LAHORE: The defence ministry was told on Tuesday to submit a reply to the Lahore High Court by June 30 in a petition challenging drone attacks in the country allegedly being carried out with the permission of the government.
The petition, filed by Sardar Zaheer Khan, also prayed the court to seek a comprehensive report from the federal government about any agreement it has entered into with the US and Black Water.
The petitioner also wanted the government to tell how many drone strikes have been carried out so far, the number of people killed as a result and compensation provided to the victim families.
He sought directions for the government to get an FIR registered against US President Barack Obama, and those responsible for the murder of innocent people in Pakistan.
He requested the court to restrain government functionaries from holding meetings with American diplomats who, he said, were giving dictation to Pakistan in clear disregard to the state’s sovereignty, integrity and security.
Meanwhile, the LHC chief justice also dismissed another identical petition for non-prosecution. The petition was filed by Khalid Khawaja of Human Rights Defence, also a former ISI official, who had been killed allegedly by a group of Taliban in May. After his murder his counsel Advocate Tariq Asad had become the petitioner, but he was not appearing before the court. The CJ dismissed the plea for non-prosecution.
In this case the ministry of defence had already informed the court it had no knowledge about any agreement or treaty with the US and Black Water with regard to drone attacks.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 16th, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ