Bridging gaps: Tribunal to ensure rights are guaranteed under FCR reforms

An amendment dictates the whole tribe will not be blamed for one person’s crime.


Abdur Rauf December 15, 2012

PESHAWAR:


Among amendments made in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), often dubbed ‘draconian’ by legal experts and jurists, a provision for the establishment of a Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) tribunal will serve as a confidence building measure for people residing in tribal areas.


The tribunal will act as a high court or watchdog to ensure civil rights guaranteed by the new amendments. It is aimed to act as a bridge between the tribal people and state institutions.

The amendments and the tribunal in particular, are part of a larger strategy to meet objectives outlined by the Post Crisis Needs Assessment under the Governance Support Project (GSP), said Implementation Support Unit (ISU) Coordinator Muhammad Zahoor.

The tribunal is headed by a chairman and two members, and will be the highest appellate establishment in the tribal belt.

376

“The difficult first step on the long road ahead has been taken, which is what matters,” said a member of the tribunal, Pir Fida. “Support is needed to create public awareness regarding the reforms and the new rights guaranteed by these amendments. The people of Fata need to know that there is a body actively working to enforce the rights granted and protected by the state.”

While they were made operational in February 2012, the amendments were enacted after President Asif Ali Zardari signed a presidential order in August 2011.

Since February, 376 cases have been referred to the tribunal, out of which 281 have been decided and 95 are currently pending, said another member of the tribunal, Akbar Khan.

Costs

Operational costs of the tribunal amount to Rs11 million, which the GSP is liable to pay till December 31. The government will bear all expenses from next year, said Zahoor.

Women and

The GSP, however, will be providing institutional development support, which includes training lawyers, political agents and other human resources, codifying traditional norms and developing a legal framework, he added.

Amendments

The enacted amendments give an accused the right of bail, in addition to being produced before the concerned authority within 24 hours of arrest.

Women and children below 16 years of age and men over 65 cannot be arrested or detained under the collective responsibility clause. Neither will the entire tribe be held accountable for a crime committed by one member of that tribe. Instead, action will be taken by first involving male family members of the accused, followed by the sub-tribe, and then other sections of the tribe.

A new section mandates action against false prosecutors in civil and criminal matters. The defendant will also be entitled to compensation in such cases.

No person shall be deprived of their property without compensation determined by the existing market value and the procedure as laid down by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in settled areas.

New layers of accountability

“The tribunal is based on the concept of rule of law and justice,” said Akbar. “Several platforms are now available for people to seek justice. The tribunal will be the highest body overlooking decisions made by a jirga conducted through the political agent or his assistant; or by the commissioner in cases where a party is not satisfied by the jirga’s verdict.”

“The Fata tribunal will act as a catalyst for developing the future legal structure of the region based on modern jurisprudence,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2012.

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