Pakistan police tactics spark ire

Pakistan's government dismisses claims of arbitrary arrest. "Yes, some of their relatives are not traceable," says Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao. "But that doesn't mean that the intelligence agencies have custody of them. Some of them have just gone missing, and we're trying to find them."

Most of the cases are kept in the dark, but activists and family members like Janjua have pieced together accounts from a handful of suspects who were freed, including those from 10 prisoners recently released by Supreme Court decree. Those familiar with the cases say the arrested come from all walks of life, rich and poor. A strong sense of religious faith seems to have been their common trait.

Many argue that the arrests have spawned a new level of public rancor against the country's intelligence services, a fount of discontent that militants can draw upon.

"Two or three years back, nobody could openly speak about the [intelligence services]. Now we are speaking out, and people are becoming more brave," says Khalid Khawaja, whose Islamic Center for Research and Defence of Human Rights in Islamabad has negotiated the release of some 20 suspects.

But it is not only alleged disappearances that are raising concerns about the war on terrorism.

Even where the police have brought cases against high-profile militants, many trials have collapsed because of flimsy evidence.

Abdul Waheed Katpar, an octogenarian advocate in Karachi, has found a particular stride. In the past five years, he estimates, he has helped overturn almost 100 terrorism-related cases.

His strength, he says, is the weakness of the Pakistani police.

"They do not investigate scientifically, like in England or France. No. 1, they don't know how to do it. No. 2, they're corrupt. And No. 3, they have to bring a case to show they're doing something," the lawyer says.

Assessments from international observers would appear to corroborate Mr. Katpar's claims.

"The police lack basic investigative skills in collecting evidence and following chains of custody, and have few technical resources at their disposal," says the RAND report. "The state has no centralized criminal database, and until recently, no forensic laboratories were available for collecting and assembling evidence against criminal or terrorist suspects."

Pakistani police officials, who will speak only on background, agree that their capabilities are limited. They say that the main difficulty is in bringing credible witnesses to trial. Pakistan has no witness-protection program, so there is little to assuage the public's fear of retribution.

Fears like this underscore the fact that the country's largest cities continue to be centers of militant activity, even though attention in the fight against terror is fixated on the tribal zones bordering Afghanistan.

"[S]ince the Army's 2004 incursions into South Waziristan, the problem has steadily shifted to the country's hinterlands as well as large towns and major cities such as Quetta, Lahore, and especially Karachi," says the RAND report.

"The direction of Washington's counterterrorism assistance has not kept pace with these developments."

• Wire services were used in this report.

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