20 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION The statistical analysis and individual case studies in this report illustrate only too well the significant overuse of Pakistan’s antiterror legislation in cases which would much more appropriately have been tried in ordinary criminal courts. This misuse of the ATA has created a dual system whereby safeguards designed to protect the fundamental rights of individual defendants are guaranteed for some, but explicitly removed for others. Furthermore, the use of ATA in often wholly inappropriate cases, and on an apparently arbitrary basis, imposes an additional burden on the already stretched resources of the police and judiciary. It creates a criminal justice system in which there can be no certainty that justice will be guaranteed – and which, crucially, prevents Pakistan’s anti-terror legislation from achieving the deterrent effect which was intended to constitute one of its key objectives. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN  The convictions and death sentences in the individual case studies examined in this report should be immediately reviewed  A full review of cases tried under anti-terrorism legislation should be considered, starting with those already held on death row  The current anti-terrorism legislation should be suspended pending full review; in particular, there should be a detailed review of those provisions curtailing safeguards to fundamental freedoms  Section 21-H of the ATA (permitting extrajudicial confessions) should be immediately repealed  The current moratorium on executions should remain in place and the legal position regarding the moratorium should be clarified