ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: Eminent world jurists and human rights experts will visit Pakistan in the first week of March and hold public hearings in order "to examine Pakistan's response to the threat of terrorism" and to assess human rights situation in the country.

According to an announcement by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) here on Friday, an Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights will visit Islamabad on March 5 and 6 to hold public hearings and seek to meet in private with senior representatives of state bodies and the government.

The panel is also expected to visit Quetta to assess the human rights situation in the Balochistan province. The visit has been jointly organised by the ICJ and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The panel will produce its final report in autumn 2007.

The jurists' panel is an independent panel of eight highly respected jurists established by the ICJ in October 2005 to conduct a global inquiry into terrorism, counter-terrorism and human rights.

The panel will be represented in Pakistan by Justice Arthur Chaskalson, former chief justice of South Africa and first president of South Africa’s Constitutional Court, Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn, professor of law at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea and Hina Jillani, special representative of the UN secretary-general on human rights defenders.

Other members of the panel are Prof Georges Abi-Saab (Egypt), Prof Robert K Goldman (US), Mary Robinson (Ireland), Prof Stefan Trechsel (Switzerland) and Justice E. Raul Zaffaroni (Argentine).

According to the ICJ, the main purpose of the visit is to "assess and examine the impact of counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices on human rights and the rule of law in Pakistan." The panel will review the allegations of "enforced disappearances and their investigation by the security forces and the effectiveness of habeas corpus applications."

During the public hearings, the panel will inquire about the "role of military and other intelligence agencies to counter terrorism, the oversight by the intelligence agencies, accountability mechanism and their effectiveness."

Another important item on the agenda of the visit is to examine the "laws and practices applied for counter-terrorism purposes in Balochistan, Federally-Administered Tribal Areas and the NWFP, including the rules governing the use of force by security forces, interventions by foreign actors, allegations of collective economic punishment against the civilian population and house destruction by the state."

At its public hearings in Islamabad, the panel wishes to receive the perspectives of a wide range of individuals and organisations. It has invited submissions from the government and members of law-enforcement agencies, national human rights institutions, the legal profession, civil society and academics.