Releasing uncharged detainees: Court demands govt explanation

PHC seeks oversight board reports of four detainees at internment centre.


Our Correspondent October 01, 2014

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) secretary for home and tribal affairs has been asked to explain why a detainee should not be released if there were no charges levelled against him under the Action (in aid of Civil Power) Regulation 2011.

A Peshawar High Court (PHC) division bench of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain raised the question on Wednesday while hearing multiple petitions of enforced disappearances.

The PHC also ordered the K-P government to provide complete oversight board reports of four previously missing persons held at the Kohat internment centre.

At the hearing, the court was told that Parvez, the brother of Khalid Gul, was previously missing.  Parvez’s family said his whereabouts were unknown since August 6, 2012 and he was picked up from Sawaldher area of Mardan.

Additional Advocate General Mujahid Ali Khan informed the court that officials dealing with the case traced out the missing person and he was being held at an internment centre in Kohat.

The court ordered the secretary for home and tribal affairs to provide a complete report of the oversight board before the next date of hearing.

The court was also told that Noor Ayaz, son of Eida Gul, was picked by unidentified people from Hangu district on August 3, 2012. The provincial government also traced the whereabouts of this missing person to the internment centre in Kohat. The provincial government was then ordered to provide a complete report of the case before the next date of hearing scheduled for October 29.

The division bench also sought the oversight board report of detainees Malik Zaliman Shah and Bilal. These men are also being held in Kohat.

There were around 13 other cases of enforced disappearances in which replies were not submitted by respondents which include the federal ministries of interior and defence. Notices were issued to them to reply to the petitions.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ