SHC for report on target killings in 2 weeks

In August 2009, a petition said that 680 people had been killed.

KARACHI: A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Muhammad Athar Saeed, has asked the Sindh government to submit a report in two weeks on target killing incidents, cases registered and their investigation.

During a hearing on Friday, Additional Advocate-General Meeran Shah filed a petition for a delay in the report’s submission date. Meanwhile, the court said that the target killings case has been in pending for the last one year. The first petition filed against target killing was registered in August 2009, according to which, 680 people have been murdered in such incidents.

According to the petition, 445 people fell victim to target killings in the first six months of 2009. A list of 54 target killing victims killed in June to July was also attached, which describes the details of the incidents. The petition stated that the defendant had not protected the people, in accordance with the people’s constitutional rights. Even with CCTV cameras all over the city, no footage of the target killings were available that can help in the investigation, the petition stated.

The prosecutor appealed to the court to ask the government to submit a report on arrests made, and demanded that intelligence agencies should be involved in finding out the reasons why these people were being killed. Rejecting the advocategeneral’s demand, the bench gave the government two weeks to submit the report in two weeks, in which federal interior secretary, chief secretary Sindh, Pakistan Rangers director-general, IG Sindh and in-charges of 24 police stations of Karachi should be made a party to the case.

ANP activists targeted Awami National Party (ANP) representative Wali Khan and his son Jaseem Khan were killed and two ANP activists were injured when unidentified armed men opened fire at them outside the ANP office on Friday. These people have been added to a long list of political activists who have fallen victim to target killings.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 15th, 2010.