Seminar speakers call for making intelligence agencies accountable to parliament

Parliamentarians including the Chairman of National Assembly and Senate's Standing Committee on Defence, besides members of defence committees and analysts on Tuesday stressed the need for making intelligence agencies accountable before the parliament.
Speaking at a seminar "Making Intelligence Accountable: Legal Standards and Best Practices for Oversight of Intelligence Agencies," was organised by Pildat. The speakers urged the government to make intelligence agencies accountable to parliament and to look into the matters of spy agencies a sub-committee of the parliament comprising members from defence, interior and human rights committees should be created for the oversight of the intelligence agencies.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairperson, National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Senator Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd), presented the perspectives of Parliamentary Committees in the oversight of intelligence agencies.
Arnold Luethold, Head of the Africa and Middle East Division Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) presented key lessons on oversight of intelligence. A select group of eminent parliamentarians, members of the defence committees, subject specialists, media persons and analysts were also present on the occasion.
The participants asked the government to evolve solid rules and regulations in order to regulate the activities of the intelligence agencies. There is need for oversight and scrutiny and for oversight in terms of human rights and mechanisms of information gathering within the country. There was general consensus that there is need for better inter-agency coordination between intelligence agencies.
Specific technical and advisory support is required for committees such as defence, human rights and interior to carry out their oversight role effectively. On the occasion Pildat formally launched the Urdu version of an international publication "Making Intelligence Accountable: Legal Standards and Best Practices for Oversight of Intelligence Agencies."
The book has been translated from English to Urdu and originally printed by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) in collaboration with the Human Rights Centre, Department of Law, University of Durham & the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee-OES.
Senator Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd), Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production said the handbook presents a good guide for Defence Committees in oversight of intelligence. He pointed out, however, that the book is written in the European context and therefore is rooted in internal security while Pakistan faces great challenges of external security. He also mentioned that the oversight role has to be played by Parliamentary Committees and there is no additional need for civil society oversight on intelligence as the handbook recommends.
The role of a security or intelligence agency should be clearly defined and limited to matters which should be specified in detail and involve serious threats to national security and the fabric of civil society.
The concepts of threats to national security and the fabric of civil society should be legally specified. The territorial competence of a security or intelligence agency should be clearly defined and any powers to act outside the territory should be accompanied by safeguards. The task and powers of the agency within its mandate should be clearly defined in legislation, enacted by Parliament.
Especially in post-authoritarian states, it is important to have legal and institutional safeguards in place, preventing the misuse of security arid intelligence against domestic political opponents. While giving recommendations for appointing and dismissing of director of intelligence agency the participants urged the government to set up a certain criteria for the appointment and dismissal of the director of a security or intelligence agency and any minimum qualifications or any factors which are disqualifications from office.
Preferably, the opposition in Parliament should be involved in appointing the director and legislation should contain safeguards against improper pressure being applied on the director and abuse of the office (for example provisions for security of tenure, subject to removal for wrongdoing), they recommended. It is a requirement of the rule of law that any special powers that the security or intelligence services possess or exercise must be grounded in the legislation.
There should be controls against the misuse of special powers involving persons outside the agency, both before and after their use. All actions taken by security and intelligence services to fight terrorism should respect human rights and the principle of the rule of law. Whatever the acts of a person suspected or convicted of terrorism activities, intelligence services should respect the human rights to life.