In another case, in 2006, Ijaz Khan had filed petition number 2038 of 2005 against his warrant of arrest issued by Bara Khyber Agency inside the constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court of Peshawar, and had termed his warrant of arrest as being against the provisions of Chapter-I, Part-II of the Constitution in which the liberty, security, dignity and freedom of a person has been fully secured and guaranteed, and also under the Charter of Human Rights. The High Court had declared the arrest of the petitioner illegal, without lawful authority, and without jurisdiction (PLD 2006).26 This is not the only case that sought help from the courts; many such people have been arrested in the constitutional jurisdictions of the High Court of Peshawar, and have been sentenced, although their sentences have been challenged in the High Court Peshawar.




Amending or repealing the FCR




Civil society has demanded for some time that the FCR should either be repealed or be overhauled extensively so that constitutional as well as international human rights guarantees can be enjoyed by the people of FATA. Some inhabitants from FATA have advocated repeal of the law, while others desire that it should be amended as per international standards, but the process of its implementation should be slow (Amnesty International 2008) so that the system may not be disrupted abruptly. In fact, it is hoped and expected that the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms will amend Article 247 of the Constitution which deprives parliamentarians from intervening in the affairs of FATA or from any legislation connected to FATA. Thus, senators and MNAs from FATA can involve themselves in legislation related to the whole of Pakistan with the exclusion of their home region, FATA.

In 2009, under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani, a Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform was constituted. The committee, after reviewing Article 247 of the Constitution of Pakistan, recommended to the Federal Government of Pakistan that, “the Government should take immediate steps to implement the reforms amended by the president in respect of FATA, particularly about major changes in the FCR and providing opportunities to the National Political Parties to organize their activities in that area. The Government may also associate other parties who are stakeholders in the on-going consultations regarding administration of Tribal Areas” (2009: 19).27

In 2004, grave violations under the FCR surfaced when SPARC visited jails and saw innocent women and children languishing in prison. Immediately, on 19 November 2004, SPARC, along with other organizations, held a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club and organized a protest march from the Press Club to the Governor House against this tyranny. However, no one from the Governor House came to meet with the protestors to address their complaints and resolve the issue. On 10 December 2004, in a seminar organized by the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Law, and Human Rights Organizations, SPARC brought the matter to the notice of the Governor of KP. However, the Governor did not accept that children had been detained under the FCR or that human rights violations were taking place under the FCR. In fact, in 2004, Senator Farhatullah Babar (PPP-[KP]) had taken serious notice of grave child and human rights violations in FATA and initiated debate in the Senate. Besides other faults in the law, the Senate pointed out that Pakistan was the only country in the world where entire villages and houses were knocked down on the pretext of collective punishment under the FCR (SPARC 2004).