Islamabad
A rights watchdog on Thursday slammed the “draconian and arbitrary” powers given to the “dictatorship-era body,” referring to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and urged the Pakistani government to stop using the institution to harass and intimidate opponents.
In a statement, the rights organisation said that the government should follow up on the 87-page detailed verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the Khawaja brothers case to rein in the anti-graft body.
The court granted the men bail and criticised the NAB for showing ‘utter disregard to the law, fair play, equity and propriety,’ ruling that the ‘case was a classic example of trampling of fundamental rights [and] unlawful deprivation of freedom’,” read a statement from the HRW.
Referring to the judgment, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said that the apex court’s decision “is just the latest indictment of the NAB’s unlawful behaviour”.
Pakistan’s parliament should carry out urgent reforms to make the anti-corruption body independent, the Human Rights Watch said.
“In its decision, the Supreme Court also expressed concern about the use of the NAB as an instrument to target government opponents,” read the statement by the HRW. “The court cited a February report by the European Commission that criticized the NAB for bias, noting that ‘very few cases of the ruling party ministers and politicians have been pursued since the 2018 elections, which is considered to be a reflection of NAB’s partiality,’” it added.
The rights organisation quoted the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council who had welcomed the top court’s decision and criticized the NAB as “a tool for arm-twisting of political opponents.”
