proxy battleground by all sorts of forces, not only from the al Qaeda side and the American side, but the Iranians and Saudis are also very active inside Pakistan and they are paying money to different groups in different militant outfits to settle the score against each other.”

There was some discussion on 9/11 and its instigators and participators, and also on whether the Taliban were ready to now talk to the US. No, unlikely, in view of the killing by the Americans of OBL. “I don’t think the Taliban would behave in a friendly way towards the US.”

It is all seemingly innocuous and there is nothing that has not been mooted. But there are bits and pieces that could be irritants to certain ‘state actors,’ particularly in view of Shahzad’s delving into the Mehran affair. As time passes and as more and more commentators express their opinions, the moving finger halts itself and points in one direction — towards the undisputed king of shadowland; the ISI.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad Case: As family struggles, authorities drag their feet</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/185283/saleem-shahzad-case-as-family-struggles-authorities-drag-their-feet</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/185283/saleem-shahzad-case-as-family-struggles-authorities-drag-their-feet#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jun 11 03:07:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=185283</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Family of Saleem Shahzad forced to move out of their rented residences in Islamabad and relocate to Karachi.]]>
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				<![CDATA[With events continuously conspiring against them, the family of slain journalist Saleem Shahzad has been forced to move out of their rented residence in Islamabad and relocate to Karachi, The Express Tribune has learnt.


Shahzad’s widow and their three children Fahad Saleem, 13, Amna Saleem, 10, and Rehman Shah, seven, were forced to give up their residence because they could no longer afford the rent. Meanwhile, to make matters worse, ten days after his death, the Islamabad and Punjab police still remain undecided on registering further cases of abduction and murder to the case of the slain journalist.

While the family of the journalist, who continued his quest to uncover the truth despite threats to his life, in dire straits, the authorities are yet to contact the family for compensation and legal assistance.

Shahzad owned three bank accounts, none of which can be accessed by his widow yet, since the authorities have failed to provide her with a successor certificate.

Sub Inspector Shafiq Ahmed at the Islamabad police station, investigation officer for the case Moharrar and an official of the records room at the said police station Naveed allegedly remained uncooperative in terms of receiving the application/ supplementary statement for adding a murder charge (under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code) to it.

Only after two lawyers intervened in the matter did the investigation officer “reluctantly” receive the application, Hamza Ameer, Shahzad’s brother-in-law told The Express Tribune.

The application submitted by complainant Hamza Ameer, Shahzad’s brother-in-law, addressed to the Margalla police station SHO, requested that a murder charge  be included in the complaint, as it was initially lodged under Section 365 of the PPC, which was when Shahzad had gone missing.

According to Ameer, the investigation officer said that the case file had been referred to the legal branch for its opinion regarding whether a murder charge should be added at the Margalla police station where the complaint was first filed when Shahzad went missing, or at the Mandi Bahauddin police station where the body was recovered and a case was registered against unidentified persons for torturing a person to death.

Meanwhile, the investigation officer sub inspector Ahmed said that because the eyewitnesses, police officials, and medical officers belonged to Mandi Bahauddin, and since a separate murder case had been registered at the Saddar Mandi Bahauddin police station, it was likely that the murder charge would not be included at the Margalla police station. However, he added that the final decision would be taken after seeking legal opinion.

A three-member committee headed by DIG Shoaib Dastageer, along with other committee members visited Shahzad’s house in Islamabad to record Ameer’s statement.

The team questioned Ameer about whether Shahzad had an enmity with any individual, institution, or organisation, and later said that because the case was still in the initial stage, they could not blame any particular institution, organisation or individual without concrete evidence.

Ameer told the committee that Shahzad had no personal enmities, and that his reporting was the probable cause for his death.

The chief minister had directed the IGP to constitute a three-member committee with Dastageer in charge and submit a report to him within three days. However, ten days into Shahzad’s murder, the committee is yet to hand over its report.

When asked about it, DIG Dastageer said that the deadline for the probe was unimportant, and starting the probe in order for the investigation to reach a logical end was the bigger issue.

Ameer said that aside from Interior Minister Rehman Malik no other government functionary had contacted Shahzad’s family, nor had anyone announced a compensation for the aggrieved widow and children.

The future of Shahzad’s widow and his children remains uncertain as with each passing day they realise they have no one to turn to.

According to Ameer, when Malik visited the slain journalist’s house, he assured the family that the government would bear all expenses in terms of flying Shahzad’s body out from Islamabad to Karachi. Malik had told the family that the government would take on the responsibility of paying for the children’s education, cover the family’s health expenses and provide them with other basic necessities. However, with each passing day, the interior minister’s promises appear hollower, Ameer said.

 

 

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Saleem Shahzad murder: Petition to form judicial commission filed in SC</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184705/saleem-shahzad-petition-to-form-judicial-commission-filed-in-sc</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184705/saleem-shahzad-petition-to-form-judicial-commission-filed-in-sc#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 11 08:19:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=184705</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A petition was filed requesting a judicial commission to investigate the murder of slain journalist Saleem Shehzad.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, requesting a judicial  commission to be formed to investigate the murder of slain journalist Saleem  Shahzad.

Petitioner Barrister Zafarullah said that the murderers of Shahzad have not been arrested, and said the journalist was punished for  speaking the truth.

He requested the court to form a high-level judicial commission to be  headed by retired Justice Khalil ur Rehman Ramday.

Earlier this week the government gave in to journalists’ demand for a serving Supreme Court judge to investigate the murder of investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik assured office-bearers of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) that an investigation commission would be set up under a Supreme Court judge.

The journalists, who had threatened to stage countrywide sit-ins, said they would go ahead with their plan if the government failed to establish the commission by June 10.

Human Rights Watch says its representative in Pakistan was in contact  with the ISI through interlocutors who had confirmed that the journalist was in  their custody and would be released.

However, his tortured body was found from a canal in Sara-i-Alamgir  near Jhelum.

&nbsp;]]>
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