Chairman of Standing Committee of the Senate on Defence, Senator Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd) on Tuesday highlighted the importance of spy agencies in protecting national interests. Qazi was speaking in a roundtable discussion "Making Intelligence Accountable", and at launching of Urdu version of a book titled "Making Intelligence Accountable: Legal Standards and Best Practices for Oversight of Intelligence Agencies", organised by PILDAT here.
"The main objective of the country's spy agencies is to work for the national interests," he said. Qazi was of the view that duty of the secret agencies was to look into internal and external threats, besides reporting these to high authorities. He affirmed the participants that the country has very good criteria to select the heads of the agencies, adding that appointing authority of DG ISI is Prime Minister. Appreciating the professional skills of Pakistani agencies, he said they are the best in the world, and work in accordance with the given tasks.
The chairman denied the impression that agencies have any political cell. However, he said military rulers during their regimes, misused them. On the occasion, Chairperson, National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence, MNA Dr Azra Fazal Pechuhu lauded the performance of secret agencies in safeguarding national interests. She urged media to play its role in educating people about the role of agencies. She also talked about role of political parties in promoting culture of tolerance in the society and strengthening democratic norms in the country.
Head of the Africa and Middle East Division, DCAF, Arnold Luethold highlighted different aspects of the book "Making Intelligence Accountable". The book has been prepared and printed originally by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces-DCAF, in collaboration with Human Rights Centre, Department of Law, University of Durham and the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee, OES.
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