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| India-Pakistan | ||
| Mighty Pak Army holding thousands in indefinite detention | ||
| 2010-04-23 | ||
| LAHORE: The Pakistani military is holding thousands of suspected militants in indefinite detention, arguing that the nation's dysfunctional civilian justice system cannot be trusted to prevent them from walking free, reported an American publication while citing US and Pakistani officials. According to the Washington Post, the majority of the detainees the Pakistani officials and human rights advocates said have been held for nearly a year and have been allowed no contact with family members, lawyers or humanitarian groups. Top US officials have raised concern about the detentions with Pakistani leaders, fearing that the issue could undermine American domestic and congressional support for the US-backed counterinsurgency campaign in Pakistan and jeopardise billions of dollars in US assistance. Pakistani officials say that they are aware of the problem, but there is no clear solution: Pakistan has no applicable military justice system, and even civilian officials concede that their courts are not up to the task of handling such a large volume of complex terrorism cases. The quandary plays directly into the Taliban's strategy. The group has gained a following in Pakistan by capitalising on the weakness of the civilian government, promising the sort of swift justice that is often absent from the slow-moving and overburdened courts. "We don't have a system like Egypt, where you send a man to court and three days later, he's executed," said Malik Naveed Khan, the top police official in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
ISPR chief Maj Gen Athar Abbas said the military was "extremely concerned" that the detainees would be allowed to go free if they were turned over to the civilian government. More than 300 suspected Taliban who had been detained in the military's 2007 operation in the Swat valley were later released under a peace deal. Abbas said several returned to the Taliban, making the army's task harder when it again rolled into Swat last spring. The exact number of prisoners is not known. US officials estimate the total at 2,500 -- a figure that roughly corresponds to Pakistani estimates -- although some outside analysts in Pakistan say the number is higher. US officials say they worry that the detentions would further inflame the Pakistani public at a time when the government needs popular support for its offensives. "They're treating the local population with a heavy hand, and they're alienating them," said an Obama administration official. "As a result, it's sort of a classic case going back to Vietnam: it [risks] actually creating more sympathy for the extremists." US officials worry, too, that by holding thousands of people without trial, Pakistan risks running afoul of the Leahy Amendment, which requires recipients of US military assistance to abide by international human rights laws and standards. Malik Naveed said he expected the detainees to be tried in civilian courts, but he does not know when. "I don't see any other option," he said. "But it will take time."
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| Posted by:Steve White |