IHC CJ dissatisfied with COIED’s performance

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Friday remarked that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances’ (COIED) mandate was to fix responsibility on individuals or organisations responsible but no recommendations were forwarded by it in the last 11 years.
The chief justice heard the case of missing persons.

During the hearing, CJ Minallah clubbed the petitions regarding Mudassar Naro and other missing persons and sought reports from the judicial commission on missing persons. The CJ appointed Faisal Siddiqui Advocate as amicus curiae on the matter.

A three-member judicial commission, headed by former SC judge Kamal Mansoor Alam, had started work on missing persons in 2010. The chief justice noted that the COIED had been working since 2011 but had not made any recommendations to the government, saying: “Why not declare that the commission had failed to achieve its objectives.”

Justice Minallah asked about the terms of reference (TORs) of the commission. He also enquired about the report of the judicial commission. The commission registrar said that the report was not made public and that it might be with the interior ministry.

The additional attorney general read out the TORs of the commission on enforced disappearances. He informed the court that it was the job of the commission to determine who was responsible for the enforced disappearances.

The chief justice remarked that the main task of the commission was to find ways to stop this. He asked that if there was recovery in some cases, then who was responsible for the disappearances and on what basis the cases of enforced disappearances were disposed of.

The registrar said that the people, who came to the detention centre after being traced, never spoke about those who picked them up. The registrar further informed the court that production orders were issued in 550 cases.

The court said that the production order would have been issued in the cases of suspected enforced disappearance. Justice Minallah said that it was the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens but if there was an impression that the state itself was involved in enforced disappearances, then who would investigate. “It is state’s responsibility to protect its citizens … it is a serious crime if any citizen goes missing.

”The court sought a report on the case of disappearance of Advocate Raja Mushtaq’s two sons, Faisal Mushtaq and Qasim Mushtaq, from the gate of Islamic University on February 16, 2016. The hearing was adjourned till April 1.