ISLAMABAD: In an attempt to make civil and armed forces’ intelligence agencies accountable to parliament, a Senate committee has approved a draft bill and decided to table it in the upper house during its next session likely to be commenced on Sept 23 or 24.
At a meeting on Thursday, the Senate’s Human Rights Committee approved the proposed bill titled “To Regulate the Functioning of Intelligence Agencies” focusing on redefining the role of intelligence agencies and addressing the grave issue of enforced disappearances.
The proposed legislation would seek to give powers to agencies to arrest and interrogate people suspected of being involved in anti-state activities, one of the members of the committee, Senator Farhatullah Babar, told Dawn.
“Our effort is not aimed at undermining the role of intelligence agencies, but bringing them under the parliamentary oversight,” he added.
The bill suggests that: “The director general may, by an order in writing, direct any person to be taken into preventive custody that in his opinion is acting or has acted in furtherance of a terrorist act or in a manner prejudicial to security of Pakistan, or has aided or abetted any such act. The director general shall fix the period of custody in the order of preventive detention of any such person or member not exceeding 30 days and this period can be extended by 90 days on special grounds.
“If a person is required to be detained for a period of more than 90 days, the director general shall place the matter before the review board set up for the purpose under article 10 of the constitution.”
The draft bill would demand formation of an ‘intelligence and security committee of parliament’ comprising nine members from both houses of parliament.