The committee headed by Speaker National Assembly will discuss the draft prepared by the government today (Wednesday) to give further extension to the tenure of military courts. The meeting will be attended by the parliamentary leaders of all political parties, while some parliamentary leaders of opposition parties in Senate, who have recently been included in the panel, will also attend the meeting.
The sources said that some of the parliamentary leaders, especially those belonging to opposition, have been invited by the NA Speaker to attend the meeting which is set to discuss the draft for giving a three-year extension to military courts. After building consensus, the committee will hold a meeting on February 23, in which parliamentary leaders of all political parties, both in Senate and National Assembly, will participate to finalise the draft.
The intelligence agencies have given detailed briefing on the importance of the military courts for speedy trial of hardcore terrorists which gained further momentum after the recent spate of terror attacks in the country. The opposition parties, especially Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), is somewhat giving a lukewarm response to the extension in tenure of military court, given the low percentage of conviction, 4 per cent, during the last two years.
Senator Sherry Rehamn said that four percent conviction rate shows how speedily these military courts are trying the terrorists, adding there is a need to evolve a comprehensive strategy as military courts are just one component. Speaking on appoint of public importance, she had asked: "The government should show some maturity to root out the menace of terrorism; there is no full-time minister and why no action was taken against the militant hideouts before the terrorist incidents, and how they come to know about them all of a sudden and started arresting the militants."
After building a consensus, the government wants to amend the Constitution to keep special military courts for civilians charged with terrorism, as the mandate for the courts expired last year.
The military courts were set up by the Parliament in early 2015 in response to an attack by Taliban fugitives on Army Public School Peshawar that killed 134 children. A total of 275 cases have been referred to the military courts and 12 convicts have been executed over two years. The tribunals have sentenced 161 people to death and handed jail terms, mostly life sentences, to 116 people. At least 27 convicts filed appeals with civilian courts, alleging coercion of confessions and denial of access to lawyers and evidence.