The Criminal Justice and War Model in Understanding Counterterrorism in Pakistan

Abstract

The US intervention in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks brought about adverse socio-political and economic consequences for Pakistan. Pakistan’s decision to support the US intervention in Afghanistan turned some forces in the former FATA to militancy which resulted in hundreds of terrorist attacks in various parts of Pakistan. While Pakistan adopted various counter-terrorism strategies, the terrorist attack on Peshawar Army Public School on December 16, 2014, drove it to take up a proactive and comprehensive strategy. National Action Plan (NAP), adopted with a national consensus, was the manifestation of this strategy. The NAP for the most part aimed at stopping the activities of banned terrorist groups, bringing the madrasahs (religious seminaries) under an orderly system, countering the terrorist financing, and the trial of terrorists in the military courts. In practice, however, Pakistan turned more to the war model, with intensification and expansion of military operations, and least to the criminal justice model in the fight against terrorism. The then government provided a constitutional cover for counterterrorism military actions by adopting the 21st amendment on January 6, 2015. In consequence, the terrorist incidents have massively decreased but there is little evidence that the NAP has achieved a long-lasting success. This argument builds on the fact that Pakistan’s efforts to assume key reforms promised in the NAP, particularly about Madrassas and the Criminal Justice System CJS remain Lack luster. This paper emphasizes the importance of the CJS in fighting terrorism more effectively. It argues that Pakistan can achieve the counterterrorism objective of the National Action Plan on a sustainable basis only if it reforms and strengthens the current CJS as envisaged.