Pakistan: Weak Prosecution Helping Terrorists Go Scot-free

Poreg View: The toughest part of the war against terrorism is prosecuting the terrorists and making them pay for their sins against humanity. Pakistan has not covered itself with glory in this vital area though it has been promoted by the United States to the ranks of front line allies in the anti-terrorism campaign. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has taken notice of rampant acquittals in terrorism cases. Since under him, the Pakistan judiciary is in an activist mould, it should be possible to stir the Pakistan establishment into action.

Arrested militants manage to get freedom on bail or live in luxury as under trial prisoners, as the case of the notorious LeJ chief Malik Ishaq shows.The issue came to light once again this week following a report in the Express Tribune. ‘Shades of grey’, as the dispatch is headlined, it shows how dreaded Malik Ishaq who is named in at least two attacks on foreigners is able to walk free. “The frequency with which terrorists are acquitted by courts is considered one of the major failings of Pakistan’s judicial system”, wrote the ET journalist Asad Kharal quoting extensively from a report compiled by the Punjab public prosecution department, counter-terrorism department and Punjab police.

The Supreme Court has now sought the ‘document’.

Between 1990 and 2009, as many as 231 out of 311 accused in terrorist cases have been acquitted in Punjab, which is hotbed of Islamist fundamentalism. It works out to an acquittal rate of 74%. The primary culprit in all these cases is the police station where the ‘crime’ took place. In most cases, the case is registered ‘in a defective way’, and quite often, the accused are not even named. Even when suspects are named in the FIR, it is without a description of the accused or of the role that that person is believed to have played in an attack, rendering the FIR almost useless before the court, says the Punjab report on poor prosecutions.

“When the foundation of the case is this weak, prosecutors can do only so much before the court,” says Chaudhry Muhammad Jehangir, chief prosecutor of the Punjab prosecution department.

There is another aspect and it relates to release on bail by the Anti-Terrorism Courts and higher courts. Arrested militants manage to get freedom on bail or live in luxury as under trial prisoners, as the case of the notorious LeJ chief Malik Ishaq shows.

In fact, the flip-side of Pakistan’s fight against terrorism has come to light because of the dogged fight of a concerned citizen against Ishaq for fifteen long years.

Fida Hussain Ghalvi’s story, the Express Tribune has highlighted as a case study in its ‘Shades of grey’, is a disturbing narrative. Here is a man who faced blatant threat and violent pressure tactics but he refused to bow down to a militant who had killed 12 members of his family in a sectarian murder. ‘But today Ghalvi is resigned to the fact that Ishaq will walk free’, says Asad Kharal in his dispatch.

Justice seemed to be at hand when Ghalvi and others had been summoned for an identification parade but did not materailise. “In the presence of the judge and the deputy superintendent of the jail, Ishaq brazenly turned to Ghalvi and said: ‘Dead men don’t talk.’”

“Ishaq unleashed his entire network against his opponents, killing witnesses, threatening judges and intimidating police, leading to the eventual collapse of all prosecution against him,” Ghalvi is quoted as saying.

Yes, Ishaq is not the only known terrorist to have ‘slipped’ through the cracks of Pakistani system. There are many others, like the notorious Akram Lahori who, along with Basra and Ishaq, was one of the founders of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). He is a key accused in the Gojra riots and is named in the killings of many Shias in Karachi as well.

Stalled and incomplete probes is a norm rather than an exception not only in the most prosperous and powerful Punjab province but across the other three provinces – KP, Sindh and Balochistan, going by the prosecution data for the first seven months of the current year. The data has been compiled by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan.

So let the statistics speak.

In Punjab, investigations for 88,291 cases remain incomplete or their challan was not submitted on time. Interim action was taken for 43,530 cases.

Sindh which is grappling with targetted killings and sectarian violence has registered about 740 cases. Investigations were not completed for 288 cases and the job was done partially in respect of 81 other cases. While Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa prosecutors and policed have not filed the challan for 24,786 cases, their counterparts in Balochistan fared no better with investigations incomplete or challans not submitted in time in respect of 43 cases.

The prisons are overcrowded. Clashes between prisoners have become a norm. And privileged prisoners, particularly from Islamist and terrorist groups have access to comforts of life including cell phones.