Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Pakistan

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The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's biggest intelligence agency, faced accusations of extensive involvement in meddling with domestic politics within the country. It has been described as a "state within a state" and works as a secret police of Pakistan. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Killings of journalists

For many years, the ISI remained unmentionable and immune to public criticism. The media often alluded to it as the "agencies," the "establishment," or more discreetly as "the angels." [4] Amnesty International's research indicated that journalists accused the ISI of engaging in harassment, intimidation, or abuse against them or their colleagues. [5] Amnesty International reported that journalists faced heightened risks when uncovering security deficiencies within the military or its purported connections to proscribed organizations like the Taliban. Similarly, stories regarding alleged abuses by military engaged in counterinsurgency operations against separatist factions in Balochistan are also regarded as highly sensitive. [6]

In 2014, Hamid Mir sustained injuries in a targeted attack in Karachi, with him attributing responsibility for the incident to the ISI. [7] Mir asserted that the ISI took umbrage at his television program, Capital Talk, aired on Geo News. The show had criticized ISI methods employed against separatists in Balochistan province, where allegations of military involvement in the abduction and unlawful detention of individuals are prevalent. [4]

In 2011, Saleem Shahzad was found dead in a canal with indications of torture, one day after he was reported missing. Human Rights Watch implicated ISI in his death, while the Central Intelligence Agency subsequently also declared having "reliable and conclusive" intelligence pointing to ISI's involvement. [8] [9]

In 2022, Arshad Sharif, who faced charges of sedition and left the country following criticism of the military, was killed in Kenya. [10] Subsequently, Sharif's mother publicly accused several high-ranking officials of the ISI, including its Director General Nadeem Anjum, of being involved in her son's death, alleging that he had been threatened by the agency after Sharif implicated ISI's involvement in Imran Khan's removal. [11]

Judicial interference

In 2018, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, a judge serving in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), accused the ISI of orchestrating a coup against the third government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. [12] Subsequently, he was ousted from his position as a Justice of the IHC based on recommendations from the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan. [13]

In March, 2024, six judges of the IHC, wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council, alleging interference by the ISI in judicial matters. They cited instances of pressure on judges through the abduction and torture of their relatives and secret surveillance within their residences. [14]

Referencess

  1. ↑ "The ISI". New Internationalist . July 1, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Intelligence chief who 'turned a blind eye' to notorious neighbour". The Independent. May 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ Wright, Lawrence (May 8, 2011). "The Double Game" – via New Yorker.
  4. 1 2 Boone, Jon (27 April 2014). "Geo TV's face-off with ISI spy agency – a subplot of a larger tussle in Pakistan". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Pakistan must investigate Inter-Services Intelligence over attacks against journalists". Amnesty International. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ↑ Boone, Jon (29 April 2014). "Pakistan's spy agency ISI accused of kidnapping and killing journalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Hamid Mir defiant, still holds ISI responsible for attack". DAWN.COM. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Pakistan's Spies Tied to Slaying of a Journalist". The New York Times. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead". BBC News. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "A month after the killing of a Pakistani journalist, his family demands justice". CNN. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Slain Journalist Arshad Sharif's Mother Wants Gen Bajwa, DG ISI To Be Nominated In The FIR". The Friday Times. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "The fall of a high court judge". DAWN.COM. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Justice Shaukat Siddiqui removed as Islamabad High Court judge". DAWN.COM. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  14. ↑ Asad, Malik (27 March 2024). "IHC judges detail 'brazen meddling' in letter to Supreme Judicial Council". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 27 March 2024.

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