Upon arrival at the court, Hamid Mir was accorded a warm welcome by the journalists from different media outlets who were chanting slogans in his favour and were demanding justice.Hamid Mir came into court on wheel chairs accompanied by his brother Amir Mir.

Earlier, Hamid Mir had appeared before the Judicial Commission once in Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry. On Monday, Hamid Mir appeared before the same commission second time.

Mir is, presently, recovering from multiple bullet wounds he had suffered after coming under an armed attack while en route to office from the Karachi airport on April 19.There were tight security arrangements at the tribunal during the Hamid Mir’s commission meeting as the whole Supreme Court’s building was occupied by police personnel.

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Hamid Mir, who arrived in the Supreme Court on a wheelchair along with a large number of media persons, appeared before the Judicial Commission for the second time and recorded his statement before the commission, constituted for probing the assassination bid on him.Earlier, he had appeared before the commission in the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry.

Clad in blue shirt and light blue trouser, Hamid Mir was accompanied by his brother Amir Mir, the National Press Club president and a large number of journalists, chanting slogans in favour of the brave journalist.

Later, after recording his statement before the commission that lasted for over one hour, Hamid Mir left the Supreme Court.On April 21, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, after formal request from the government, had approved the names of three judges of the Supreme Court for Judicial Commission that is investigating the incident of attack on Hamid Mir.

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They were speaking at a protest demonstration, held under the banner of Life Members Forum of Lahore Press Club at the LPC here. The participants raised slogans in favour of Hamid Mir, Jang/Geo and independence of media.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, Senior Journalist Munno Bhai, Hussain Naqi, LPC President Arshad Ansari, Secretary Muhammad Shahbaz Mian, Member Islamic Ideological Council and Vice President of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadit Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, Allama Kazim Aftab Naqvi, senior journalists including Khawar Naeem Hashmi, Bedar Bakhat Butt, Khalid Farooqui, Maqsood Butt, Imtiaz Rashid, Irshad Ahmed Arif, Allama Siddique Azhar, senior actor Masud Akhtar, Taseer Mustafa, Farooq Chohan, Babar Waseem and others also spoke on the occasion.

Liaquat Baloch said his party had condemned the attack on Hamid Mir on the very first day and the Jamaat stance had not been changed even today. He said the attack on Hamid Mir was the attack on the independence of media, adding that powerful forces had given the media a strong message by attacking the renowned anchor of the country. He said the media had played very crucial role for democracy and independent judiciary and at this time all were standing with the journalist community.

The senior JI leader further said roles of the state institutions have been defined in the constitution and action should be taken against all those who violate them. Baloch said every institute should work within its constitutional framework. He demanded that Judicial Commission, formed to probe Hamid Mir case, should unveil the culprits who carried out the attack on senior anchorperson.

Liaquat Baloch said the country was facing multiple issues including peace talks, tussle between state institutions and Balochistan crisis at this time and the government should play a positive role in calming down the situation. He said his party would stand with journalist community if their economic murder was committed by taking action against Jang/Geo at this time.

Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer said no one would succeed in suppressing Jang/Geo saying his party would stand with the largest media house as it had paid heavy price for democracy, independence of judiciary and the media. He said the whole nation loves and respects the Army but the armed forces should also respect other institutions of the state.

Khawar Naeem Hashmi said if Jang/Geo was banned then democracy and journalism would also be sent packing in the country adding that the journalist community would resist every such move with full force.

Arshad Ansari said the community would not allow any one to ban Jang/Geo and would resist any move leading towards economic murder of journalists. He said attack on Hamid Mir was the attack on the whole media. He said journalist community would stand united to maintain their freedom.

Irshad Ahmed Arif said dictators like Ayub had also taken actions against some newspapers and the remaining newspapers supported those actions and the same practice was continuing in the country after six decades. He said media houses should not involve in such petty issues just to settle scores.

Our Bahawalpur Correspondent adds: Bahawalpur Union of Journalists staged a demonstration and lit candles for freedom of press at Fawwara Chowk here on Thursday.

The participants vowed that they would not allow anyone to close down Jang Group of Newspapers and Geo News channel. They were addressed by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) central vice-president Ameen Abbasi, Bahawalpur Union of Journalists President Majeed Gill, Zahid Khan, Zahid Ali Khan and Imran Bhinder. Later, PPP District Information Secretary Muhammad Saleem Bhatti, along with many other socio-political activists, joined the demonstration.

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Headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, the commission, which has to ascertain the facts, identify culprits and fix responsibility for the incident, was briefed by senior government, police and Rangers officials.

The home secretary, IG Sindh, Additional IG Karachi, DG Rangers Sindh, Joint Director Intelligence Bureau, DIG East, DIG Special Branch, SSP Traffic and other police officers appeared before the commission along with the relevant record and submitted their confidential reports on the incident. Statements will be recorded from today (Tuesday).

The IGP Sindh, Iqbal Mehmood, briefed the commission about the incident.It is pertinent to mention that following the attack on Hamid Mir, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to constitute a judicial commission to probe the incident.

The other members of commission are Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. The commission shall also make recommendations to avoid such incidents in future.

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Commission starts in-camera proceedings in Hamid Mir case

The commission comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Iqbal Hameedur Rahman and Ejaz Afzal conducted the in-camera proceedings at the Karachi Registry of the Supreme Court.

Those who attended the proceedings included director general of Rangers, DG Intelligence Bureau, provincial police chief, Karachi police chief, joint director of IB, the DIG and SSO of police East Zone, DIG of special branch police, SSP of traffic and the area SHO.

IGP Iqbal Mahmood was said to have filed certain reports regarding the CCTV cameras on the Sharea Faisal and geo-fencing.

Informed sources told Dawn that the statements of Hamid Mir, his driver and guard were also submitted before the commission that would resume proceedings on Tuesday.

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The three-member commission, comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman and Justice Ejaz Afzal, will hear the case from April 28 to May 2 at Supreme Court Karachi Registry.

The first hearing will be held on Monday at 10:00am and notices have been issued to Sindh Home Secretary, IG Police, DG Rangers, IB Joint Director and DIG East and Special Branch DIG.

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Terming it ‘high time’ to bring the agencies under legal framework, the commission had recommended their accountability at three levels: within the agency and before the minister-in-charge; before a parliamentary committee; and before a judicial forum. Defining the role of agencies, the commission said they must be kept at a distance from ‘press censorship, liaising with political parties and the conduct of foreign policy.’

The commission had recommended internal documentation and procedure of inquiry in order to investigate the allegations of misconduct by agency officials. “Without the relevant documentation, no investigation would have much chances of success and it would be hard to rule out the possibility of the agencies’ involvement in incidents like the murder of Saleem Shahzad,” the commission noted.

Highlighting the need for parliamentary oversight of the agencies, the commission said it will serve two purposes: (i) improving the efficiency of agencies; (ii) preventing excesses through oversight and ensuring public confidence in the agencies.

It further noted that in extreme cases where internal review as well as parliamentary review is not sufficient, the agencies may also be held accountable to a specially constituted judicial forum.

A special judicial oversight mechanism may be set up for dealing fairly and effectively with complaints against the agencies, whether emanating from the media or from other sectors of the society, the commission said. “While the forum should be of a general nature, particular importance should be given in this regard to the complaints of the press.”

The role of agencies had come under question. Like Hamid Mir, Saleem Shahzad had also conveyed threats to his life from the ISI and the commission had not absolved the agency of the allegations directing the police to investigate the names named by the slain journalist, Saleem.

Although, threats and acts of intimidation are denied by the ISI, the commission report noted, “Yet from the statements of the above named, the commission cannot hold that their understanding and perception about the threats etc. extended to them are misconceived, simply for the reason that it had been refuted by the ISI official.”

When so many senior and respected journalists have come forward to record their perception, noted the commission, that they found certain words, gestures and acts of ISI officials as intimidating and threatening, then it is hard to dismiss it lightly, “merely on account of a bald denial by ISI.”

“Therefore, from the overwhelming material available on the record, the commission is convinced that there are sufficient reasons to believe that the agencies, including ISI, have been using coercive and intimidating tactics in dealing with those journalists who antagonise the agency’s interest.”

Neither did the government act upon the commission’s recommendations nor did the police pursue the investigation into the Saleem Shahzad’s murder.

As far as the commission’s recommendations about legislation for intelligence agencies are concerned, it declared them ‘necessary to ensure that the agencies remain law-abiding and also that the public perceives them as such.’

This would require a serious effort from parliament, the report said. The commission report goes on: ‘In various countries of the world, intelligence agencies were first created under executive orders, but subsequently brought on a statutory footing to improve their level of accountability. It is high time we brought the same change in Pakistan.”

Whatever the details, the framework adopted for intelligence legislation must ensure constitutional standards of accountability.

The agencies can be held accountable at three levels: within the agency and before the minister-in-charge; before a parliamentary committee (and thus the parliament and the public); and before a judicial forum, said the report.

For improving the system of Internal Administrative Accountability for the agencies, the commission proposed statute should delineate, among other things, the purpose and object of various agencies.

Duties which fall beyond the competence of these agencies, such as press censorship, liaising with political parties and the conduct of foreign policy should be expressly excluded from their mandate. Given our current crisis, being explicit about these matters would be more than worth it, said the commission report.

The chain of command of the agencies should be clearly demarcated, the report added. The structure should be designed such that the minister-in-charge as well as the head of the agency is able to ensure internal administrative accountability. Therefore, in case of an alleged wrongdoing, the first level of inquiry should be from within the agencies. In this regard, it may be useful to set up an internal but independent office for review, such as a counsel general, an inspector general of intelligence (Australia) or auditor, whose job is to assist the minister-in-charge and/or the head of the agency in ensuring compliance with ministerial policy as well as with legal and constitutional limits, explains the commission report.

Emphasizing on the need for a more accountable work culture, the reports notes, the work-culture of the agencies may also need some change if oversight of any sort upon them, internal, parliamentary or judicial, is to be meaningful. In this regard, the proposed statute may require them to adopt by-laws which mandate their operatives to follow internationally-recognized Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

The procedures should be defined in such a manner so as to improve the level of documentation, according to the report. In case of a complaint of misconduct, the relevant documentation should be handed over to the investigators for a proper inquiry. This change is absolutely necessary for increased accountability. Otherwise, without the relevant documentation, no investigation would have much chances of success and it would be hard to rule out the possibility of the agencies’ involvement in incidents like the murder of Saleem Shahzad.

For improving the system of democratic accountability for the agencies, the commission said they should also be made directly accountable to parliament. In this regard, parliament should consider creating bipartisan standing committees on intelligence in both houses of parliament. There are numerous such committees in parliaments around the world. The parliament may consider and deliberate upon various existing models of legislative accountability of the intelligence community to tailor the solution most appropriate for our context.

The aim of parliamentary scrutiny should be two-fold: (i) improving the efficiency of the agencies; (ii) preventing excesses through oversight and ensuring public confidence in the agencies.

For improving the system of judicial accountability for the agencies, the commission report said that in extreme cases where internal review as well as parliamentary review is not sufficient, the agencies may also be held accountable to a specially-constituted judicial forum.

A special judicial oversight mechanism may be set up for dealing fairly and effectively with complaints against the agencies, whether emanating from the press/media, as in this case, or from other sectors of society. While the forum should be of a general nature, particular importance should be given in this regard to the complaints of the press. For this purpose, it may be useful to create an office of human rights ombudsman, the commission recommended.

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