PESHAWAR: The military courts in Pakistan will decide the fate of militants declared ‘black’ and languishing in different internment centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
These centres were established under the Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011 for Fata and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata).
The 21st Amendment to the Constitution provides constitutional cover to trial of the offences relating to terrorism by the military courts while the amendment to the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, extends the jurisdiction of military courts to try terrorists.
The Constitution (21st Amendment) Act, 2015 shall remain in force for two years from the date of its commencement.
As per record of Peshawar High Court (PHC), there are 1,990 internees languishing in different internment centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata in terrorism cases. They have been in custody of the security forces for years without any trial.
The authorities concerned have submitted more than 50 reports to the PHC in which the internees have been declared ‘black’ because they were deemed to be hardcore militants.
Following the PHC directives, the oversight boards of different internment centres started submission of reports related to the cases of the internees shifted to the internment centres. In the initial reports, 99 per cent internees were declared ‘black’.
Two minors were also included in this list. Among them is a seventh grader Abdul Basit and his 14-year old cousin Faiz Muhammad. They were picked up by the intelligence agencies three years ago from a school and later shifted to the internment centres. The internees are the missing persons, who were traced out and shifted by the security agencies to the internment centres in terrorism charges and held in custody under the Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011.
Legal experts said that the military courts were aimed at trying hard-core militants as majority of the arrested militants were either acquitted by the anti-terrorism courts or had obtained bail from the courts due to the lack of evidence.
Internews
