The courts have yet to convict a single person in any of the country's biggest terrorist attacks of the past three years, a symptom of a dysfunctional legal system hurting the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda at a critical time.Police without basic investigative skills, such as the ability to lift fingerprints, and prosecutors who lack training to try terrorism cases, are some of the main reasons cited. Another daunting challenge: Judges and witnesses are often subjected to intimidation that affects the ability to convict.
The legal system's failure to attack terrorism is critical because it robs Pakistan of a chance to enforce a sense of law and order, which terrorists have set out to destroy. It has caused a sense of terror and insecurity amongst the members of society, said Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, chief justice of the Lahore High Court.
The legal failures also call into question the government's ability to fight terrorism in any way except by using the army in military offensives or -- human rights groups alleged -- through targeted extra-judicial killings. An Associated Press review found no convictions in the 20 largest and most high-profile terror attacks of the last three years.
Many of the court cases connected to those attacks -- which have killed nearly 1,100 people -- have dragged on for years, or have yet to make it even past the investigation stage and into the courts. The handful of cases that have been decided have all resulted in acquittals -- though many of these defendants remain in custody while they are investigated in other cases, court officials said.
The lawyers and law enforcement officials said weak investigations conducted by poorly trained and resourced police officers made it very difficult for prosecutors and judges to convict. "I think the man who really plays the most critical role is neither the judge nor the prosecutor, but it is the investigating officer who is in charge of the case who sits in the police station," said Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a legal commentator.
Prosecutors not only face similar threats, they lack the training needed to take on terror cases, are poorly paid and do not have the resources to carry out their jobs successfully, said Muhammad Jahangir, the chief prosecutor in Punjab.