Pakistan’s Punjab Enacts Secret Terror Trials
Pakistan’s Punjab province has passed a new law letting terrorism trials run in total secrecy: hidden judges, anonymous witnesses, sealed files. Critics call it a due process crisis.
In a Nutshell:
- Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, passed the Anti-Terrorism (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2026 on August 31, despite an opposition walkout.
- A government-appointed "designated authority," known only to the Lahore High Court's chief justice, can now label any terrorism case a "special security case," which the accused cannot challenge.
- A government-appointed "designated authority," known only to the Lahore High Court's chief justice, can now label any terrorism case a "special security case," which the accused cannot challenge.
- The government justifies the law by citing rising attacks on judges, prosecutors, and witnesses, arguing existing protections are inadequate; legislator Khalid Mahmood Ranjha insists "there is no interference of the executive" and calls it a law "only for hardened terrorists."
- Once flagged, the identities of the judge, prosecutor, police, witnesses, and defence lawyers stay hidden; hearings can run by videolink with voice-altering technology.
- Lawyers and rights groups warn the law has no expiry date and a vague catch-all clause letting officials add new secret measures anytime.
- Critics note Punjab has few terrorism cases compared to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which account for over 90% of terrorism deaths, raising suspicion the law targets political dissent rather than terrorism.
Context
Punjab's move follows a regional pattern: Balochistan passed a similar secrecy law in 2025, and both Punjab and the federal government already allow terrorism suspects to be held three months without charge. Unlike Pakistan's 2015 military trials for civilians, which had a two-year sunset clause requiring renewal, this law is permanent unless struck down in court.
Why it matters
This law changes how justice works in Punjab. Normally, trials are open: you can see the judge, know the witnesses, and check if the process is fair. Now, for cases the government picks, all of that can be hidden. One official decides which cases go secret, and the accused person has no way to object. Legal experts call this a "faceless court," because the person on trial cannot see who is judging them or accusing them, making it very hard to prove the process was unfair. What makes people suspicious is where this is happening. Most terrorism attacks in Pakistan, over 90% of deaths, happen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, not Punjab. Yet those two provinces have not made this kind of law, while calmer Punjab has. That mismatch makes critics think the real goal is not fighting terrorism, but giving the government a tool to quietly go after political rivals or protesters. Since terrorism laws are supposed to be a federal, not provincial, matter, this could also end up as a court battle over which government has the right to make such rules.
What we think
The numbers don't add up. Punjab has far fewer terrorism cases than Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan, yet it's the one building secret courts, not them. That alone should make anyone suspicious. The government points to one old case from a decade ago, a terrorist who kept walking free because witnesses were too scared to testify, as proof this law is needed. But one old example doesn't justify a permanent, open-ended power with no expiry date and no clear rules on when it can be used. Everyone from lawyers to human rights groups to opposition politicians is raising the same alarm, and history backs them up: Pakistan has used past terrorism laws to target political opponents before. When a law hides who's judging you, who's accusing you, and gives no clear limit on how it can grow, it stops looking like a security tool and starts looking like a way to control people without accountability.