Laws and wars

Pakistan has never been short of legislation — both good and bad — but it has been perennially short of the implementation of that which is good, at the same time as assiduously pressing to implement that which is bad. It remains to be seen how much of the newly-passed Pakistan Protection Bill 2014 (PPB) is good, bad or merely indifferent but it is now on the statute books and a rum beast it is. The Senate, on July 1, passed the bill unanimously but there was no shortage of dissenting voices. The bill that was finally passed is to a degree diluted from its original format that was draconian indeed, but it is rightly being called a ‘hard’ piece of legislation. There have been 21 amendments to the bill as drafted, but it still packs a considerable punch. Senators across the spectrum spoke of their concerns, with Senator Raza Rabbani perhaps, speaking for many when the said that his party the PPP ‘would not approve of this law under normal circumstances.’

There is no doubt that we are not living in anything like ‘normal circumstances’ and that we are a country at war. Times of war sometimes merit unusual legislation, which cuts corners and palpably infringes a sheaf of human rights. The new PPB will be applicable for two years and it widens the powers of law-enforcement agencies. The sections that will be of the greatest concern to civil rights organisations relate to the period of remand for an accused which is now fixed at 60 days but the government may extend this to 90 days so long as the detainee is held at a designated internment camp. This, at least, may reduce the number of people who simply ‘disappear’ — but the government retains the right to withhold information on detainees and this only to be available on application to the High or Supreme Courts. Cybercrimes and offences related to technology are within the ambit of the PPB, and the overall impression is that the government has devised legislation full of ambiguity that may or may not prove to be good law. The proof of this pudding will be in the eating.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2014.

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