Pakistan's secret military courts given Supreme Court blessing
Petitions challenging the 21st amendment were dismissed in a majority 11-6 vote of the 17-member SC bench. Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Dost Muhammad announced the verdict.
In a 14-3 majority vote, petitions challenging the 18th amendment were also dismissed by the bench. Judges provided seven opinions and two additional notes on the ruling.
The judgement was to be announced by the full court bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk in Courtroom No 1 of the SC building. The SC office had issued a supplementary cause list heralding the announcement of the judgement.
The Parliament passed the 21st Amendment and the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, to establish the special courts after the massacre in the Army Public School, Peshawar, last year.
On April 16 the apex court had suspended executions of six militants who were awarded death sentence by these military courts.
The stay order was issued on an application filed by rights activist Asma Jehangir on behalf of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) after army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had ratified the death sentence to six militants and life imprisonment to one by the military courts.
The judgement on the 21st Amendment as well as the 18th Amendment will be the last major verdict by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk as he will attain superannuation on Aug 16.
Over a five-month long hearing on the challenges to the 18th and 21st amendments was wrapped up by the Supreme Court on June 26.
A total of 31 constitutional petitions were taken up by the court, of which 16 petitions were regarding 18th Amendment the rest were about 21st amendment.
The 18th Amendment was passed by the Parliament during the last PPP government which introduced a new procedure for the appointment of superior court judges. The final judgement in the 18th Amendment case is still pending with the Supreme Court for the last four years though a full-court bench headed by then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had issued an order on Oct 21, 2010, suggesting that guidelines in the mode of appointment of superior court judges under Article 175-A of the constitution.
Later the Parliament brought the 19th Amendment by accepting almost all the proposals and incorporating in the Constitution as suggested by the Supreme Court.
Military courts were empowered to try suspected militants after Taliban gunmen massacred 134 children at an army-run school in December. The government argued civilians were too scared to convict militants.
Several lawyers challenged the constitutionality of the military courts in the Supreme Court. But on Wednesday, Chief Justice Nasir ul Mulk, announced all "petitions have been dismissed".
A detailed judgment will be released later, he said.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million, is plagued by a Taliban insurgency, sectarian violence and militancy.
Military courts have heard at least 100 militants' cases and passed judgment in at least 27, the law ministry said in June. The military published the names of six men sentenced to death in one case.
"The six men convicted by military courts whose execution were stayed by the Supreme Court will now go ahead," Minister of State for Law Ashtar Ausaf Ali told media after the judgment.
There is no public information about the identity of other suspects or convicts, charges or evidence against them, their sentences or appeals. The military has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Military courts are empowered to try militant suspects until February 2017. The government promised to use that time to reform the broken civilian justice system.
Critics say the government handed the military too much power and there are few signs of reform.
"Ceding space to the military isn't the answer. Parliament can't pass the buck for creating a functioning criminal justice system," said Saroop Ijaz, a lawyer who represents international rights body Human Rights Watch.
"There's been no movement on reform ... When the military courts lapse, the criminal justice system will still be broken."
A Reuters investigation of previous military court martials found that accusations of torture were common.
The military is already holding thousands of civilians without trial, according to Supreme Court hearings into missing persons. It is unclear whether some may face military courts.
"We cannot know what is happening inside those courts, we have no access to them," said Amina Janjua, an activist for the families of the missing whose own husband was detained 10 years ago. "Who will know whether the judges' decision is right and what the proof there was?"
No comments