Is there any possibility to bring back Nawaz sons, Ishaq Dar and Haqqani?
This is almost next to impossible task to bring back all of them, who have been declared absconders
(WebDesk) - In recent times, it has been witnessed that with all the rapidity and promptness, in the light of the Supreme Court orders, government of Pakistan has been straining with all efforts to bring back the former Pakistan Ambassador in US, Hussain Haqqani in the memo gate scandal.
On the other hand, with the same swiftness, NAB is also struggling hard to bring back former finance minister Ishaq Dar and the sons of former Premier and Pakistan’s leading political party Pakistan Muslim League N supremo, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz to Pakistan in the mega corruption scandal, surfaced after the Panama Leaks. Nawaz Brothers and Ishaq Dar have been declared fugitive by the accountability court. Pakistan government wants them to be arrested and then handed over to the state by the UK government.
Also Read: Interior Ministry blacklists Ishaq Dar, blocks passport
Earlier, Interpol was contacted by the government of Pakistan to arrest MQM supremo Altaf Husain and hand him over to Pakistan after his infamous speech on August 22, 2016. Lack of extradition treaty between Pakistan and UK has emerged as the key impediment even to demand such high profile figure to hand over to country to face the court cases filed against him.
Pakistan do not have any extradition treaty with United Kingdom as well as with India
Extradition from one nation to another is handled in a similar manner, with the head of one country demanding the return of afugitive who is alleged to have committed a crime in that country. Extradition between nations is usually based on a treatybetween the country where the accused is currently located and the country seeking to place him or her on trial for analleged crime.
Also Read: NAB to move Interpol for Hassan, Hussain and Dar s extradition
What is Extradition Treaty?
Extradition is the surrender of a criminal to one country by another. It also helps in maintaining the territoriality of that a country should not apply its criminal law to a person offence outside its territories except when the crime is related the countries national interest. The process is regulated by treaties between the two countries.
Does Pakistan has extradition treaty with other countries?
Pakistan had an extradition treaty with the United States, The two countries had an accord for return of fugitives as per a 1973 notification. The US-Pakistan accord has roots in a US-UK treaty of 1932, which was then applicable to all colonial territories. Pakistan inherited it after coming into existence in 1947 and subsequently through a notification in February 1973 the US was included among the countries with which it had the treaty.
Being the member of Organization of Economic and Cooperation Development convention, Pakistan has thirteen bilateral extradition treaties in force with Parties to the OECD Convention which include countries like Argentina, Austria Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, and United States.
In addition, under the London Scheme of Common wealth countries, Pakistan has extradition relations with four other countries, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, and Vanuatu.
But interestingly, Pakistan do not have extradition treaty with United Kingdom as well as with India.
What the possibilities are of bringing Haqqani, Nawaz Brothers and Ishaq Dar back to Pakistan?
Despite Pakistan has extradition treaty with US, Haqqani cannot be brought back. Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has been told that Husain Haqqani cannot be brought back on contempt charges. International law expert Ahmer Bilal Soofi informed the apex court that former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani could not be brought back to Pakistan on charges of contempt of court. He further delineated that Haqqani can only be brought back if the offence pertaining to an alleged misappropriation of the embassy fund could be pursued but the matter should be referred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to bring Haqqani back through Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA).
Pakistan does not have any extradition treaty with UK, hence Hussain Nawaz and Dar cannot be extradited
In the context of bringing back Nawaz brothers and Dar, government of Pakistan is as quickly geared up as it has been seen in the case of Hussain Haqqani, and also set to take the assistance of Interpol.
In experts’ opinion, this is almost next to impossible task to bring back all of them, who have been declared absconders by the different courts of Pakistan, in the absence of extradition treaty between Pakistan and UK and even in the case of Hussain Haqqani when extradition treaty between Pakistan and US do exist.
There are some conditions which obligate in bring back them under this treaty. The request will be refused if the purpose of the request is deemed to be to prosecute or punish the person on account of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or political opinions, or if extradited the person might be prejudiced at his trial or punished unfairly for any of these reasons.
Also Read: NAB s actions have no legal standing: Hussain Nawaz
While speaking to the Senior Anchorperon Kamran Khan in Dunya News program Dunya Kamran Khan kay sath, an international UK law expert Barrister Rashid Aslam said that Pakistan do not have any extradition treaty with Pakistan which could have enabled the government of Pakistan to demand the transfer of an accused fled to UK or US from Pakistan to place the accused on trial. Though Pakistan being the common wealth state is part of bilateral treaty which to some extent enable Pakistan for extradition but it has some restrictions which may imply in the cases of Haqqani, Hassan Hussain Nawaz and Ishaq Dar.
There are some conditions which obligate in bring back them under this treaty. The request will be refused if the purpose of the request is deemed to be to prosecute or punish the person on account of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or political opinions, or if extradited the person might be prejudiced at his trial or punished unfairly for any of these reasons.
As Nawaz brothers and Ishaq Dar both have the political affiliations and the cases against them may hint towards the political victimization of them, it seems quite difficult that any of them would be handed over to the government of Pakistan
If the government of the country to which the accused is sought, finds the case trivial and if it thinks that the surrendering of the person is not being made in good faith or in the interests of justice or for political reasons, it can deny the request. The other country’s government can also stop the process if it feels that the person will be charged with an offence not mentioned in the extradition treaty.
As Nawaz brothers and Ishaq Dar both have the political affiliations and the cases against them may hint towards the political victimization of them, it seems quite difficult that any of them would be handed over to the government of Pakistan, said the UK law expert.
Can Hasan Nawaz be approached through Interpol?
Being the British citizen, red warrants can be issued against Hassan Nawaz but due to Pakistan’s judicial activism, establishment interference and jeopardize political situation and the instability of system reflected through media and observers reports raise concerns for Interpol as well which may bar them to take any stern actions against its own national in the present situation. Earlier over the complaint filed by the government of Pakistan, Interpol had issued the notice against Husain Nawaz to which he replied with a 32-page explanation submitted to Interpol. Fearing the political victimization, the explanation sought relieve from extradition in the light of political background of his family and the judicial activism against his family. Interpol accepted it and even removed the notices from website, explained UK law expert.
Being the British citizen, red warrants can be issued against Hassan Nawaz but due to Pakistan’s judicial activism, establishment interference and jeopardize political situation and the instability of system reflected through media and observers reports raise concerns for Interpol as well which may bar them to take any stern actions against its own national in the present situation
Also Read: FIA writes letter to Interpol to issue red warrants for Nawaz s sons
Extradition treaties often provide exceptions under which a nation can refuse to surrender a fugitive sought by another nation. Many nations will not extradite persons charged with certain political offenses, such as Treason, Sedition, and Espionage. The rise in airplane Hijacking, Terrorism, and hostage taking in the late twentieth century led many nations to enter into multilateral conventions in which the signing countries mutually agreed to extradite individuals who committed such crimes.
Last year, the former minister Ahsan Iqbal expedited the process to finalize crucial extradition treaties with key global powers including the United Kingdom (UK), China and other important states situated in the Gulf, Middle East and adjoining belt. That was not the first attempt of taking steps to reach to the countries for signing extradition treaties. Earlier in 2010, a similar move was also made by Pakistan Peoples Party led government in 2010 when Rehman Malik was the interior minister.
Also Read: No treaty being signed with UK on extradition of criminals: Malik
