It’s a story of missing persons and others who will be missed forever. Hundreds of households are searching for their sons reportedly being held by intelligence agencies. The superior courts have taken the brave step to ask all involved to either charge those in custody or to set them free. It is, however, easier said than done in Pakistan, where courts have failed to convict those accused of perpetrating terrorist violence.

The State’s failure to prosecute those accused of terrorism has created a legal nightmare in Pakistan. Circumstantial evidence, confessions, and discovery of self-incriminating evidence gathered by the investigating agencies have proven grossly inadequate in the courts, where the accused have gone scot-free, and in many instances rejoined the ranks of religious fanatics to resume violence.

The way to resolve the missing persons’ crisis in Pakistan is to address the judicial loopholes that have nullified the headways made by law enforcement agencies. Otherwise, law enforcement agencies would have little motivation to produce the accused before courts.

Pakistan’s judicial system under the current laws has one of the worst conviction rates in the world. Three out of every four terrorism cases has ended up in acquittal on technicalities. In an earlier blog on the poor conviction rate of sectarian terrorists, I wrote the following:

“A systematic review of 178 ATC verdicts by Syed Ejaz Hussain, who until recently served as the deputy inspector general of police for anti-terrorism in Punjab and also holds a doctorate in criminology from University of Pennsylvania, revealed that the courts acquitted the accused in 77 per cent of the cases. Most of the accused were apprehended for being involved in sectarian violence.

The review of cases revealed that errors, omissions, misconduct and the judicial system’s undue requirements during the registering of the complaint (first information report (FIR)), investigation of the crime, and prosecution lead to the acquittal in three out of four cases.”

In Pakistan where the outlaws reign supreme, even the judges are not safe. Mr. Pervez Ali Shah, the judge who convicted the murderer of former Governor of Punjab Salman, had to flee Pakistan after delivering the verdict. What to say of the common man who may have to bear witness against terrorist murderers when even the judges are not safe.

The society has to act in unison against extremist violence in Pakistan. Not just the members of the judiciary, but also each and every member of the society needs to act appropriately. The electronic and print media, for instance, has to play a larger and proactive role in promoting awareness about those involved in extremist violence. Instead of being pre-occupied with politicians and their families, the media may try to expose those responsible for murderous acts. It’s time to lift the veil off the face of those who have used indiscriminate violence against their fellow citizens. It’s time that the people of Pakistan should see the faces of the family members of terrorists on their TV screens.

This article is not a disguised attempt to promote vigilante justice against the family members of alleged terrorists. Instead, it is an attempt to protect oneself against possible violence in the future. If such extremist values run in the family, then it matters to the society to be aware of the risks associated with living next to those who have condoned violence by their family members.

The need of the hour in Pakistan is for the Parliament and the superior courts to create effective legislation that empowers the judicial system to deal with those accused of terrorism in Pakistan. Circumstantial evidence and evidence collected from electronic surveillance has been used elsewhere in the world to convict terrorists and other violent criminals. Pakistan’s judicial system needs to be upgraded and modernised so that conviction rates against violent criminals could be improved.

The story of missing persons in Pakistan is not merely a tale of habeas corpus. It is more a story of missing legal frameworks to deal with the modern-day warfare in which Pakistanis are battling against other Pakistanis.