Collective responsibility ends: Mohmand releases two prisoners held under colonial law

FATA interim government regulation renders the FCR a thing of the past

GHALLANAI: The district administration on Friday directed to free all those prisoners who had been arrested under collective responsibility section of the FCR.

The move comes as an attempt by the administration of the tribal district to demonstrate that one of the most contentious aspects of the colonial Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) was now a part of the past and clashed with the new Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Interim Governance Regulation 2018.

The directive was issued on Friday during a hearing of two prisoners who had filed an appeal with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) against their imprisonment under the collective responsibility section of FCR.

While chairing the case hearing Mohmand DC remarked that under the new interim administrative regulation, 2018, their arrest was contrary to the regulation.

He subsequently ordered their release.

The DC quickly added that henceforth, no resident of Mohmand would be arrested for collective responsibility since it was against basic human rights and contrary to the new law.

The two prisoners, Sherzada, and Khazrat Jan from the Anbar tehsil were subsequently set free.

It’s pertinent to mention here that the FCR was repealed and a new interim regulation replaced it following the merger of Fata and the settled areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in late May. The collective responsibility section has also been nullified. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2018.