PPP opposes Pakistan Protection Ordinance: spokesperson

"The Pakistan Protection Ordinance is not meant to protect the country against militants rather it is license to the security agencies to continue kidnapping people and dumping bodies. "It is a devise to remove the inconvenience felt by law enforcers from being questioned by courts or parliament in cases of enforced disappearances which will be strongly opposed in the Senate."

This has been stated by Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar in a statement on Wednesday. He said the Ordinance violates the fundamental rights and is a declaration of war against our international obligations under various UN Conventions signed by Pakistan like the Convention against Torture and the Convention for the Protection of Civil and Political Rights.

By making the so-called confessions before police admissible in courts the Ordinance opens floodgates of torture in violation of the Pakistan's obligations under the UN Convention against Torture, he said. The absolute powers to law enforcers to shoot at sight, kidnap and dump with impunity, break open into bedrooms without search warrants and altering the paradigm from firing in self-defence to fire anyone anytime merely on the basis of suspicion have not been counterbalanced with even a semblance of check, he said adding "it is recipe to making the matters worse in Balochistan, Karachi and elsewhere where the trigger-happy law enforcers have already created havoc."

There already are tough laws to check political violence and the government need to focus on implementing those laws instead of thoughtlessly making further legislation. The government needs to faithfully implement those laws like the one enacted in March last year disallowing banned outfits from resurrecting under different names, he said. Unfortunately, some resurrected banned groups instead of being stamped out have been receiving official largesse in the name of charity.

Farhatullah Babar also rejected the notion that advanced democracies had also enacted tough laws to fight hardened criminals and militants. In advanced democracies the powers are scrupulously balanced with accountability and oversight but in Pakistan the law enforcers stoutly resist questioning and accountability, he said. Giving an example, he said last year the security establishment had the audacity to ask a Parliamentary Committee not to enlarge the scope of freedom of information law without a nod from it-a command that the Committee promptly rubbished.

Farhatullah Babar also said the PPP also opposed moving the courts at this stage as it was within the domain of the Parliament to debate, modify or reject the law. It is unwise to take parliamentary battle to other forums and invite their interference in matters that falls within the domain of the Parliament alone, he said.