BHC will not transfer pending cases to judicial commission

The BHC rejected the Balochistan advocate-general’s suggestion to transfer all pending petitions for missing person.

The Balochistan High Court (BHC) has rejected the Balochistan advocate-general’s suggestion to transfer all pending petitions for missing persons’ cases from the BHC to the Commission on Enforced Disappearances.

Advocate-general Salahuddin Mengal had suggested that to avoid duplication of work, the cases of missing persons pending before the court should be transferred to the commission.

“The petitions before the BHC pertain to fundamental rights of the people, including the right to life and liberty and guarantees against illegal detention,” BHC Chief Justice Qazi Feiz Issa said.

He said that long period of Martial Law had made a mockery of fundamental rights of citizens and the courts must play their part in ensuring that the rights of citizens are fully protected. “Whenever such rights are threatened, [we must] come to the assistance of those affected,” the court observed.

Advocate-general Mengal said that media reports that there were thousands of missing persons in Balochistan are inaccurate and if it were true, more relatives and friends would have approached the court or the commission. He said that the Balochistan government had also set up the Balochistan taskforce cell for missing persons, headed by the home secretary, to work with security agencies and the commission.

The court was told that the Commission on Enforced Disappearances was actively working towards these cases. The commission has received 102 applications of which 10 people have already been traced and 71 cases were pending. However, particulars for 21 people had not been provided so the matter could not be processed further. Zafar Iqbal, deputy director of the commission, said that the pending cases will be considered on July 5 in Quetta.

Iqbal said that the commission had, through electronic and print media, repeatedly invited relatives and friends of missing persons to provide information that they had to help trace them. “Information can be provided in person, through letters, e-mails or by phone,” he said, adding that no information was yet obtained through advertising. Accordingly, two lists were prepared by the Inspection Branch. One list contains the particulars of 52 cases that have been disposed of while the other contains information on 40 cases that are pending. Iqbal has been told to contact the inspection judge for further information.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2010.