Senate Committee to resume Umar Cheema hearing
Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights will resume proceedings today (Monday) after two-and-a-half-months break in order to determine whether the ISI and IB have complied with the directives to find out the rogue elements who had abducted and tortured Umar Cheema, an investigative journalist of The News in September last year.
The Senate committee would also inquire about the investigation ordered last time into the constant chasing and harassment of Cheema as he had complained during his last appearance. Cheema has been invited to attend the proceeding.
A fact-finding report of the judicial commission on Cheema case that has long been withheld by the Interior Ministry and even not been shared with the victim, is also likely to be presented before the Senate committee as was directed by the committee’s chairman in last sitting.
The Senate body had directed the ISI and IB to carry out internal inquiries and find out the suspected rogue elements that had attacked Cheema, a directive issued in light of the findings of the judicial commission report, partly shared with the senators. The report had pointed fingers towards the intelligence agencies for their involvement in the incident.
The commission’s full report has not been presented before any forum despite repeated calls from the opposition leader in the National Assembly, Ch Nisar Ali Khan, as the Interior Ministry has been sitting over it for the last six months.
Instead of sharing the report details, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, has been found spreading speculations in vain with nobody trusting his word. Recently, for example, he told a high-powered delegation of an international body working for the rights of media persons, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Cheema’s incident stemmed from the family’s land dispute, a claim rubbished by the visiting delegates.
The CP’s executive director, Joel Simon, later summed up his meeting with the minister in these lines: “We were extremely disappointed by his (minister) response when we raised the case of Umar Cheema. Outrageously, Malik insisted that the government investigation had determined that the incident stemmed from a family land dispute.”
Incidentally, the minister gave the same argument in the case of another investigative reporter, Azaz Syed, who was attacked twice; his car was damaged and he was shot at.
In contrast to the interior minister’s statement, Interior Secretary Ch Qamar Zaman had shared in February with the Senate body some of the findings of the judicial commission on Umar Cheema case that noted with suspicion the role of intelligence agencies.
The secretary quoted one point of the recommendation which states: “The Commission has established, through record of Motorway interchanges that a Land Cruiser with fictitious registration number had crossed the Islamabad and Balkasar interchanges, during the early hours of the day on 4th September 2010. This fact gives strength to statement of the victim, Umar Cheema, that he was abducted in a Land Cruiser of some agency as normally agencies use fictitious number plates.”
Chairman of the committee, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, concentrating on this point said it is a serious indictment and the intelligence agencies must be held accountable for such acts.
Reacting to the reports that Cheema was constantly being harassed through chasing, phone taping and other such dirty tactics, the committee had also directed investigation into this. “If the agencies couldn’t trace the responsible, it would be a great failure on their part,” Senator Khattak further explained.
The PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid, participating in the committee meeting, had said the intelligence agencies must be reined in, their budget scrutinized and they should be brought under a legal framework for holding them accountable.
“It is not the issue of one individual, Umar Cheema. Many have met this fate in the past and would do so in future if this trend is not arrested,” he said. It must be done immediately before Pakistan is charge-sheeted internationally for letting this reign of terror prevail, he said.
Senator Hafiz Rashid, another member of the committee, said they receive regular warnings from intelligence agencies against speaking out on critical issues and told we can meet the fate of Umar Cheema.
Senator Surriya Aminuddin of Balochistan said forced disappearances and torture at the hands of intelligence agencies is on the rise in her restive province and those who are released are asked to remain silent and leave the country as otherwise they would be eliminated.
Source: The News
Date:5/16/2011
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
