fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Khakis unhappy with ATCs performance
By Amir Mir
Monday, February 21, 2011
LAHORE: The Pakistani military establishment is dejected with the dismal performance of the Rawalpindi-based Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) which have failed to convict even a single terrorist during the last three years for involvement in at least two dozen high-profile cases of suicide bombings in and around the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad between 2007 and 2010, primarily targeting the security forces and killing over 200 people.
Those acquitted in 2010 alone by the Rawalpindi-based Anti Terrorism Court No I and No II were accused of planning and facilitating suicide attacks targeting the staff members of the Pakistan Army, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan Air Force, Frontier Constabulary, Special Branch, Police etc. Well informed establishment sources say the khaki top brass has already conveyed its displeasure to the authorities about the poor performance of the Rawalpindi-based ATCs, saying the issue needs urgent attention by all the stake holders.
According to available statistics, of the two dozen cases of suicide attacks targeting the security and law enforcement agencies in and around the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad during last three years, the conviction rate so far remains zero which not only affects the resolve of the security forces to fight terrorism but also the respect gained by the judiciary.
A senior army official at the GHQ conceded, while requesting anonymity, that the countrys khaki top brass was really upset with the performance of the ATCs not only in Rawalpindi, but also in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. The official said that over 2100 terrorists were arrested by the Pakistan Army from the Swat district of KP during operation Rah-e-Haq, including around 150 key militants of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammad and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. But he regretted that the trials of most of these terrorists have not yet been initiated due to multiple factors, thus causing apprehensions that the ATCs, which are supposed to try and convict hardened terrorists, are most likely to acquit a majority of them, keeping in view their track record.
Approached for comments, a senior Law Ministry official maintained that the performance of the ATCs across Pakistan was simply disappointing. He pointed out that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry too had expressed dissatisfaction over the poor functioning of ATCs during a December 31, 2010 meeting that was held at the Karachi registry of the Supreme Court. The chief justice had reportedly decided during the meeting that the Supreme Court and the provincial high courts would monitor the functioning of the ATCs in accordance with the apex courts 1999 judgment in Sheikh Liaquat Hussain case to ensure that heinous offences committed by hardened terrorists and extremists are expeditiously decided in a just and fair manner.
The performance of the Rawalpindi-based ATCs can be gauged from the fact that terrorists in at least a dozen cases of terrorism had been acquitted in 12 months of 2010 alone, including those charged with the September 2008 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which killed 63 people. The following is a brief summary of these cases:
In the first case of acquittal by an ATC in 2010, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul, accused of involvement in two suicide attacks in Rawalpindi - the first one in RA Bazaar on September 4, 2007 (which killed four security forces personnel) and the second one on a police picket on October 30, 2007 on the Golf Club Road leading to the Army House (which killed seven security forces people) were set free by Malik Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi ATC No I on January 2, 2010 due to lack of evidence. Both the acquitted persons were also accused of being part of conspiracy to assassinate Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi.
On March 2, 2010, Malik Akram Awan acquitted seven more accused who were arrested in connection with suicide attack targeting a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bus on the Faisalabad Road in Sargodha, Kamra, killing seven PAF officers and three civilians. Those released due to lack of evidence included Kher Malang, Farid Khan, Israrul Haq, Ghulam Nabi, and others.
On April 9, 2010, Justice Raja Ikhlaq Hussain of Rawalpindi ATC No II acquitted seven terrorists accused of involvement in a car suicide bombing targeting a 72-seater bus of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), parked in front of the Hamza Camp (Ojhari Camp) near Faizabad in Rawalpindi on November 24, 2007, that killed 32 people. Those acquitted due to lack of evidence included Dr Niaz Ahmed, Mazharul Haq, Shafiqur Rehman, Syed Abdul Saboor, Syed Abdul Majid, Syed Abdul Basit and Mohammed Amir.
On May 13, 2010, Justice Raja Ikhlaq Hussain acquitted nine persons allegedly involved in a suicide attack which had killed then surgeon general of Pakistan, Lt General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig and eight others in Rawalpindi on February 25, 2008 when a bomber blew himself up in the limit of RA Bazaar Police Station. Those acquitted included Dr Abdul Razzak, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Sarfaraz, Zeshan Khalik, Faisal Ahmed and Osama Nazir as police failed to produce sufficient evidence against them pertaining to their involvement.
On May 5, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of ATC No I in Rawalpindi acquitted four men who had been accused of planning and abetting a deadly suicide attack on Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on September 20, 2008 that killed 63 persons including foreigners. They were exonerated because of the failure of the prosecution to produce any of the 83 witnesses who were supposed to testify against them before the trial court. Those acquitted included Dr Muhammad Usman, Rana Ilyas, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehseen Ullah Jan.
On June 9, 2010, an Anti Terrorism Court of Rawalpindi acquitted six suspects accused of involvement in suicide attacks at District Courts building of the federal capital as well a security forces check post set up at Aabpara Chowk in Islamabad. The suspects, who were acquitted due to lack of evidence, had been arrested in July 2007. The District Court bombing had killed 14 PPP workers while the Aabpara police check post attack had claimed 16 lives of the security forces personnel.
On September 25, 2010, another Rawalpindi-based Anti Terrorism Court acquitted three persons accused of involvement in the suicide car bomb attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad on June 2, 2008 which had killed five persons. Those acquitted for lack of evidence included Qari Ilyas, Mohammad Rizwan, and Rai Shabbir Ali. Police had arrested eight people, accused of facilitating the attack from different areas of the country. Five of the eight accused were also tried in the General Mushtaq Baigs murder case.
On October 31, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of the ATC No I acquitted four accused terrorists due to non-availability of evidences in two cases of suicide bombing. The Islamabad police had arrested them in connection with the March 23, 2009 suicide attacks on the Islamabad offices of the Special Branch [which had killed a policeman] as well as a checkpost of the Frontier Constabulary in the Jinnah Super Market of the federal capital on April 4, 2009 [which had killed eight FC jawans]. Those acquitted due to the failure of the prosecution to produce sufficient evidences included Khairullah Mahsood, Khurram Shahzad, Muhammad Owais and Fidaullah - a student of the Lal Masjid-run Jamia Faridia who was also the security in-charge of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi.
On December 15, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi ATC No I acquitted Qari Ilyas, who was accused of involvement in a suicide attack which had killed 15 policemen and two civilians near Islamabads Melody Market on July 6, 2008. The policemen were guarding a congregation to mark the first anniversary of the July 2007 military operation against the clerics of the Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad.
Terming Qari Ilyas, a resident of Chakwal, a hardened militant, police had told the court that he was seen directing the suicide bomber just before the attack on the police party near Melody Market. The prosecution cited two policemen as witnesses, who had seen the accused with the man who carried out the suicide attack. The witnesses also identified Ilyas in police custody but the prosecution could not fulfil the requirement of identification parade in the jail under the supervision of a magistrate, casting doubts about the claim of witnesses.
The khaki circles in Rawalpindi say terrorists arrested by the agencies in at least a dozen cases of suicide attacks have been acquitted by the ATCs, mainly because of defective investigations conducted by improperly trained police officers and lack of sufficient evidence which makes it impossible for the prosecution to prove its case against the culprits. They add that lack of circumstantial evidence compels prosecutors to rely a lot on witnesses in a country where there is no witness protection programme and those being asked to testify in terror trials are often threatened or killed by militants.
On the other hand, the police authorities put the blame for high acquittal rate in Rawalpindi ATCs on interference of intelligence agencies, saying the ISI, MI and the IB carried out investigations in many of these cases on their own and never shared information with the police, which created a vacuum between investigation and prosecution because the prosecution then ceases to have the assistance of actual investigation. This vacuum enormously affects a trial, the police circles argue.
However, the judicial circles in Rawalpindi blame both the police and the intelligence agencies for the high acquittal rate, saying if no fingerprints are provided to the court, no bloodstained clothing, no ballistics provided, no firearms or other things to prove the involvement of the accused, how can a judge convict him? Another major problem is that the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, under which the ATCs operate, stays suspended since June 2010 and so does the judicial process. As the proposed amendments in the ATA are pending with a standing committee of the Senate, the ATCs have to decide cases of terrorism under the old ATA.
By Amir Mir
Monday, February 21, 2011
LAHORE: The Pakistani military establishment is dejected with the dismal performance of the Rawalpindi-based Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) which have failed to convict even a single terrorist during the last three years for involvement in at least two dozen high-profile cases of suicide bombings in and around the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad between 2007 and 2010, primarily targeting the security forces and killing over 200 people.
Those acquitted in 2010 alone by the Rawalpindi-based Anti Terrorism Court No I and No II were accused of planning and facilitating suicide attacks targeting the staff members of the Pakistan Army, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan Air Force, Frontier Constabulary, Special Branch, Police etc. Well informed establishment sources say the khaki top brass has already conveyed its displeasure to the authorities about the poor performance of the Rawalpindi-based ATCs, saying the issue needs urgent attention by all the stake holders.
According to available statistics, of the two dozen cases of suicide attacks targeting the security and law enforcement agencies in and around the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad during last three years, the conviction rate so far remains zero which not only affects the resolve of the security forces to fight terrorism but also the respect gained by the judiciary.
A senior army official at the GHQ conceded, while requesting anonymity, that the countrys khaki top brass was really upset with the performance of the ATCs not only in Rawalpindi, but also in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. The official said that over 2100 terrorists were arrested by the Pakistan Army from the Swat district of KP during operation Rah-e-Haq, including around 150 key militants of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammad and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. But he regretted that the trials of most of these terrorists have not yet been initiated due to multiple factors, thus causing apprehensions that the ATCs, which are supposed to try and convict hardened terrorists, are most likely to acquit a majority of them, keeping in view their track record.
Approached for comments, a senior Law Ministry official maintained that the performance of the ATCs across Pakistan was simply disappointing. He pointed out that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry too had expressed dissatisfaction over the poor functioning of ATCs during a December 31, 2010 meeting that was held at the Karachi registry of the Supreme Court. The chief justice had reportedly decided during the meeting that the Supreme Court and the provincial high courts would monitor the functioning of the ATCs in accordance with the apex courts 1999 judgment in Sheikh Liaquat Hussain case to ensure that heinous offences committed by hardened terrorists and extremists are expeditiously decided in a just and fair manner.
The performance of the Rawalpindi-based ATCs can be gauged from the fact that terrorists in at least a dozen cases of terrorism had been acquitted in 12 months of 2010 alone, including those charged with the September 2008 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which killed 63 people. The following is a brief summary of these cases:
In the first case of acquittal by an ATC in 2010, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul, accused of involvement in two suicide attacks in Rawalpindi - the first one in RA Bazaar on September 4, 2007 (which killed four security forces personnel) and the second one on a police picket on October 30, 2007 on the Golf Club Road leading to the Army House (which killed seven security forces people) were set free by Malik Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi ATC No I on January 2, 2010 due to lack of evidence. Both the acquitted persons were also accused of being part of conspiracy to assassinate Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi.
On March 2, 2010, Malik Akram Awan acquitted seven more accused who were arrested in connection with suicide attack targeting a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bus on the Faisalabad Road in Sargodha, Kamra, killing seven PAF officers and three civilians. Those released due to lack of evidence included Kher Malang, Farid Khan, Israrul Haq, Ghulam Nabi, and others.
On April 9, 2010, Justice Raja Ikhlaq Hussain of Rawalpindi ATC No II acquitted seven terrorists accused of involvement in a car suicide bombing targeting a 72-seater bus of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), parked in front of the Hamza Camp (Ojhari Camp) near Faizabad in Rawalpindi on November 24, 2007, that killed 32 people. Those acquitted due to lack of evidence included Dr Niaz Ahmed, Mazharul Haq, Shafiqur Rehman, Syed Abdul Saboor, Syed Abdul Majid, Syed Abdul Basit and Mohammed Amir.
On May 13, 2010, Justice Raja Ikhlaq Hussain acquitted nine persons allegedly involved in a suicide attack which had killed then surgeon general of Pakistan, Lt General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig and eight others in Rawalpindi on February 25, 2008 when a bomber blew himself up in the limit of RA Bazaar Police Station. Those acquitted included Dr Abdul Razzak, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Sarfaraz, Zeshan Khalik, Faisal Ahmed and Osama Nazir as police failed to produce sufficient evidence against them pertaining to their involvement.
On May 5, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of ATC No I in Rawalpindi acquitted four men who had been accused of planning and abetting a deadly suicide attack on Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on September 20, 2008 that killed 63 persons including foreigners. They were exonerated because of the failure of the prosecution to produce any of the 83 witnesses who were supposed to testify against them before the trial court. Those acquitted included Dr Muhammad Usman, Rana Ilyas, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehseen Ullah Jan.
On June 9, 2010, an Anti Terrorism Court of Rawalpindi acquitted six suspects accused of involvement in suicide attacks at District Courts building of the federal capital as well a security forces check post set up at Aabpara Chowk in Islamabad. The suspects, who were acquitted due to lack of evidence, had been arrested in July 2007. The District Court bombing had killed 14 PPP workers while the Aabpara police check post attack had claimed 16 lives of the security forces personnel.
On September 25, 2010, another Rawalpindi-based Anti Terrorism Court acquitted three persons accused of involvement in the suicide car bomb attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad on June 2, 2008 which had killed five persons. Those acquitted for lack of evidence included Qari Ilyas, Mohammad Rizwan, and Rai Shabbir Ali. Police had arrested eight people, accused of facilitating the attack from different areas of the country. Five of the eight accused were also tried in the General Mushtaq Baigs murder case.
On October 31, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of the ATC No I acquitted four accused terrorists due to non-availability of evidences in two cases of suicide bombing. The Islamabad police had arrested them in connection with the March 23, 2009 suicide attacks on the Islamabad offices of the Special Branch [which had killed a policeman] as well as a checkpost of the Frontier Constabulary in the Jinnah Super Market of the federal capital on April 4, 2009 [which had killed eight FC jawans]. Those acquitted due to the failure of the prosecution to produce sufficient evidences included Khairullah Mahsood, Khurram Shahzad, Muhammad Owais and Fidaullah - a student of the Lal Masjid-run Jamia Faridia who was also the security in-charge of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi.
On December 15, 2010, Malik Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi ATC No I acquitted Qari Ilyas, who was accused of involvement in a suicide attack which had killed 15 policemen and two civilians near Islamabads Melody Market on July 6, 2008. The policemen were guarding a congregation to mark the first anniversary of the July 2007 military operation against the clerics of the Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad.
Terming Qari Ilyas, a resident of Chakwal, a hardened militant, police had told the court that he was seen directing the suicide bomber just before the attack on the police party near Melody Market. The prosecution cited two policemen as witnesses, who had seen the accused with the man who carried out the suicide attack. The witnesses also identified Ilyas in police custody but the prosecution could not fulfil the requirement of identification parade in the jail under the supervision of a magistrate, casting doubts about the claim of witnesses.
The khaki circles in Rawalpindi say terrorists arrested by the agencies in at least a dozen cases of suicide attacks have been acquitted by the ATCs, mainly because of defective investigations conducted by improperly trained police officers and lack of sufficient evidence which makes it impossible for the prosecution to prove its case against the culprits. They add that lack of circumstantial evidence compels prosecutors to rely a lot on witnesses in a country where there is no witness protection programme and those being asked to testify in terror trials are often threatened or killed by militants.
On the other hand, the police authorities put the blame for high acquittal rate in Rawalpindi ATCs on interference of intelligence agencies, saying the ISI, MI and the IB carried out investigations in many of these cases on their own and never shared information with the police, which created a vacuum between investigation and prosecution because the prosecution then ceases to have the assistance of actual investigation. This vacuum enormously affects a trial, the police circles argue.
However, the judicial circles in Rawalpindi blame both the police and the intelligence agencies for the high acquittal rate, saying if no fingerprints are provided to the court, no bloodstained clothing, no ballistics provided, no firearms or other things to prove the involvement of the accused, how can a judge convict him? Another major problem is that the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, under which the ATCs operate, stays suspended since June 2010 and so does the judicial process. As the proposed amendments in the ATA are pending with a standing committee of the Senate, the ATCs have to decide cases of terrorism under the old ATA.
