LAHORE, Nov 11: The Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Ms Asma Jahangir, on Sunday condemned the amendments made to the Army Act and said that granting military courts jurisdiction to try civilians accused of offences, from murder to libel, was an expression of the government’s lack of confidence in the judges who had recently taken the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

The detained human rights activist and eminent lawyer said in an e-mail message that the promulgation of the amendments was ‘alarming’ and gave wide powers to military courts.

She said that civilians could now be tried for a number of offences, even for saying that the people of Pakistan comprised more than one nationality.

She said that antiquated laws which had been struck down by judicial reviews were now being resurrected and made punishable by military courts.

She said that under the new amendments, trials would not be open and lawyers would only be allowed to represent the accused only in the capacity of a friend. Investigation would be carried out only by military personnel and ordinary rules of evidence would not apply.

She said that in the past offences under the Prevention of Anti-National Activities Act used to be tried by a special tribunal headed by a judge of the high court and the presiding judge used to be appointed in consultation with the chief justice of that court.

The offences under the Anti-National Activities Act as well as others that would now be tried by military courts had remained controversial. Lawyers and leaders of civil society vehemently denounced them for being oppressive, she observed.

The government had powers to detain any person under the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952, but a review board consisting of judges of the superior courts examined the grounds of such detentions, she said.

Ms Asma said that amendments made under the Army Act had blatantly violated all norms of human rights and the Constitution of Pakistan. In order to settle scores with lawyers, human rights activists and defiant journalists, the law had been given effect from January 2003, she said.

“This has also allowed the government to legitimise all illegal acts of disappearances carried out by intelligence agencies with impunity,” Ms Asma said.

She said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan was hearing a number of petitions concerning several persons who had been picked up by state agents, tortured and kept in clandestine detention centres.

The HRCP, she said, had filed a fundamental rights petition on behalf of 198 people. On the intervention of the Supreme Court, she said, 99 missing people had been released.

The government, she said, had been extremely unhappy with the judges of the superior courts for taking personnel of law-enforcement agencies to task for violating the rights of the missing people.

Ms Jahangir said that the new amendments fully supported the assertion that Gen Musharraf had not declared emergency, but imposed martial law under the garb of emergency rule and that he had targeted a vocal civil society. Zia’s draconian laws, she said, had also been activated and offences under them would now be tried under the Army Act.

She criticised the Attorney-General of Pakistan for justifying these amendments on the grounds that these were essential for combating terrorism and that similar laws existed in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Ms Asma said that two wrongs would never make a right. Second, she said, the UK and the US had independent judiciary which had also struck down provisions of the Patriot Act. The military courts in the UK or the US did not try their own citizens.

Moreover, journalists, lawyers and activists in the UK or the US had not been charged with terrorism or treason.

In Pakistan, she said, police had filed fake reports, accusing several lawyers and activists of terrorism.

“There are at least three FIRs filed against me under the Terrorist Act,” the noted lawyer said.