Check and balance: JI moves court against unlimited military power

Petition claims the draft violates fundamental human rights.

SWAT:

The move to legitimise  unlimited powers for the military to target suspected terrorists without any evidence has been challenged in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) by Jamaat-i-Islami.

The petition was submitted to the circuit bench (Darul Qaza) of the PHC by former provincial minister Shah Raz Khan who will be represented by Barrister Ghulam Nabi.

The cabinet has approved the draft for the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2011. The decision to file a petition was taken after careful examination of the Draft Counter-Insurgency (In Aid of Civil Power) Regulations for Federally and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas, whose article 247 (5) and article 247(4) have also been approved to provide legal cover to action undertaken by military forces against terrorists.

Talking to the media after submitting the petition, Nabi said that the regulation violates human rights and it will never be accepted.

“Militants are also present in Karachi and Balochistan, but law enforcement agencies want unlimited powers to take action in tribal areas,” he said.

“We have approached the court and will soon come out on the roads against this inhumane law,” said Khan.

Criticising the regulation, Khan said that under the law, the army can demolish a house, disable any suspicious person and even kill anyone without being answerable to any court of law.

“This is even worse than the black laws in Kashmir. There is no evidence required for targeting people,” he remarked.

The regulation is against the constitution and the law, said former PHC judge and Darul Qaza Bar Association President Sher Muhammad Khan. “The regulation openly violates human rights.”

“The imposition of the regulation will help increase militancy and not control it. Everyone has a right to be served justice and should be equal before the law, Khan added. “If anyone is above the law, it will result in a backlash, leading to extremism,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2012.