Peshawar, Mar 24(ANI): A row between Pakistan's anti-terrorism courts and security agencies over the acquittal of militants, coupled with the federal government's inability to push through a critical anti-terror amendment bill, may paralyse Islamabad's effort to root out terrorism from the country.
"We are heading for a paralysis," the Dawn quoted a senior official, as saying.
"The entire effort to catch these scums is going for six. You catch them and the next thing you know is they are out and back in business," another frustrated official said.
At a briefing on the internal security situation last month, the government was informed that out of the 1443 militants arrested, 695 had been bailed out mostly by appellate courts, while 48 others had been acquitted by anti-terrorism courts.
"Everyone worth knowing we had arrested is out, fighting us again," a senior police official said, adding that the overall conviction rate in terrorist case stood at a meagre five per cent.
Government officials cite several cases where they believe the courts refused to accept the prosecution evidence and set free extremely dangerous terrorists. One such case involved the arrest of two alleged suicide bombers along with a suicide jacket, 650 grams of high explosives, a detonating cord and a hand grenade in Peshawar.
The court noted in its judgment that any action must involve the use of explosives, and that they must be in the shape of a device.
"So the inference here is that so long as the terrorist did not explode his suicide vest and kill people, it does not constitute a crime," said a frustrated police investigator. "And that the possession of a suicide vest does not mean that the bomber wanted to or threatened to use it. This is bizarre."
The court further said in its judgment that explosives must be in the shape of a device and that the prosecution did not furnish any report to substantiate its case.
"A suicide jacket with a primer and a hand grenade are explosive devices. Do we need a report from any expert to prove that?" the official asked.
Also, the court noted that there was no allegation of a bomb blast, therefore no case could be constituted under the 1997 Anti-Terrorist Act.
"Does this by implication mean that the suspect should have been allowed to explode the bomb?" the official asked with a tinge of cynicism in his voice.
Also, courts do not accept confessions made by militants to police and intelligence officials as a matter of law. The law requires witnesses and incriminating evidence to convict the militants, who are usually too scared to come forward and testify before the courts.
A senior government official said that the counter-insurgency law might take two to three months to come into effect.
"We have been pressing the federal government for the early passage of the amendments in the ATA. All state institutions, including the military, have weighed in to highlight the urgency of the matter. But somehow the federal government seems to be least bothered," the official said. (ANI)
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