ISLAMABAD: A memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and the United Kingdom for the extradition of former finance minister Ishaq Dar promises the “right to a fair trial,” the document which was released to media this week said.
Dar is a close aide and family member of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the jailed head of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. He has been living in self-exile in London since October 2017 and was charged in absentia by a Pakistani anti-corruption court for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income.
“[This MoU] records the understandings which have been reached for the extradition of Ishaq Dar to the jurisdiction of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” reads the extradition document, dated May 24, and signed in London by Pakistan’s Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar and Graeme Biggar, Director General of the UK’s National Economic Crime Center.
The document says Dar would have the “right to a fair trail, including the right to adjudication by an impartial tribunal.”
Dar told media this week that he had visited the UK Home Office on June 18 and lodged a protest saying the cases against him were politically motivated and he would not get justice under Pakistan’s current government.
In comments to media last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Dar would get a fair trial, adding that Pakistan was ready to revoke the capital punishment for Pakistani nationals extradited from other countries – a major demand of the UK where the death penalty is banned.
“We are amending the Pakistan Penal Code to revoke capital punishment for the accused, who will be brought back to the country under extradition treaties with other countries,” Qureshi said.
Qureshi’s announcement came just a day after a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in London, where Hunt declared that the UK would not sign “politically-motivated” extradition treaties with any country.
According to the contents of the MoU, Dar’s extradition rests on the guarantee that he will be solely tried on genuine criminal offenses if handed over to Pakistan.
But legal experts say they doubt extradition will materialize.
“Signing of the MoU between Pakistan and UK is indeed a significant development, but the extradition of Ishaq Dar remains a far cry,” said Muzzammil Mukhtar, solicitor and director of London-based law firm Synthesis Chambers Solicitors.
According to him, the UK would not sign an extradition treaty with Pakistan until the latter amended its penal code to abolish the death penalty.
“Dar’s extradition is a high-profile case and even if the treaty is signed between both the countries, this (extradition) may not materialize,” he said.
As of now, the former finance minister has a host of options to avoid his extradition under UK laws, including moving a court under the UK Human Rights Act, the EU Convention on Human Rights and the UK Refugee Convention which guarantee a person the right to life, a fair trial and prevention against torture.
Under these laws, Dar can claim asylum in the UK, citing Pakistan’s human rights’ record and history of political victimization.
“If Dar moves a court against his extradition, it will be a good, arguable case under the UK’s refugee convention to seek asylum,” Mukhtar said, adding that backdoor diplomacy and the “mutual interests” of both countries may well result in Dar’s eventual extradition.
Pakistan-UK agreement for Ishaq Dar’s extradition promises “fair trial”
Pakistan-UK agreement for Ishaq Dar’s extradition promises “fair trial”
- Under UK laws, Dar can claim asylum citing Pakistan’s human rights’ record and history of political victimization
- Pakistan says it will amend its laws to revoke capital punishment for extradited Pakistanis, a major demand of the UK
At least 42 civilians killed in Afghanistan in conflict with Pakistan, UN agency says
- Civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire, airstrikes, says UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
- Conflict was sparked last Thursday after Afghan forces said were retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes earlier this month
KABUL/ISLAMABAD: At least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in Afghanistan in the fighting with Pakistan between February 26 and March 2, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Tuesday, as the military conflict between the neighbors entered its sixth day.
Military tensions between the South Asian nations remained high on Tuesday, with Afghanistan saying it had captured another Pakistani post in the Kandahar region and the fighting between the allies-turned-foes was “still ongoing.”
“The civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire in cross-border clashes...as well as those caused by airstrikes,” the UN agency said, adding that the numbers were “preliminary.”
The conflict — the worst between the countries in years — was sparked last week by what Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said were retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations in response to Pakistan’s targeting of militants in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan says Pakistani forces targeted its civilians, a charge Islamabad denies.
Islamabad has launched air-to-ground missiles at Taliban military sites over the last week, and even directly targeted the Taliban government for the first time over allegations it harbors militants executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil.
Pakistani forces destroyed a military base in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in a successful air operation, Pakistani security sources said on Tuesday.
UNAMA CALLS FOR HALT TO FIGHTING
Both sides have claimed to have killed scores of troops of the other and inflicted heavy damage on military facilities since the fighting began.
Reuters has not been able to verify the numbers.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, while addressing a joint session of parliament on Monday, reiterated that Islamabad would not allow territory in its neighborhood to be used for attacks against it.
“The soil of Pakistan is sacred. We will not allow any entity — domestic or foreign — to use neighboring territory to destabilize our peace,” he said.
UNAMA called for a halt to the fighting and warned that the violence, which has displaced an estimated 16,400 households, has worsened the situation of Afghanistan’s people who were still recovering from successive earthquakes in August and September that killed more than 1,400 people.
“Restrictions on movements in the border area due to the active conflict have reduced the capacity of humanitarian agencies and partners to deliver life-saving and other assistance in the most-affected areas,” it said.
