Rehman Malik-led Senate body condemns cross-border attack

Islamabad: The Standing Committee on Interior, in a meeting on Monday strongly condemned the IED explosion on Pak-Afghan border in which Major Adeel Shahid, and Sepoy Faraz Hussain, embraced martyrdom. The Committee paid rich tribute to Shuhdaas of Pakistan Army and offered Fateha for their departed souls.

The Committee also expressed grief over the death of 30 passengers in roadside bus accident at Babusar Pass, Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and offered Fateha for the departed souls. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Senator A. Rehman Malik and was attended by Senators Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Dr. Shehzad

Waseem, Kalsoom Parveen, Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen, Momin Khan Afridi as Members of the Committee and Senator Aurangzeb Khan as Special Invitee. The meeting was also attended by Special Secretary Ministry of Interior, I.G.

and A.I.G. Police Punjab, I.G. Prisons, Punjab, I.G. Police, Islamabad, Chairman Safe City Project Islamabad, Chairman NADRA, Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad and other officials.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Senator A. Rehman Malik said that the Committee strongly condemns IED explosion on Pak-Afghan border and expresses heartfelt condolences with the bereaved family of the martyrs and pays rich tribute to the martyrs of Armed Forces of Pakistan and all law enforcement agencies.

He said that Pakistan is fencing the border to control cross-border movement of terrorists while Indian trained terrorists are attacking our Forces to sabotage the process of fencing on the border. He asked the government of Afghanistan to

control cross-border attacks from its soil against Pakistan. He said that the Armed Forces rendered unmatched sacrifices to restore peace but the terrorists wanted to derail in the region.

He said that those who laid down their lives for our motherland are the heroes of our nation, as nation salutes their sacrifices. He said that every Pakistani stand shoulder to shoulder with our Armed Forces in fighting against enemies of the country.

Senator A. Rehman Malik said that he was shocked to see US President Donal Trump standing with Indian PM Narendra Modi on 22nd September in Houston at “Howdy Modi”.

He said that he was expecting the US President will be condemning the 50 days long curfew and unprecedented brutalities and worst kind of human rights violations by Modi government in Indian Occupied Kashmir but sadly he spoke not a single word for Kashmir. He said that earlier he had appealed to US President Donald Trump not to give joint appearance with PM Modi unless he orders to lift the curfew, stops brutalities and withdrawing Indian troops from Kashmir. He said that the joint appearance have hurt the sentiments of Kashmiris who have been caged in Kashmir for the last 50 days with lack of food and medicines.

He added that PM Modi was among top 10 terrorists of the world and he was prohibited from visiting USA for a decade under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) provision of US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for his role in killings of Muslims of Gujrat. He stressed that PM Modi should have been under sanctions rather than being rubbing shoulders with President Donald Trump in “Howdy-Modi” event.

The Committee considered the suo-moto notice taken by Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior regarding “Custodial Death of Salah-ud-Din on 30th August, 2019”.

The Committee was briefed by Inspector General of Police, Punjab in detail about the death of Salah-ud-din. The Inspector General Police told the Committee that he and his Institution was equally aggrieved over the death of Salah-ud-din in Police Station.

He told that Salahuddin was arrested by police in Rahim Yar Khan on Aug 30 on the complaint of a bank allegedly caught stealing money from an ATM and unfortunately he died during custody on Aug 31. He said that on the complaint of Salahuddin`s father FIR was lodged against SHO and investigation officers and other policemen who were on duty, under sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

He added that immediately the DPO Rahim Yar Khan was transferred and concerned SP was suspended. The IG Police Punjab informed the Committee that the father of Salah-ud-din was not satisfied with the postmortem report so the autopsy on the body of Salahuddin, was re-conducted after exhumation on Saturday.

He assured the Committee that justice will be done in the case and requested that the sincerity of police in pursuing the case may not be doubted.

Senator A. Rehman Malik said that the Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan deals with the inviolability of dignity of citizens, arrested or detained by the police. He said that no person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence but sadly custodial torture and killings have become a norm in Police.

He said that although the Constitution of Pakistan does provide protection of every kind but it never defined any punishment to those police officials involved in torture.

He said that it is need of hour that another law defining stringent punishment should be made and implemented against torture and custodial killings in the constitution. He said that he has prepared 26 points proposals which he will be sharing with Ministry of Interior, Law Division and I.G. Police of four provinces seeking their recommendations for framing the said law.

He said that Senator Farhatullah Babar and Senator Farooq H. Naek has already got a Bill “The Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape (Prevention and Punishment), Act, 2015” passed by the Senate but unfortunately the Bills could not passed by the National Assembly in the given 90 days. He directed the I.G.Police Punjab to give standing instructions to all SHOs strictly directing them to refrain from all kind of torture in Police Stations. He said we have to create citizen friendly environment in our Police Station and to bring an end to this practice of torture for the purpose of extracting evidence and recovery.

Taking the matter of rape and killing of children in Kasur, Senator A. Rehman Malik directed I.G. Police Punjab that people across the country are very concerned about the rapid increase in the kidnapping, raping and killing of minors in Kasur. He said that it is another serious challenge for Punjab Police and he hopes that Police will unearth the gang behind this heinous crime. He directed that the Committee will be taking briefing on this issue in the next meeting.

The Committee was briefed by I.G. Police, Islamabad, about the prevailing law and order situation in Islamabad and about the performance and achievements of Islamabad Police. The Committee paid rich tribute to the martyrs of Islamabad Police and all provincial police of the country.

The I.G. Police told the Committee that Islamabad Police was facing shortage of policemen and the appointments were halted since, 2004, however, most recently the Prime Minister has sanctioned appointment of 1280 personnels for which test and interviews have been conducted and soon the new recruitees will be sent to training. He said that the new additions will certainly enhance the further capability of Islamabad police as with shortage it was difficult for us to cope with the increased challenged to Police. He said that he was proud to announce before the Committee that Islamabad as earlier declared no-safe city for families by United Nations now is declared as safe city for families which is indeed an achievement by Islamabad Police. He said that the compensation allowance for the martyrs of Islamabad Police was raised from 20 lac rupees to 2 cror rupees, bringing it at par with the provincial police.

The Chairman Committee, Senator A. Rehman Malik while appreciating the performance of Islamabad Police said that there is always a room for improvement as he has been receiving complaints from the residence of few sectors regarding robberies, burglaries, car lifting and street crimes.

He directed that the patrolling in the vulnerable areas shall be increased to control over such crimes. The I.G. Police informed that in this year there is 21 percent decrease in overall crimes in Islamabad as compared to previous years and there is not a single case of death in custody in Islamabad Police history.

He said that Islamabad Police is being assisted by 420 ranger personnels and there are 22 Police check Posts at different entry points playing a big role in preventing the crimes. He said that there were 246 cases of robberies registered in which Police could recover 66 cror rupees and more than 100 snatched cars. Senator A. Rehman Malik directed Ministry of Interior that the all police particularly the Islamabad Police should be equipped with all modern facilities both in field and training centres to cope up with the modern challenges. He directed PTA and Ministry of Information technology to extend its full technical support to Islamabad Police in countering cyber related crimes and updating their systems.

The Committee considered and expressed annoyance over the alleged incident of sexual assault of a prisoner and negligence shown by jail officials in Central Jail Adiala Rawalpindi. Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator A. Rehman Malik had taken the suo-moto notice of the alleged incident.

The I.G. Prison Punjab briefed the Committee about the alleged incident and said that he had taken the notice of the incident soon he received the information through his whats app and immediately directed DIG Prison Rawalpindi to look into the matter. The DIG Prison told the Committee that the alleged sexually-assaulted prisoner is 21 year old and is arrested alongwith his father and the father had sent him to another barrack willingly which is against the jail manual. He said during his investigation, the alleged sexually-assaulted prisoner alleged another inmate for sexually assaulting him but the medial team duly sent by magistrate did not find any evidence of rape. The DIG Prison told the Committee that a total of 11 officials from Central Jail Adiala have been suspended for their negligence as was identified by not stopping the prisoner shifting to another barrack in the Jail.

The Committee expressed its dissatisfaction over the briefing and directed that the matter should be investigated further thoroughly and a detail report be presented in the next meeting of the committee alongwith presence of DPO, Rawalpindi as Police is carrying out the investigation on the orders of Additional District and Sessions. The Chairman Committee, Senator A. Rehman Malik directed that the judicial inquiry into the incident may be put before the Committee soon it is finalized and the agenda was deferred till the next meeting of the Committee. He also directed that more barracks should be constructed in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi to accommodate minimum prisoner in a barrack. He also directed the Ministry of Interior to coordinate with KPK government for the shifting of the 800 prisoners who are belonging to KPK Province adding that there are no legal restrictions on shifting of prisoners from one jail to another.