Preventive detention: senators seek to curtail intelligence agencies' role

A bill has been submitted to Senate seeking amendment in Constitution with a view to curtailing intelligence agencies' role in preventive detention, and making permission of a concerned province's High Court mandatory prior to handing over of any Pakistani citizen to a foreign country.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2012, submitted to the Upper House of the Parliament, by three Senators belonging to Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), proposes amendments to Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution. In its statement of objects and reasons, the bill says that hundreds of Pakistanis are allegedly kept in the custody of state agencies without any opportunity of being heard at any judicial forum; while their families know nothing about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
It stated that the intelligence agencies and 'law enforcing' agencies have been misusing the provisions related to Preventive Detention in the Constitution of Pakistan, which are undoubtedly meant for exceptional circumstances. The bill further stated that it was necessary to cut short the powers of intelligence agencies in case of preventive detention to a reasonable limit and ensure the right of fair trial for every detained person. This bill proposes to reinstate the maximum duration of "one month" for preventive detention without being heard, as it was in the original text of the 1973 Constitution.