Arrest warrant against Hussein Haqqani: Interpol’s bare denial

From a long time Hussein Haqqani becomes the cause of trouble for the government of Pakistan. Since 2011, he has been living continuously in the US and has been exposing the Pakistani government and the nefarious designs of the army from various forums and this is the reason that the Government of Pakistan considers it the most appropriate remedy to stop them is to bound him in clutches of law. And for this, Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies sought help from Interpol for arresting Haqqani in the US, but Interpol refused.

The International Criminal Police Organisation, Interpol, dismissed Islamabad’s ‘attempts’ to issue arrest warrants against Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani on April 30. According to a latter issued by Interpol “The General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organisation, Interpol, hereby certifies that as of today [April 18, 2018], Husain Haqqani is not subject to an Interpol Blue Notice or diffusion and is not known in Interpol’s data basis.” Previously, the Interpol had refused to honour warrants against the former diplomat’s arrest issued by the Pakistan’s Supreme Court on grounds that charges against him were ‘political’.

Memogate again?

On February 1, 2018 the Supreme Court of Pakistan had constituted a three-member bench to resume hearing of the memogate case involving Haqqani. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had in the last week of February ordered the FIA to complete legal action against Haqqani. On February 15, the SC had issued a warrant for the arrest of Haqqani over his alleged involvement in the memo scandal and his failure to appear before the Supreme Court.

What is the legal issue?

The cases pertaining to the memogate were registered under Sections 120b (hatching a criminal conspiracy) and 121a (waging a war against Pakistan) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the international criminal police organisation, Interpol’s charter forbids it from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters. Therefore, charges were reframed to invigorate the case.

Last month, Pakistan’s FIA had registered a case against the former envoy accusing him of committing ‘criminal breach of trust, misuse of authority and embezzlement of funds’ at Pakistan’s embassy in the US. The case was registered under Section 3, 4, 409, 420, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Criticism: Public to Parliament

In January 2018 Haqqani was named in FIRs lodged by three people in two police stations in Kohat district of northwest Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, accusing Pakistan of “maligning” in his books, speeches and articles defaming the military and the government, and worked as  "CIA and Indian agent."

Haqqani was also criticised by Pakistan’s parliament for his column in The Washington Post in which he had written that he had helped the US forces in eliminating Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden when the government and the Inter-Services Intelligence had been kept in the dark about the secret operation.

What is the Memogate?

The memo scandal erupted in 2011 when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have received an ‘anti-army’ memo from Haqqani to be delivered to Admiral Mike Mullen, the then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

FIA and its brutal history

Codified under the Constitution of Pakistan in 1974, the institution functions under the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The National Intelligence Directorate (NID) was formed in 2014 to pool intelligence gathered by over 30 of Pakistan's intelligence agencies.

 The FIA has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception; the FIA launched covert operations against the right-wing activists of the Pakistan National Alliance PNA, a common opposition coalition of right wing parties against Bhutto. In 1990s, the FIA was involved in running active intelligence operation against the Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) on behest of the government. Critics of FIA have called the agency "secret police".  In the 1980s, the FIA also targeted Pakistani leftist groups and was instrumental in conducting inquiries (Jam Saqi case) in preparation against the Communist Party of Pakistan.

What is Blue Notice of Interpol?

An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats from police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. This notice is issued to the country the criminal belongs to and to collect more information about a person's identity or activities related to the crime.