Deadlock over military courts revival in Pak continues

The deadlock over reinstating military courts in Pakistan continued as the third round of talks between the government and opposition parties ended here yesterday without any decision.

Speaking to the media, several members of the opposition parties expressed concern over the continued absence of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from these meetings, reports the Dawn.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq presided over Tuesday's meeting and the session will now be held on February 16.

According to sources, the opposition members had expressed their dissatisfaction over the briefing given by Law Minister Zahid Hamid and have asked the government to present its proposals and a roadmap in clear terms so that they could discuss them within their parties before arriving at a final decision.

They were of the view that a decision on the revival of military courts should be made at a larger forum and that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should convene a multi-party conference (MPC) on the issue as he had done previously.

Pakistan had legalised military court trials of terror suspects for a period of two years in January 2015 - soon after the terror attack on Peshawar's Army Public School in Dec 2014, in which 144 people, most of them children, were killed by Taliban militants.

These courts were given a two-year constitutional cover that ended in January.

The controversial special powers empower military courts to try civilian terror suspects.

Military courts do not grant convicts the essential components of a fair and free trial, as they lack in transparency and do not allow convicts the option to appeal to civilian courts.