Senate panel rejects ministry's report on no-fly-list

Summons FIA chief, secretary interior to explain process of putting names on ECL

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Wednesday expressed concern over putting names of lawmakers on the Exit Control List (ECL) as it summoned the secretary interior and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general to explain the procedure to place names on the ECL.

The committee, chaired by Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, also ordered the officials to brief the panel at the next meeting on any and all such lists maintained openly or secretly which prohibit people from leaving the country without their knowledge of being on the list.

Meeting of the committee was attended by Senators Keshoo Bai, Dr Mehr Taj Roughani, Hidayatullah, Sana Jamali, Usman Khan Kakar, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, former senator Farhatullah Babar and MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir.



It was disclosed in the meeting that there was a third list called the PNIL in addition to the ECL and the blacklist. Interior ministry told the committee that name of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz was on the blacklist while those of Moshin Dawar and Ali Wazir on the PNIL.

The committee chairman Khokhar said names of people are being placed on the watch-list and the blacklist along the ECL. "Names of parliamentarians including Hamza Shehbaz, Mosin Dawar and Ali Wazir have been put on the ECL," he regretted.

Ayesha Raza said the ruling party's Zulfi Bukhri was allowed to leave the country despite the fact that his name on the ECL. "This is a double standard. Hamza does not have any NAB [National Accountability Bureau] case against him, yet he was not allowed to go abroad. This is violation of basic human rights."

Interior Ministry officials said names of people are placed on the ECL on orders of the courts and with approval of the cabinet. According to the ministry's record, name of Hamza Shehbaz was not on the ECL but on the blacklist.

They disclosed that like the ECL and blacklist there is a third list called the PNIL. Names of accused are placed on this list on instructions of the law enforcing agencies and on orders of the FIA director general. Permission from the interior ministry is not necessary in this case, they said.



They said names of Dawar and Wazir were placed by the FIA in the PNIL on recommendations of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) inspector general police (IGP).

Human Rights Minister Mazari proposed that the FIA DG Bashir Memon and the secretary interior be called before the committee. The committee rejected the briefing of the interior ministry and called the FIA DG, K-P IGP, K-P chief secretary and interior secretary in the next meeting.

Briefing the committee meeting about a bill on missing persons, Mazari said there is no room for enforced disappearances in a democracy. The government wants to resolve this issue by amending the law, she said.

"All the lists of missing persons have been called. It has been decided that meetings with all the stakeholders will be held on the issue. A meeting has already been held with [Balochistan leader] Akhtar Mengal as well," she added.

The committee directed the National Commission on Human Rights, the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Interior to sit together and hold consultation on the draft bill on missing persons and present the same before the committee.

It also took up the matter of re-tabling the Anti-Torture Bill which was presented by Farhatullah Babar in 2014 and was passed by the Senate but later got lapsed due to delay in the National Assembly.

The committee was told by the minister that the ministry has done a comparative study of two bills on the issue and the Government Bill which is currently lying with the Interior Ministry will be soon sent to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation and will be tabled in the NA in its session in January.

The committee observed that there should be no further delay in presenting the bill as Pakistan is a signatory to the International Anti-Torture Convention and Pakistan should take measures to implement its commitments.