Minutes of the NIOC 5th Advisory Board Meeting

By CGR On Mar 12, 2020

The 5th Advisory Board Meeting of the National Initiative against Organized Crime (NIOC) Pakistan was held at Islamabad Club on Friday, 6 March 2020.

The meeting was preceded by luncheon which also entailed introduction to and preliminary discussion around the issues concerning the AB meeting. Some special guests who participated included Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Aamir Zulfiqar, Additional Director General (ADG) FIA Ehsan Sadiq, and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Shahzada Sultan, who is currently serving at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).

Mr. Tariq Parvez, President Advisory Board, could not attend the meeting due to some pressing family engagement. Mr Fiaz Toru, AB Member, was requested to chair the meeting for which he gave his kind consent. Others who attended the meeting included Zahid Hussain (Member AB), Zubair Habib (Member AB), Fasi Zaka (Member AB), Tariq Khosa (Director NIOC), Amir Rana (Secretary NIOC), Hassan Sardar (Manager Administration and Finance), and Kashif Noon (Consultant). DIG Shahzada Sultan of Nacta also participated on special request.

Some highlights of the meting are as under:

The minutes of the previous [4^th] Advisory Board meeting were approved in the meeting.

NIOC brochure’s printed copy was approved. It was agreed that the 1,000 printed copies would be distributed among all the relevant stakeholders including foreign missions, CSOs and think-tanks. Secretary NIOC Amir Rana was asked to manage the task.

NIOC Newsletter for February 2020 was reviewed and approved for circulation by PIPS.

NIOC website was displayed on multimedia. Most said it had been improved considerably. Participants agreed that more professional material would be added to make it purposeful.

All Advisory Board Members were asked two nominate Experts and Champions of Change among the civil society for approval by NIOC AB in next meeting on Friday, 3 April 2020.

It was reviewed that 1st International Conference on Organized Crime would be held at Islamabad Club on 13-14 April, 2020. Secretary NIOC Amir Rana will finalize the conference agenda in a few days time. It was agreed that respected journalist and human rights activist Mr IA Rehman will be invited as the Chief Guest. Guest of Honour will be the Norwegian Ambassador in Islamabad. Keynote Speakers at the Inaugural Session would be Mr Moeed Yousaf, Special Assistant to the PM on National Security, Dr Hassan Abbas, Distinguished Professor at Near East and South Asia Institute at the NDU Washington and Mr Tariq Parvez, President NIOC AB. Two sessions on terrorism financing and drug trafficking will be held on 13 April and will be chaired by National Coordinator Nacta and Federal Secretary Narcotics Control respectively. Next day, on 14th April, two sessions will be held on human trafficking and cybercrimes, under the chairmanship of Jeremy Milsom of UNODC and DG FIA Wajid Zia, respectively. Efforts would be made to invite a UK expert on organized crime through the British High Commission Islamabad.

Drug trafficking paper was approved by AB. It would be sent to GI-TOC for circulation globally.

The meeting was also informed that two researchers had been hired by NIOC. Jameel Hussain Junejo is preparing a 10-page paper on drug [abuse] situation in Karachi. Asad Jamal, an eminent lawyer in Lahore, is writing an analysis paper on cybercrime laws and rules. Both papers are to be finalized by 15 March 2020.

GI-TOC Discussion on Fragility and Violence was found to be very useful by AB. Kashif Noon, Consultant, was tasked to prepare its summary for discussion during AB Meeting on 3 April and during International Conference on Organized Crime on 13-14 April, 2020.

Finally, draft of the Analysis Paper on Terror Financing was presented to AB by Consultant Kashif Noon. Very useful discussion was held and feedback and review by DIG Shahzada Sultan of Nacta was appreciated. The Consultant will finalize the Paper after final review by Director NIOC Tariq Khosa and President AB NIOC Mr Tariq Parvez.