ISLAMABAD: Pakistani analysts and rights activists on Tuesday criticized the Pakistan government’s authorization of the country’s premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to intercept and trace calls on the pretext of national security, saying the move would undermine privacy of citizens and could be used to suppress political opponents, activists and media.
In a notification issued on Monday, the information technology (IT) ministry said the government had authorized the ISI to intercept phone calls and messages “in the interest of national security,” adding to the already outsized role and powers of the shadowy military outfit.
The decision has drawn attention to the issue of surveillance by spy agencies, particularly after audio clips, including those of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, were leaked online ahead of the Feb. 8 general election.
Arab News reached out to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), information ministry and telecom operators for comments on a recent surveillance system sought by government from telecom operators and the impact of fresh authorization to intercept calls on consumers, but none of them responded to the queries.
“The government’s step to allow intelligence agencies to intercept calls and by notification provide legitimacy to such government actions is extremely unfortunate because it allows non-transparent and unchallengeable circumstances for the citizens to protect their own privacy,” Adnan Rehmat, a journalist and media activist, told Arab News.
“This sneaky way of notifying to provide so-called legality to intercepting calls seems to be more political, triggered and designed.”
Although the government has the right to formulate policies, it must do so after open discussion and consultations, especially for policies impacting the lives of common citizens as these cannot be executive decisions and the viewpoints of those affected must be heard, according to Rehmat.
He said this was also a “suspicious move,” given the past experiences of tapping phone calls of political leaders, rights activists and other prominent figures, including judges.
Following the leaking of their telephonic conversations, ex-PM Khan’s wife, Bushra Khan, and others filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the unauthorized surveillance and privacy violations. During the hearings, it was revealed that the PTA had required telecom companies to fund, import and install a mass surveillance system to access citizens’ data.
According to court documents seen by Arab News, the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) enables access to private messages, video and audio content, call logs and web browsing histories. The court later observed that the mass surveillance system “lacked a legal foundation” and was being put in place without judicial or executive oversight.
Nighat Dad, executive-director of the non-profit Digital Rights Foundation based in Pakistan, said the IT ministry’s notification granted permission to listen to private conversations without adequate justification or reasoning, which violated the right to privacy.
“It also contravenes the Fair Trial Act by lacking oversight and accountability measures in case of misuse,” she told Arab News.
The Fair Trial Act stipulates that surveillance or interception of a citizen must be authorized by a proper warrant, including warrants issued under section 11, which permits the collection of evidence through interception, audio or video recording, communication monitoring, or surveillance of movements.
“If the privacy of citizens not posing a threat to national security is infringed upon, what legal recourse do they have,” she questioned, saying that this was concerning because surveillance orders typically included protections and safeguards for citizens everywhere.
Usama Khilji, a director at the ‘Bolo Bhi’ advocacy forum for digital rights, said the Fair Trial Act outlined a process for lawful interception that required obtaining a court warrant, which the latest notification violated and ignored.
“The excuse of national security has been used since the inception of Pakistan to justify political meddling and this is another example of it,” he told Arab News.
The audio leaks case in the Islamabad High Court clearly illustrated the political nature of surveillance, particularly targeting activists, journalists and political leaders, according to Khilji. It is an effort to provide “legal cover to existing practices.”
“There should be transparency and legal oversight over all surveillance mechanisms along with avenues for redress against illegal surveillance,” he added.
Munizae Jahangir, a Pakistani journalist and activist, said the government move was a clear violation of an individual’s fundamental rights and also Article 14 of the constitution as no law or provision within any law superseded the constitution.
Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan clearly states that the dignity of a man shall be inviolable, and within lawful limits, and home privacy shall remain private.
“It is hoped that this will be legally challenged as it likely contravenes privacy rights and may not withstand legal scrutiny,” she told Arab News, questioning if this was an attempt to turn Pakistan into a “security state.”
“The provisions outlined in the notification are typically reserved for times of war, which we are clearly not in.”
She said it was evident that such measures were being used not against militancy, but to “control political opponents, media, judiciary and human rights activists.”
Iqbal Khattak, executive director of the Islamabad-based Freedom Network civil liberties organization, warned that without a clear oversight mechanisms and well-consulted terms of references, this move would undoubtedly violate freedom of speech and privacy.
“Time and again, we have witnessed that in the name of national security, individual freedoms are consistently under attack,” he told Arab News.
Created in 1948, the ISI gained importance and power during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and is now rated one of best-organized intelligence agencies in the developing world.
Widely feared by Pakistanis, it is believed to have a hidden role in many of the nuclear-armed nation’s policies, including in Afghanistan and India. The ISI is seen as the Pakistani equivalent of the US Central Agency (CIA) and Israel’s Mossad. Its size is not publicly known but the ISI is widely believed to employ tens of thousands of agents, with informers in many spheres of public life.
Rights activists raise privacy concerns after Pakistan authorizes top spy agency to tap calls, messages
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Rights activists raise privacy concerns after Pakistan authorizes top spy agency to tap calls, messages
- Pakistan this week authorized its Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency to tap calls, intercept messages in the ‘interest of national security’
- The decision drew public attention to issue of surveillance by spy agencies, particularly after leaking of several audio clips of notable figures
Pakistan says seeking help from Myanmar to recover its citizens from ‘criminal networks’
- Families of six Pakistani nationals last week appealed to government to secure their release from fake job scammers in Myanmar
- Say relatives are being forced to work 18 hours a day and are subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation and electric shocks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday that the country’s mission in Myanmar has contacted relevant authorities in the Southeast Asian nation to secure the release of Pakistani nationals who were allegedly detained by “criminal networks.”
Last week, the families of six Pakistani nationals allegedly taken hostage by fake job scammers in Myanmar appealed to Pakistani authorities to secure their release.
The families claim their relatives were lured by a group of alleged Chinese scammers in Thailand with the offer of lucrative jobs. Instead, they are now being forced to work up to 18 hours a day and are subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation and electric shocks, according to their family members.
Arab News could not independently verify that the Pakistanis were scammed by Chinese nationals. However, a spokesperson at the Chinese consulate in Karachi said they were looking into the case but had found no evidence so far of the involvement of Chinese nationals in the “unsubstantiated” accusations.
“We are aware of these reports and our mission in Myanmar has approached the relevant authorities for the release of Pakistani nationals who have been illegally detained by criminal networks and to assist our mission in early recovery and early repatriation of these individuals to Pakistan,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters during a weekly media briefing in Islamabad.
Baloch said the foreign office would disclose further information on the matter to the media and families of the Pakistani nationals when there is an update on the case.
“Pakistan will continue to work with countries of the region to ensure that Pakistani victims of criminal networks are released and brought back to Pakistan,” she added.
Baloch said it was important to note that transnational criminal networks and organizations operating in some parts of Southeast Asia posed a serious threat to regional security.
She noted that these groups engaged in illegal and sophisticated scamming operations to ensnare and trap individuals seeking job opportunities.
“Their modus operandi includes human trafficking, forced labor, and ensnaring victims into forced criminality and we believe that these concerns need a coordinated international response to challenges of human trafficking and transnational organized crime,” she added.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a major coalition ally of the government, said on Wednesday that the party’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has taken notice of the alleged abduction of three Pakistani youths from Sindh province who are allegedly detained in Myanmar.
The PPP said Bhutto-Zardari had urged relevant authorities to take measures for their recovery and ensure their return to Pakistan.
In Pakistan’s Sindh, a historic watchtower whispers tales of Umayyad conquests
- Located in the barely populated Pir Patho town, the structure is now called Muhammad Bin Qasim Watchtower
- Ships arriving from different ports took clearance from the watchtower before continuing to travel upstream
PIR PATHO, Thatta: Around a thirty-minute drive from the southern Pakistani city of Thatta stands a stone watchtower that, according to some historians, was used by Arab General Muhammad Bin Qasim during the Umayyad campaigns in India.
No wonder then that the building in the tiny, barely populated town of Pir Patho on the coast of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has come to be popularly called the Muhammad Bin Qasim Watchtower, its weathered stone structure whispering tales of the region’s Arab past.
Qasim led the conquest of Sindh from 708 to 711 and established Islamic rule throughout the region, serving as governor of Sindh from 712 until his death in 715. Some historians say the watchtower was used for navigation by ships during Arab rule of Sindh. Others says it was mostly used to look out at small cargo-laden ships that arrived from the ancient Indian port of Debal, among others, before carrying on with their journeys up north along the Indus River.
“This used to be a watchtower for ships that would pass by,” said Sarfaraz Nawaz, an official at the Sindh Culture Department. “It is named after Muhammad bin Qasim and is believed to have been built in that era.”
Historian Dr. Muhammad Ali Manjhi said there was evidence that ships arriving from Debal and other ports would require clearance from here to continue traveling upstream, though he informed the watchtower came to be named after Qasim only after the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
“They did not originally call it Muhammad bin Qasim Tower,” Manjhi told Arab News. “They used to call it the Pir Patho Tower.”
The town of Pir Patho is home to several other archaeological sites, including a Mughal-era mosque, old graveyards and the shrine of Sufi saint Sakhi Jamil Shah Dataar. The area is also known for a major earthquake in the 17th century, in which 50,000 people are believed to have perished, Nawaz said.
A “huge city” once existed at the site of Pir Patho, which was devasted when the Indus River changed its course, Nawaz said, while deadly floods in 2010 once again hit Pir Patho and damaged the historic watchtower.
The Sindh Endowment Fund Trust in 2016 restored the 45-feet-tall tower, which has a circumference of around 65 feet, to its former glory, using kiln-baked bricks and stones.
Nawaz mentioned that although it is unknown who built the tower, it remains a significant landmark.
“Pir Patho was a very important city because of its strategic location. Similarly, the watchtower played a crucial role in guiding ships arriving from the sea for their northward journey,” he said.
Pakistan’s northwestern province to hold apex committee meeting on deadly shooting in Bannu today
- The shooting incident took place at a rally in Bannu, with people asking for peace amid a surge in violence
- Five participants of the Bannu sit-in have been invited to attend the meeting with civil and military officials
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is set to hold an apex committee meeting today, Thursday, to discuss the situation in Bannu district, where two people were killed in a shooting incident targeting a large rally demanding peace amid a surge in militant violence in the area.
The rally was organized last Friday after a series of attacks on security forces, government officials and anti-polio vaccination teams in the province. Bannu itself was hit by a surge in militancy where 10 soldiers were killed earlier this month when militants attacked the military cantonment in the city.
The gunfire in the Bannu peace rally led to a stampede that also injured more than 20 people. The incident prompted the demonstrators to continue their sit-in that has now entered its fifth day.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the KP administration’s spokesperson, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, said the provincial apex committee will be held under the leadership of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to discuss the demands of Bannu protesters.
“Decisions will be taken with regard to the Bannu incident and the current wave against terrorism,” he said. “Members of the Bannu Aman Jirga [peace rally] have also been invited to take part in the apex committee meeting.”
He added the meeting will also be attended by senior civil and military officials.
Pakistan’s federal government last month announced a new campaign to militant violence in the country, particularly its two western provinces bordering Afghanistan.
Rauf Qureshi, a senior member of the Bannu peace rally, told Arab News he was optimistic the apex committee would take the right decisions to restore peace in the area and respect the sentiments of the participants of the sit-in.
“I think our demands are legitimate, which revolve around peace and tranquility,” he continued. “We demand a life that is free from terror attacks and in which we can go to our businesses, schools and hospitals without any sense of fear.”
He said the members of the peace rally were willing to continue their sit-in indefinitely, if their demands were not met.
Five representatives of the sit-in have been invited to attend the apex committee meeting.
“We are optimistic our legitimate demands will be swiftly approved and without any hesitation since we are asking for peace,” Qureshi added.
Pakistan condemns ‘excessive force’ by British police at Manchester airport after video of violence
- The video shows a police official kicking a British-Pakistani on his head before stamping his boot on it
- The incident sparked protest outside Greater Manchester Divisional Police headquarters on Wednesday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday expressed concern over the “use of excessive force” by British police at Manchester Airport after a video of officers hitting dual Pakistani nationals went viral, which later led to the removal of a male officer from operational duty and the arrest of four people.
The video showed the officer holding a taser over a man lying face down on the ground, with a woman in traditional Muslim attire next to him. The officer can be seen kicking the man’s head once before stamping his boot on it again and then using his knee to pin the man down.
He then moves toward another man, who can be seen holding his hands behind his head, telling him to kneel before kicking him in the stomach and pinning him to the ground.
Throughout the incident, two female police officers can be seen at the site trying to stop at least three men from filming. A London-based journalist working with a Pakistani media outlet confirmed that the arrested men were British-Pakistanis.
“We have seen the disturbing reports about the incident at Manchester Airport. Apparently, it involves dual-national Pakistanis,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said during a weekly news briefing on Thursday.
“We are obviously concerned about the conduct of the police and the excessive use of force in the viral video,” she continued. “We also advise all Pakistani nationals abroad to abide by the laws of the host country and respect the local culture, customs and legal system, police and cooperate with the local police.”
She confirmed the Pakistani mission in Manchester was in contact with the members of the Pakistani community and also the local police.
Earlier, Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry in Britain said three police officers were assaulted, a female officer’s nose had been broken, and other officers sustained injuries that required hospital treatment.
He also confirmed the arrest of four individuals on suspicion of assault and obstructing police in carrying out their duties.
However, he added: “We know that a film of an incident at Manchester Airport that is circulating widely shows an event that is truly shocking. The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence. One male officer has been removed from operational duties.”
According to Manchester Evening News, hundreds of people staged a protest outside the Greater Manchester Divisional Police (GMP) headquarters in Rochdale on Wednesday evening. It said some protesters had covered their faces and were chanting “GMP shame on you” while others used fireworks.
“We’re no longer going to settle for this police brutality,” the report quoted a protester as saying. “We put our trust in the police and what they do instead they inflict violence upon us when we surrender to them. This is supposed to be the police, instead, they are gangsters in uniforms. We’re not going to put up with this anymore.”
The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said he raised public concerns with the deputy chief constable, assuring that investigation into the issue would be handled properly.
Pakistan PM to visit Tehran on July 30 for Iran’s president-elect’s inauguration
- Masoud Pezeshkian won the presidential election held after Ebrahim Raisi’s death in helicopter crash
- Pakistan and Iran have made peace overtures after exchanging airstrikes earlier this year in January
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office announced on Thursday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran on July 30 to attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian.
This will be Sharif’s second visit to Iran in three months, as he previously visited the neighboring state to offer condolences on the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
Earlier this month, voters in Iran gave a decisive win to reformist candidate Pezeshkian in the runoff election against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace Raisi.
Pezeshkian is now required to take an oath in Iranian parliament before assuming the office of the head of the state next week.
“At the invitation of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, [Shehbaz] Sharif, will visit Tehran on 30 July to attend the inauguration ceremony of the President-elect of Iran, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian,” the foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, informed during her weekly media briefing.
She said the visit demonstrated the dedication of both countries to enhancing high-level interactions and bilateral collaboration.
“The visit attests to the commitment by the two countries to strengthen leadership level engagements and bilateral cooperation,” Baloch said.
Pakistan and Iran have had a history of rocky relations despite several commercial pacts. Their highest profile agreement is a stalled gas supply deal signed in 2010 to build a pipeline from Iran’s Fars gas field to Pakistan’s southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
Pakistan and Iran also find themselves at odds due to the instability along their shared porous border, with their leaders routinely trading blame after militant attacks in their respective territories.
Earlier this year in January, Pakistan and Iran exchanged airstrikes, with each government claiming to have targeted militant hideouts in the other country.
Both states have since made peace overtures and restored bilateral ties through multiple high-level visits.
