The notorious ‘black
list’
The Senate
Standing Committee on Law and Justice has struck a blow for the rule of law and
fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution. The Committee
recommended abolishing the ‘black list’ of citizens who could be prevented from
travelling out of the country without even being placed on the Exit Control
List (ECL). The issue came to the fore when the chairman of the committee,
Senator Javed Abbasi, raised in the Senate a point of order in December 2018
regarding the procedure for putting names in the black list and the practice’s
legal standing. The Senate Chairman had referred the issue to the Standing
Committee for consideration. The committee discussed the matter in late
December 2018 and then again this month. It invited the ministries of Interior
and Human Rights for their input. After these hearings and briefings, the
Senate has now been informed that the Director General (DG) Immigration and
Passports told the committee that the ‘black list’ was being maintained in
pursuance of the Passport Manual 2006. The provision has remained part of the
manual since 1957. Some parts of the provision were incorporated in the Passport
Act 1974 while the remaining continue to be part of the passport manuals. The
DG Immigration and Passports does not initiate these lists; names are added on
the recommendations of judicial and quasi-judicial forums (the reports do not
clarify what or who is meant by ‘judicial and quasi-judicial forums’). The DG
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is quoted as saying that the agency only
implemented the ‘black list’ through an automated system that did not process
the cases of persons on the list. Interestingly, both the Minister for Human
Rights Shireen Mazari and the ‘authorities concerned’ recognize that the ‘black
list’ and all such lists have no legal sanction. The minister states that such
lists are not acceptable in a democracy because they violate citizens’
fundamental rights. The ‘concerned authorities’ concede that the ECL is the
only valid list in this regard (it is another matter that the ECL too is not
free of controversy in our history). The Standing Committee deplored what
appears to be a long-standing practice that is ultra vires of the Constitution
and violates fundamental rights. It also noted that while the Passport Act was
enacted by parliament, no power of maintaining black or any other ‘colour’
lists had been bestowed upon the executive. The absence of any such power
obviously cast the whole dubious practice in the shade of illegality. Now the
committee having made up its mind that this heinous regime of restricting
citizens’ fundamental right of freedom of movement should be abolished
forthwith has asked the Ministry of Interior to submit a compliance report
within 10 days.
The ways of
states and particularly their executives are exceedingly strange. But even in
this dark thicket, Pakistan’s restricting citizens’ freedom to travel outside
the country without informing them or providing cogent reasons for their
inclusion in the black list for the last 62 years since 1957 smacks of
arrogance, the abrogation of powers to the executive over and above the law and
Constitution, and a woeful lack of transparency. Not only does this black list ‘automatically’
deny citizens’ rights, it also lends itself to the abuse of citizens being
stopped from boarding their flights at airports on the dubious basis of being
on the ‘black list’, only to be allowed after extorting bribes. Pakistan’s
working people who find employment abroad and help keep the country afloat through
their home remittances are reportedly the most affected. While the
unconscionable practice has continued through the tenures of successive
governments, civilian and military, over 62 years, it is supreme irony that the
FIA officials have sprung late pangs of conscience in asking the committee to
abolish a practice that has made the country the laughing stock of the world when
they have been involved over many years in stopping people from travelling
abroad for purportedly being on the ‘black list’ on the mere whims and wishes
of the government of the day. In fact the committee has revealed that the black
lists have mostly been used by incumbent governments against their political
rivals. While it is heartening that the committee has asked for the abolition
of the ‘black list’, perhaps it is also time to interrogate the procedure of
putting names on the ECL without giving those targeted an opportunity to defend
themselves before a proper forum against the arbitrariness of such practices.
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