Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA) has urged the government to extend the term of military court till complete peace is restored in the country. They expressed these views in a meeting of Veterans of Pakistan (VoP), formerly known as PESA, chaired by its president Lt-Gen Ali Kuli Khan (retd) on Saturday. It is absolutely necessary that the military courts continue to function till complete peace is restored across the country, they said.
The term of military courts expired on January 6, 2019 and the Ministry of Law and Justice has already forwarded a summary to the federal cabinet for their extension. The establishment of military tribunals was a key point of the 20-point National Action Plan (NAP), initiated in wake of December 2014 Army Public School (APS) terrorist attack in Peshawar, empowering the army to try civilians charged with terrorism.
The military courts were set up under the Constitution (21st Amendment) Act on January 7, 2015 for a period of two years to try terrorists attached with militant outfits using religion or sect as a justification for violence.
An extension was given by the Parliament to these courts in March 2017 through Constitution (23rd Amendment) Act, 2017, and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2017 for a period of two years with the Act deemed to have taken effect on and from January 7, 2017.
They said Pakistan is not only facing threat from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but also from other groups including ISIS and Daesh, which should not be taken lightly. The issue of military courts should not be used for political gains as it is linked with national security, they added.
Khan said those who are raising voice for human rights should also look at the US, the most powerful democracy in the world which needed a detention centre like Guantanamo Bay, a worst kind of prison in modern world but it is considered a necessity for national security of the USA, he said.
He said even inside US, their Patriot Act has given vast powers to investigation agencies and far enhanced punishments for the convicts.
The meeting observed, "When soldiers feel pride in sacrificing their lives for the country, our people also want quick and harsh punishments for terrorists. With our present legal system, their trials have tendency to stretch out to unlimited period or sometimes the investigators fail to provide enough evidence to prove charges, thus losing effectiveness."
They said the military courts do not deny human rights for peace-loving citizens. They also follow the Evidence Act but their trials should not be judged or compared with the civil courts. They noted that politicians, bureaucrats and lawyers have been killed by terrorists while judges and important officials have been receiving death threats. The members stressed the need for expediting long-awaited judicial reforms.
Vice Admiral Ahmad Tasnim (retd), Air Marshal Masood Akhtar (retd), Brig Mian Mahmud (retd), Brig Arbi Khan (retd), Brig Simon Sharaf (retd), Col Riaz Jafri (retd), Col Dalel Khan (retd), Maj Farouk Hamid Khan (retd), Maj Muhammad Akram (retd), Capt Dr Babur Zaheeruddin (retd), and Brig Masud-ul-Hassan (retd) were also present at the meeting.
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