Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

Indeed an old maxim in the realm of law says that if dispensation of justice is delayed for one reason or the other it amounts to denying justice. Pakistan administration, specially the Pakistan Army is denying justice to thousands of Pakistani citizens who have been detained in various jails on suspicion of being Islamist terrorists or alternatively aiding and abetting terrorism on the soil of Pakistan.

Under what law have these unfortunate Pakistanis and some other nationals too, have been detained indefinitely? No one knows. Not even the Pakistan Army. If the Army suspects an individual to be a sympathizer of the Taliban or the Al Qaida elements that are unfriendly with Pakistan, it just sends them to jails or detention camps. It is indeed worse than what the Nazis did to the Jewish population of Germany just before and during the Second World War. Nazis suspected men and women of the Jewish community to be anti-national.

AMNESTY AND CIVIL RIGHTS HELPLESS

The civil rights activists and volunteers of Amnesty International are keen to go to the rescue of Pakistani citizens and others who have been incarcerated without going on trial. No charges have been framed and no courts of law have applied their minds to their illegal detention. One may be wondering why the Judiciary in Pakistan does not step in and order the executive to release from prison persons who have been detained illegally. Ah! it is easier said than done. One must remember that the Pakistan Army acts as it wishes to. Another maxim is "However high you may ever be, LAW is above you."It may be fine in theory but in practice the Pakistan Army is above law. Even the Judiciary hesitates to meddle ant the affairs of the Army. Somehow, they have an image as Defender of the Faith and Saviour of the Nation and protector of Pakistan against attacks of the Indian Army. These egoistic images are just creations of the Pakistan Army that has ruled Pakistan for more years than any other political party.

MALADY DEFIES REMEDY

The malady of autocracy is deep rooted. In the name of defending the nation the Army goes to any extent in violating human rights.

One point may be conceded to the Army. The Judiciary in Pakistan is so dysfunctional that the Army does not expect fair dispensation of justice. Terrorists and hardened criminals are acquitted by courts of law as normal witnesses cower before Islamist terrorists and do not ascend the witness box in a court to tender evidence against terrorists caught by the Army. But does that mean that the Army run its own system and play the roles of prosecution, judge and executioner - all rolled into one? No civilized country in the world would permit that.

At the international level, no country wishes to intervene because they need Pakistan in its fight against terror in Afghanistan. Thus we are back to square one. Pakistani citizens in thousands are in jails detained without an authority of law and the Pakistan Army continues to be a LAW UNTO ITSELF.

May God save Pakistan!

By Chitranjan Sawant