Legislation to regulate Pakistan’s intelligence agencies has been advocated, posing a significant challenge: who will undertake this daunting task?
Columnist Ansar Abbasi, associated with The News International, has called on the government to structure all intelligence agencies’ operations through a legal framework, referencing the Faizabad Dharna Commission. Despite previous efforts and ongoing calls to regulate key intelligence agencies in Pakistan, such as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), no substantial legislation has materialized.
The report emphasizes the commission’s findings that there is currently no law governing the activities of these agencies. It recommends the establishment of necessary legislation and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
In contrast to many democracies, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies operate largely unchecked due to the absence of legal oversight. These agencies were established through executive orders soon after Pakistan was established, but their operations have not been legislatively supervised since then. They function based on SOPs that are not backed by any legal authority.
Efforts to legislate the regulation of intelligence agencies have been sporadic and unsuccessful. During the tenure of the previous Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government, Dr. Shoaib Suddle, then Director General of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), initiated steps toward this end. He reviewed intelligence agency laws from various countries and drafted a bill that proposed parliamentary oversight of the Intelligence Bureau.
Dr Suddle’s draft was a proactive attempt to provide a legislative framework to ensure transparency and accountability in intelligence agency operations, drawing on practices from democracies like the US, UK, Germany, and France.
While some democracies have robust legal frameworks governing their intelligence sectors, others do not. However, several nations, including those with histories of authoritarian rule, have successfully reformed their intelligence sectors to place them under legislative scrutiny.
In Pakistan, despite various proposals and discussions about legislative oversight of intelligence agencies, such as those suggested by Dr. Suddle, effective implementation has not been achieved. The lack of political will and the complexity of regulating such powerful entities continue to pose significant challenges.
