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The Ordinance: What Next?
The promulgation of the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance which came into effect on Wednesday w ould appear to its critic* as a case of fait accompli. Many would say. tn a mixture of despair and disappointment. the die is cast. Behind this mood lies serious misgivings, shared by this newspaper, that notwithstanding the genuine concern of the administration of Begum Khaleda Zia for curbing} terrorist activities and freeing the country of rising} lawlessness, we can do without this particular ordinance As we said in this column last Wednes day. tn dealing with the present critical situation, especially the campus violence, what is needed most is the strictest possible enforcement of existing laws rather than the promulgation of a new ordinance, backed by a strong political will and a constructive dialogue between the ru ling party the opposition Significantly enough. Just when the stage was set for the promulgation of the new ordinance, the police had acted firmly and decisively, in arresting Ilyas All of the Jattyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and In carrying out a successful raid on the central office of a right -wing extremist group, thus making the public aware of the powers the police do possess in dealing with terrorist suspects.
The question that will be uppermost in public minds is: What happens next ? Here, to give the government the benefit of doubt, we assume Uhat. under the cover of the new ordinance, the drive against all forms of terrorism will be stepped up and that we shall see the results, hopefully, within a short time. We wish every success to the administration in this regard, conscious as we are that it has taken a lot on Its shoulder and that 11 can fall only at Its peril.
We also have other, more important, worries. They relate to the Implementation of the ordinance. especially where Its much-feared abuse against political opponents of the governmenit is concerned.
Judging by some of the clauses in the ordinance. the authorities seem aware of the danger. For one thing, the trial of persons arrested under the ordinance would be conducted by tribunals, headed by retired or sitting Judges. There are also other provisions, concerning tne duration off ' the Investigation and of the trial by the tribu nal itself, not to mention the right of appeal by an aggrieved person, which provide considerable safeguards against the misuse of the ordinance. However, tn our view, there is room — indeed, an ur-Sent need — for strengthening these safeguards.
7e suggest that all appointments of Judges for the tribunals be made by the Chief Justice of the : country, rather than by the Home Ministry. We also feel that it should be the Chief Justice who should head a high-level committee that reviews the Implementation of the ordinance perhaps every two months. In other words, the work by all the tribunals should form part of the judiciary.
While we are relieved that the ordinance does not provide for "detention without trial", we are ;not quite sure if the authorities have given enough thought to the danger of an arbitrary arrest of a potentially Innocent law-abiding citizen by the police and keeping him (or her) in custody for as long as 30 days without producing the person before a tribunal. Maybe the period of detention can be shortened. Or maybe the tribunal can be notified when an arrest has been made. The Important consideration should be to curb the danger of highhandedness by the police or the risk of corruption finding a new avenue to the Law enforcing agency.
Finally, once the ordinance has served its pur-pose within a definite time frame, it should be allowed to die its natural death, instead of being turned into an act by the Jatlya Sangsad.