VIVAnews - A United Nations (UN) panel was set up to investigate the facts and circumstances of the murder of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The commission of inquiry, which consists of Chilean Ambassador to the UN, Heraldo Munoz, former Indonesian Attorney General, Marzuki Darusman, and a veteran Irish police officer, Peter Fitzgerald, has taken a few steps.
“It's a fact-finding mission. It has started work today and it'll just inquire into the facts and circumstances of the assassination," UN spokeswoman Abdul Basit, said as quoted from the Earth Times on Wednesday, July 1.
He also said the team would come to Pakistan in the third week of July. The team would examine the facts related to the murder of Bhutto which were gathered by the police.
“They can interview the witnesses and some important figures. The government of Pakistan will be facilitating,” Basit said.
Six months later, the team will have to report the results of the investigation to the UN and the Pakistan government.
The authority of the investigation team is limited. It is unclear whether the team is authorized to reveal the cause of Bhutto's death.
Earlier, Marzuki Darussman said the duty of the commission is merely to strengthen or weaken and confirm or deny the facts gathered.
There are three steps that will be taken by the team. The first one is finding the truth. Second, establishing a strong cooperation with the government of Pakistan to reveal the facts and the last one is creating, if necessary, a witness protection program.
“If the results are similar to those gained by the Scotland Yard and justified by the Yard, the public would possibly accept them. As for legal affairs, such as prosecutions and who were held responsible, fully lie in the hands of the Pakistan government,” Darusman said on Tuesday, June 23.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, was murdered in a suicide gun-and-bomb attack in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, after a rally to drum up support for a general election she had hoped to win.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October after living in exile for eight years. Two months after the attack, Bhutto survived a suicide attack during her return to Karachi. A Hundred and forty people died in the attack.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
