The Supreme Court was told on Thursday that the Adiala ‘missing’ prisoners were being kept in a small room in Landi Kotal, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where their heath condition is stated to be not satisfactory.
Heading a three-judge bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Federally Administered Tribal Areas Law and Order Secretary Shakeel Qadir and K-P Advocate General Assadullah Chamkani to shift the inmates, currently kept in an Internment Centre Landikotal, to the hospital.
Questioning the detention of the inmates without any evidence, the court announced that it would discuss the merit of the case from April 25.
Counsel for the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence Raja Irshad tried to say something but the court did not allow him. Hearing the case hearing, the chief justice observed that the prisoners’ detention was against human dignity. The court noted that a report, submitted by the Fata law and order secretary, confirmed that the inmates were confined to a small room and were suffering from serious health problems.
The court asked the secretary to redress the grievances of the Adiala Jail prisoners and arrange a meeting for them with their counsel.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain asked the counsel for ISI and MI under what law the Adiala Jail prisoners had been kept in the internment centres, and added that even if they are enemies of the country, evidence needed to be shown.
The secretary’s report further suggested that the prisoners may be allowed to walk in open air and get sunlight for half an hour daily.
A medical officer had confirmed that all the prisoners were being given medicine, from the Lady Reading Hospital, as per their prescriptions.
The secretary proposed that most of the internment centres do not have the facilities as per the criteria given in the rules framed for the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011. Therefore, he added, resources may be allocated so that these centres can be provided with additional facilities.
The court directed Advocate General Chamkani to immediately shift one of the prisoners, Dr Niaz Ahmed, to the hospital.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2012.
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