ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is holding 700 suspected militants without charge under a law that has come under fire from human rights groups, its attorney general said on Thursday. The admission marked the first time that the strategic US ally detailed how many militants it is holding in the tribal areas of the northwest under the Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulations law. “There is a military operation in Waziristan. Under the law we cannot try these 700 people, nor can we release them, unless the operation is over,” Attorney General Irfan Qadir told the Supreme Court, referring to a tribal area near the Afghan border. In December, Amnesty International condemned the law, saying it “provided a framework for widespread human rights violations to occur with impunity”. Pakistan's military has denied allegations of abuses. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case of seven suspected militants held without charge since May 2010. Meanwhile, the Pakistan's top court on Thursday opened an inquiry into the death of an official investigating a corruption scandal involving the prime minister, giving officials three days to submit documents. Kamran Faisal was found dead last Friday in a government hostel three days after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf over a long-running scandal into so-called Rental Power Plants (RPPs). The initial findings of an autopsy said Faisal committed suicide, but his family and some of his colleagues believe he was murdered. Judge Jawwad Khawaja ordered police, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Faisal's employer, anti-corruption watchdog the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), to submit documents related to the case by Saturday. Among information demanded are phone records of senior NAB officials, and records and CCTV footage of all meetings and events at NAB since January 15 — the day that the Supreme Court ordered the prime minister's arrest. Khawaja said it was important to determine whether there was any link between Faisal's death and the order that Ashraf and 15 other officials be arrested. “Whether its murder or suicide, we don't know, but the police should have registered the case,” the judge said, adjourning the case until January 28. — Agencies
