Originally published on the CGS blog on January 3, 2008.
GlobalSolutions.org is already on the record calling for the Security Council to sponsor a special investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto.
On Wednesday, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), who was in Pakistan with Rep. Patrick Kennedy when Bhutto was assassinated, sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urging “the United Nations, either alone or in conjunction with the Musharraf government of Pakistan, to appoint an investigating commission.”
I applaud Specter for writing the Secretary-General, but by asking for either the FBI or Scotland Yard to “undertake an investigation under the name of the United Nations”, Specter calls for the wrong play. Scotland Yard has already been invited in by the Pakistani government, but the small team from the U.K. will operate in cooperation with the Musharraf government and that just won’t cut the mustard.
I think our Director and CEO Raj Purohit hit the right cord when he said:
“With Pakistani government collusion in her death a distinct possibility, the Security Council is the only body with the credibility to manage a truly independent investigation. An independent investigation is the first step towards the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan.”
“We believe that Detlev Mehlis, the former head of the U.N. International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, would be an appropriate lead investigator. We further believe that he should work together with a senior Pakistani lawyer, such as Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, the President District Bar Association Lakki Marwat North West Frontier Province.”
