An Appraisal of Pakistan’s Legislative Response to Counter Terrorism after 9/11 from Human Rights Perspectives

Hidayat Ur Rehman, Muhammad Arshad Iqbal

Abstract
Counter terrorism laws must respect fundamental human rights and
freedoms because countering terrorism and respecting human rights are
complementary to each other and not contradictory. However, like some
other states, Pakistan’s counter terrorism legislative response indicates an
opposite phenomenon. After every major terrorist event Pakistan,
disregarding the human rights values, made its laws more stringent and for
this purpose it adopted a novel model than criminal justice system model
to counter terrorism. However, the analysis of Pakistan’s counter terrorism
laws suggests this approach to be counterproductive.

Keywords: Terrorism, Law, Human Rights, Pakistan