CONCLUSION This report has attempted to delineate, through a comprehensive examination of statute as well as case law, the multiple flaws, both procedural and substantive, inherent in the framework created by the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. It has demonstrated the discrepancy between the Pakistani government’s objective of countering terrorism and the practical impact of the ATA, coupled with the lifting of the moratorium on death penalty for all offences, including non-terrorism related offences- almost 86 percent of those sentenced to death under the ATA were convicted for offences that bore little connection to terrorism as it is traditionally defined. In practice, the anti-terrorism regime created by the ATA is being employed by the police and law enforcement to subvert the fundamental rights during arrest, investigation and trial of non-terrorism suspects, as opposed to effectively countering terrorist offences in Pakistan. The report has also highlighted the salient criticisms advanced against the ATA by various United Nations Treaty Bodies that demonstrate the ways in which this legislation contravenes international human rights standards. One of its most egregious violations is its impact on juvenile offenders; those charged under the ATA are deprived of the essential procedural safeguards accorded to them under international law as well as under Pakistan’s domestic law, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000. ATCs continue sentencing juvenile offenders to death despite the existence of credible evidence in favour of their juvenility. In light of the aforementioned, there are several recommendations that can be made to reform the existing legislation. (a) Reduce the scope of the definition of “terrorism” under the Anti-Terrorism Act and ensure that only those crimes that pertain to terrorism or to militancy or organized terrorist outfits are tried by the Anti-Terrorism Courts. (b) Introduce an amendment explicitly barring the jurisdiction of Anti-Terrorism Courts over juvenile offenders regardless of the nature of their offences. Ensure that for cases where the evidence of juvenility is discovered after the trial is already underway, the cases are remanded to an appropriate juvenile court and retried. (c) Repeal provisions awarding powers of search and seizure to police without warrants and ensure that procedural safeguards in line with the ICCPR are introduced. (d) Repeal Section 21-H of the Act, and introduce provisions barring the admissibility of confessions/statements recording in the custody of police. (e) Initiate an inquiry into all cases wherein the accused has been sentenced to death under the ATA with a view to commuting the sentences in the event that a violation is discovered. During the course of such an inquiry the moratorium on the death penalty should be reinstated. TRIAL AND TERROR 29