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Pakistan lawmakers vote for military courts to try insurgents Pakistani politicians vote for military courts to try civilians
(about 2 hours later)
Pakistani lawmakers have passed legislation for military courts to try insurgents, one of a series of measures aimed at clamping down on increasingly brutal attacks after Taliban gunmen massacred 134 children last month. Special courts run by Pakistan’s army will try civilians accused of terrorism under a measure passed on Tuesday that critics say gives too much power to an already over-mighty military.
The bill secured the unanimous vote of the 242 lawmakers present, 14 more than the two-thirds majority it required. Legislators from religious parties and an opposition party led by former cricketer Imran Khan abstained. The bill, which would hand terrorism trials to the army for two years, was passed unopposed in a vote by Pakistan’s lower house, giving it more than the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.
The law is now expected to be passed by the upper house and signed into law by the president this week. Military courts are part of the political response to the massacre of more than 130 schoolboys in the city of Peshawar last month, which shocked even a country that has grown accustomed to militancy.
It will stay on the books for two years, allowing military courts to try anyone accused of terrorism offences. The ambitious plans include regulating madrasas, the religious schools accused of promoting extremism, and forming a new anti-terrorism force. But it is the prospect of soldiers trying civilians in the coup-prone country that has caused the most unease.
Most politicians in Pakistan agree that military courts must be used to curb Taliban attacks because civilian courts are too cowed and corrupt to jail militants. The government has been attempting to quell fears they will be used against mainstream political parties, the media or separatist groups. Supporters of the measure say the country has little choice but to bring in the army given the dismal record of civilian courts run by fearful judges with no personal security, who regularly acquit terrorist suspects.
But some have raised concerns about the dramatic expansion of military powers in the coup-prone country. Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, leader of the parliamentary opposition, underscored the reluctance of many politicians to vote for what he called a “bitter pill”. “We have not been in favour of military courts in the past but the Pakistani public’s safety is our priority and it is the government’s responsibility to keep the masses safe in this country,” he said.
The army is often accused of only targeting groups that stage attacks in Pakistan while tolerating others focused on neighbours India and Afghanistan. The country’s radical religious parties are also uneasy about measures to tackle militants who claim to be fighting in the name of Islam. Two leading Islamist parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam faction led by Fazal-ur-Rehman, abstained from voting on the bill, which will be debated by the senate on Wednesday.
The courts will have a limited mandate, the interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said last week. Entirely absent from parliament were members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the opposition party led by Imran Khan, the former cricket player, which has repeatedly promised a mass resignation of MPs over its drawn-out dispute with the government about last year’s general election, which Khan alleges was rigged.
“Military courts will not be used against any politician, seminary, businessman, media person or common citizen,” he said. “Nor is it a forum for dispensation of justice.” Although the constitutional amendment is likely to be passed it may face challenges from the country’s legal community. Leading lawyers have already expressed their opposition to military courts which the supreme court has previously ruled were unconstitutional.
On Monday, the Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah released a video vowing more attacks on children. The government and the military say Pakistan’s Taliban insurgency amounts to a war, so there is a precedent for the use of military courts.
“Spec courts not desire of the Army but need of extraordinary times,” military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa tweeted last week. “Will return to original system when normalcy returns.”
Senator Afrasiab Khattak, a human rights activist, said he reluctantly supported the law.
“We have always stood for the independence of judiciary, but unfortunately they cannot deal with the hardcore terrorists,” he said, citing attacks on judges and prosecutors.