Frontier Crime
Regulations: A Draconian Law Against the Tribal
People
By Talat Sattar
CA
The constitution of a country protects
the fundamental rights of its citizens. Article
247 (7) of the constitution bars Pakistani courts
to exercise their jurisdiction in the Federally
Administered Tribal Area (FATA); due to this judicial
limitation tribesmen convicted under the Frontier
Crime Regulations (FCR) cannot appeal in superior
courts against the judgments passed by the political
agent.
Federal Minister for Law and Justice Wasi Zafar
recently told the upper house that the government
was reviewing the Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR).
It is consulting the tribal elders on this issue
because no amendment could be made to the law
without the consent of the people of the area.
The minister was speaking on a resolution moved
by People's Party Parliamentarians Senator Farhatullah
Babar. The resolution demanded the review of the
FCR and the way it is administered in the tribal
areas.
Article 247 (5) of the constitution clearly states:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Constitution, the President may, with respect
to any matter, make regulations for the peace
and good Government of a Federally Administered
Tribal Area or any part hereof.” Unfortunately,
the Federal Minister for Law and Justice was not
even aware of this clause.
On a recent visit to San Francisco, Bay Area,
Mrs. Benazir Bhutto stated that FATA is part of
Pakistan and PPP will, if elected, cease the special
status of these areas. Mrs. Benazir Bhutto is
not the first one talking about FATA or FCR. Former
Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah also questioned
the status of the Federally Administered Tribal
Area and asked the Nawaz Sharif government to
clarify the issue. Before any ruling on the issue,
Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was dismissed by
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mr. Afrasiab Khattak, former chairman of the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan also had expressed
his dismay on the FCR.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas are part of
Pakistan. However, they are out of territorial
and administrative limits of its four provinces,
comprising a region of some 10,507 mi². The
total population of the FATA was estimated at
about 3, 138, 000 in 1998. The region is nominally
controlled by the federal government of Pakistan.
It consists of five distinct areas: Khyber, Kurram,
Malakand, Mohmand and Waziristan. The main towns
are: Miran Shah, Razmak and Wana.
Innocent men, women and children become victims
of the draconian Frontier Crime Regulations law.
Children as young as two years old have been convicted
under the FCR. FCR is a black law and contrary
to the Constitution and international human rights
conventions. Under tArticle 1 of the Constitution,
FATA is a part of Pakistan; therefore, no law
could be allowed to operate in tribal areas, which
is not inconformity to the human rights clauses
of the constitution.
Family members are handed a jail term for no crime
of their own under FCR. Innocent people are sentenced
to jail for the alleged crimes of their father,
uncle or any of their blood relatives. It is the
government that launches operation against those
innocent victims if they cannot produce the sought
after. Government can raze the houses of criminals
and their relatives to ground as a punishment
under the FCR.
The Frontier Crime Regulations comprises a set
of laws enforced by British colonialists in the
Pakhtoon-inhabited areas. They were specially
devised to counter the fierce opposition of the
Pakhtoons to British rule, and their main objective
was to protect the interests of the British.
The FCR dates back to the occupation of the six
Pakhtoon-inhabited Frontier districts by the British
in 1848. The regulation was re-enacted in 1873
and again in 1876, with minor modifications. With
the passage of time, the regulation was found
to be inadequate and new acts and offences were
added to it to extend its scope. This was done
through the promulgation of the Frontier Crime
Regulations 1901.
The British devised the FCR as an instrument of
subjugation. It was meant to discipline the Pakhtoon
population and to establish the writ of the colonial
authority. In drafting the regulation, the British
relied upon some customs and traditions prevailing
in the tribal belt, but these traditions were
distorted to suit the government's plan of securing
convictions at will.
FATA was the most troubled area for British Government
until 1947.The Government of Pakistan also had
to launch operations in FATA during last 57 years
many times. Recently, several hundred Pakistani
military personnel died fighting in this area
in pursuit of Al-Qaeda. Corrupt Pakistani officials
and fugitives also take refuge in this area.
Part XII of the Chapter 3 Tribal Areas (Articles
246 – 247) of the Pakistani Constitution
deals with the federally administered areas. According
to this article, the President of Pakistan can
cease FATA’s special status.
Pakistan got independence from the British in
1947, and now it is time for the FATA to get independence
from British Laws. General Musharraf has a historical
opportunity to suspend FATA’s special status
and unify it with the rest of Pakistan.
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