LHC seeks list of Pakistanis in Bagram prison

Asks Interior Ministry about whereabouts of a released prisoner.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to provide an updated list of Pakistanis detained in Afghanistan’s Bagram prison by US authorities.

The court also directed the Interior Ministry to inform it about the whereabouts of a man who had been released and repatriated to Pakistan in September 2014 from the prison.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing a petition that the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) had moved on behalf of the families of the Pakistanis detained at the US internment centre in Afghanistan.

Sarah Belal, counsel for the JPP, said Saifullah was yet to reach home although the jail authorities had handed him to Pakistani authorities last year.

She said his family had no information about his whereabouts. She said the court had directed the ministry to provide the lawyer and families of the prisoners an unfettered access to those repatriated from Afghanistan. The counsel said a list of detainees provided by the government was devoid of details.

She said that although the prison had been closed, there might still be some Pakistani prisoners detained in Afghanistan.

Justice Shah directed the ministry to provide the whereabouts of Saifullah. The judge also directed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to provide an updated list of Pakistanis in US custody in Bagram. The hearing was adjourned until February 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2015.