ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s attorney general says the state is holding 700 suspected militants without charges under a controversial law that has been criticized by human rights organizations.
Irfan Qadri told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the suspects are being held in internment centers in the country’s semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border.
He says the suspects will be held until the military concludes operations against the Pakistani Taleban in the tribal region, after which it will be determined whether they can be tried in court.
He justified the detention under a law passed in 2011 known as the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulations.
Amnesty International criticized the law in a December report as providing a framework for widespread human rights violations.
700 alleged militants held in limbo in Pakistan
