ISLAMABAD - The federal government yesterday declined to disclose the identity, education and experience of the judges of the military courts before the Upper House of the Parliament on the pretext of their security and safety.
The government only informed that presently 10 military courts were functional throughout the country and the establishment of 11th military court was under process.PTI Senator Azam Khan Sawti had asked the Ministry of Defence about the names, educational qualification and experience of the judges appointed in those courts. These military courts were established as a result of the 21st Constitutional Amendment to try jet-black terrorists.
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif through his written reply said, “Keeping in view the safety and the security of the courts, the names and the related information about the judges appointed in the military courts may not be disclosed. This provision exists in the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 which has already been passed by the Senate on August 11, 2015”.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali through his written reply told the house that at least 588 Pakistanis lost their lives in 821 terror-related incidents between January to August this year.
The Ministry of Interior in its written reply said that 588 Pakistanis were killed while 1007 were injured in these 821 incidents of terrorism. January witnessed 124 terrorist attacks that is the maximum figure of first eight months of 2015 while minimum number of terrorist attacks occurred in June that is 70. Similarly, 137 are the maximum number of victims killed in May while this figure remained at its lowest ebb in June and that is 60.
Sharing the data about the convicts executed as a part of the National Action Plan (NAP) on Counter Terrorism, the ministry told the house that the total number of prisoners on death row in the country is 6,016. “But only those condemned prisoners were executed who had availed all legal options and whose mercy pleas had been rejected,” it added.
The Ministry of Interior in another written reply told the house that as per Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the total number of foreigners residing in the country is 4, 91,905. The ministry said that these foreigners were other than diplomats who had arrived in Pakistan through various designated immigration entry points from April 2007 to August 2015 but had not returned to their native countries. Replying to a separate question, the interior ministry told the Upper House that Nadra had blocked 45,824 computerized national identity cards (CNICs) during the last two years that were found to be issued illegally.