Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Bill of 2016 in U.S House of Representatives
A new bill has been moved in the U.S House of
Representatives in the wake of the terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri in
Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlights:
- The ‘‘Pakistan State Sponsor of
Terrorism Designation Act of 2016” designates Pakistan as a state sponsor
of terrorism. It calls on the U.S. administration to provide a report on
whether or not Pakistan qualifies as such under various U.S. laws.
- The bill underlines multiple facts
that the members think make Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.
- The bill lists Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) involvement in supporting terrorism in Afghanistan and
quotes the Department of State’s 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism that
“Pakistan has not taken sufficient action against groups such as
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which continued to
cooperate, train, organise, and fundraise in Pakistan.”
- The bill says the Government of
Pakistan, and the ISI in particular, provides support and a safe haven to
groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S.
- The bill also cites a 2012 NATO
report that indicated that the Afghan Taliban is directly assisted by the
Pakistani security services and noted that ‘‘Pakistan’s manipulation of
the Taliban senior leadership continues [unabated]’’.
Way ahead:
The bill envisages a two-step process towards
designating Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. If enacted into law, it will
require the administration to submit to Congress a report within 90 days,
determining whether Government of Pakistan, including any agents or
instrumentalities “committed, conspired to commit, attempted, aided, or abetted
any such act” referred in the bill.
- Within 30 days after the first
report, the Secretary of State will be required to submit another report
explaining whether any of these acts constitutes support for international
terrorism and “a determination that the Government of Pakistan is a state
sponsor of terrorism.”
- If the administration decides not to designate Pakistan as state sponsor of terrorism, it will have to give “a detailed justification.”
