After three days of in-camera hearings, on Thursday a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) announced a short order, setting aside convictions by military courts of as many as 74 terrorism accused, majority of whom faced death sentences. Since the court did not order their release, it remains to be seen if the detailed judgment refers them to anti-terrorism courts for trial. The sheer number of the cases may be astounding, but they are not the first of their kind. In several earlier instances, the Supreme Court and high courts in other provinces have done the same. Since military courts were authorized to try and punish terrorism suspects in the wake of December 2014 Peshawar Army Public School carnage, every now and then, the ISPR has been issuing statements, announcing confirmation of death sentences by the army chief. In all cases, purported members of proscribed organisations were reported to have confessed their crimes before magistrates and trial courts.

Yet considering that in so many instances civilian courts have annulled military courts' verdicts, it is obvious that the requirements of justice are not fully met. One reason could be the weakness in prosecution cases prepared by civilian agencies. And the other reason is that witness accounts have little or no role in court martial proceedings. A lawyer for one of the accused also argued that his client's statement was recorded years after his arrest, pointing out that under Section 91 of the Pakistan Army Ac, 1952, no trial by a court martial of any person or for any offence could commence three years after the commission of an offence. That provision though may not apply to terrorism suspects. It is indeed a matter of serious concern that in many cases, the accused were held in custody without charges and without informing their families about their whereabouts. Just last month, another bench of the PHC stayed the execution of a man who, his father claimed, had gone missing in 2009. According to the father, he came to know about the fate of his son through May 2018 ISPR press release announcing the award of death sentence to 11 'hardcore militants' by a military court. This is unacceptable and must not happen as death sentence is irreversible. Once the act is done, an innocent person cannot be brought back to life.

The frequency with which the civilian courts have been suspending military courts' verdicts highlights the civilian authority's failure to fulfil its part of the responsibilities. It may be recalled that Parliament had willy-nilly agreed to have terrorism suspects tried by military courts, but with a sunset clause. During this time, the previous government was supposed to put in place a sound witness protection programme. But it did next to nothing, with the result that in March of last year Parliament approved two years' extension in military courts tenure. Before that tenure ends in six-month time, the present government must step up to the plate and do the needful.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018