The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Having before it the case of Mr. Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and a former Minister for Religious Affairs, which has been examined by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, pursuant to its Procedure for the treatment by the Inter-Parliamentary Union of communications concerning violations of the human rights of members of parliament,

Taking into account the information provided by the member of the delegation of Pakistan who appeared before the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians during the 127th IPU Assembly (Quebec, October 2012), and the information transmitted by the source,

Considering the following:

• Mr. Kazmi was detained from March 2011 until 27 August 2012 at Adiyala Central Prison in Islamabad on allegations of financial corruption committed during the 2010 Hajj pilgrimage;

• Mr. Kazmi was finally granted bail on 27 August 2012 when a trial court judge was given temporary charge of the case;

• The source alleges that, despite the extensive investigations conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency since Mr. Kazmi’s arrest, no evidence has been found to incriminate him;

• Mr. Kazmi was seriously injured during an assassination attempt in 2009 following his efforts, as Minister for Religious Affairs, to weaken the influence of “militant groups in the Muslim community”; the member of the Pakistani delegation stated that it was a miracle that Mr. Kazmi survived the attack; the source alleges that a concerted campaign was launched against Mr. Kazmi in 2010 and that he was arrested on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the sole basis of unsubstantiated media reports relating to the Hajj pilgrimage corruption scandal; the source considers that the allegations brought against Mr. Kazmi are politically motivated;

• According to the source, Mr. Kazmi has expressed constant concern since his release about the fairness of the proceedings before the Supreme Court,

1. Thanks the member of the delegation of Pakistan for the information provided;

2. Is pleased that the Speaker of the National Assembly took steps to allow Mr. Kazmi to exercise his parliamentary mandate while he was in prison;

3. Notes the allegations about lack of due process and the absence of any evidence in the proceedings against Mr. Kazmi; wishes to receive further information on this point from the competent authorities and the source;

4. Trusts that the Supreme Court will examine this case, in which the investigation was initiated one and a half years ago, at its earliest convenience; reaffirms that a swift examination is particularly important in cases relating to members of parliament, for whom a prolonged state of uncertainty inevitably serves to impair the ability freely to exercise their parliamentary mandate;

5. Is deeply concerned that Mr. Kazmi was the subject of an attempt on his life three years ago for which it would seem no one has yet been held to account; wishes to obtain official information on the steps taken to identify and apprehend the culprits;

6. Requests the Secretary General to forward this resolution to the parliamentary authorities and to the source;

7. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.

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