Missing persons: Citing ‘no progress’, apex court expresses resentment
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Monday summoned the defence secretary, interior secretary, principal secretaries of the prime minister and the governor of Balochistan.
The Supreme Court Treasury Bench Quetta, while hearing cases pertaining to the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan, expressed grave concerns on the lack of progress in the cases of missing persons and observed that while everyone was blaming the security forces, evidence did exist against them.
“The defence secretary, interior secretary, principal secretaries of the prime minister and the governor of Balochistan should be prepared before appearing in court,” the chief justice advised the advocate general (AG) of Balochistan.
The apex court also expressed dissatisfaction on the report submitted by the province’s government on the existing law and order situation of Balochistan.
“There has been no progress in the missing persons’ cases and the situation is the same when we left Quetta after the last hearing,” the chief justice remarked. “The court will not tolerate any further drama on part of the government. The court has reached the conclusion that most of the issues [regarding the province’s deteriorating security situation] will be addressed by resolving the issue of missing persons.”
Justice Chaudhry contended that the court could summon the governor of the province and ask him the complete constitutional breakdown of the province.
AG Amanullah Kanrani informed the court that 16 missing persons were in official custody of the federal security agencies. “Whatever information you have regarding missing persons, share it with the court because we will issue the order tomorrow [Tuesday]. The report submitted by the provincial government does not show any significant progress.”
The court was informed that Abdul Zakir, who went missing on December 2010 from Mastung, had been recovered while two more persons gone missing from Marwar had also been recovered. As many as 25 people have so far surfaced but the police have failed to establish who kidnapped them and where they had been kept for so long, the chief Justice said.
The Supreme Court also directed the police and Balochistan Levies to investigate the kidnapping and killing of Abdul Qudos whose body was found dumped near a Bus Stop in Khuzdar. Qudos had gone missing on July 21, 2011.
DSP Amir Dasti said that most of the missing persons were either in Afghanistan taking training or hiding in the hills in Balochistan. “I raided a house of a lawyer whose son is missing. The mother told me that her son is in Afghanistan,” he said.
Dasti was also asked to show progress in the case of Shabir Sumalani, a boy in his early teens. “Shabir is the younger brother of a Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) target killer,” he told the court.
He said police lacked the weapons and equipment to deal with target killers. “Two of my guards were killed recently and I am also on top of the hit-list of the LeJ. Members of LeJ, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other groups have sophisticated weapons while we still have the fifty-year-old shotguns and pistols.”
Unregistered vehicles
The chief justice also directed the custom collector, excise department and chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to take action against all unregistered vehicles and motorcycles in Balochistan.
“Under the Custom Act, unregistered vehicles and motorbikes are not allowed to ply on the roads but in Quetta there are showrooms of non-duty paid vehicles in front of the custom office,” the bench observed.
The court gave a 15-day deadline to the concerned institutions and directed Balochistan’s chief secretary and home secretary to cooperate with the custom officials.
Kidnapping for ransom
Referring to kidnapping for ransom incidents, Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai informed the court that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and various other service providers were not cooperating with authorities to trace culprits and kidnappers.
According to the PTA, as many as 10 sims can be issued on one national identity card, which means one individual can get up to 60 sims given that there are a total of six sim providers in the country.
In response, the court ordered that action must be taken against sim providers if they do not follow the law and court orders. The bench also directed the director of the PTA to appear before the court on today.
COMMENTS (31)
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@AFPAK: lolz indian.........you cannot think beyond Hafiz Saeed.....dont take it personal....
@Ejaz: You lost East Pakistan (Bangladesh) because of your atrocities on bengali people. Pakistan never accepted its mistake of keeping the region backward. You used their resources and treated Baluchis as second grade citizens. Baluchistan gave so much to Pakistan economy and in return you gave them hunger, illiteracy. Now you are blaming India for your mistakes. Wake up before you loose baluchistan as well.
@Ayeesha Khan: we have the same argument for kashmir. Thanks for understanding our feeling.
Yet another populist outburst by the PCO CJ but no verdict or punishment yet! The SC is dedicated to oratory, poetry and political speeches not legal verdicts or justice.
@AFPAK: And I feel so sad when Indians like you disguise yourself and cry about human rights violations while in your India every now and then there are Sikh and Muslim massacres. And look at your name "AFPAK." Shouldn't you be using an Indian name? And for your kind information, the number of people missing is disputed. The best estimate is 8000 and it is very shameful to us as Pakistanis. But the number of people murdered, people kidnapped and most shamefully women raped number in tens of thousands in Kashmir. Your Indian Security Forces are responsible for those human rights violations.
@AFPAK: I am pretty sure you are Indian. Afghans don't know who Hafiz Sayeed is and Pakistanis don't consider him a criminal. The courts did not find enough evidence against him. A message for you: Quit acting as if you are from Afghanistan / Pakistan. You are not wanted here so go back to India.
I don't understand why the court wants to protect the killers.@NIDO:
Was Osama bin Laden punished by any American or Afghan Court> If an enemy army attacks any country, are the attackers produced before the court for punishment..Whether, the attacked upon will be able to survive by adopting this principle.@farooq:
@NIDO:
Present them in the court, try them, punish them if they are guilty but do not punish their family members by abducting them and not disclosing if they are in the internment (Pakistan Abugharab or gwantanamo) centers.
What if some of those who are abducted, tortured and bodies dumped, are innocent?
If Pakistan security agencies can abduct and secretly detain thousands for years then why the international terrorist Hafiz Sayeed cannot be detained?
Punish and be very hard on those who work against Pakistan but only after the evidence is produced in the Courts. Everybody has the right to a fair trial. Proceed with development and reward those who stand up for justice and who condemn militant activities. The carrot and stick methodology is simple but effective. Iran crushes those who speak against the State. Iran effectively holds the Afghan refugees away from the local population and so it suffers from no internal problems. Why is it that we Iran and Pakistan share a common neighbor - Afghanistan but Iran has distanced itself from the troubles in Afghanistan?
Baluchi traitors have been killing punjabi and sindhi people.Why didnt SC conduct inquiry into that matter?dozens of people from punjab and sindh have been brutally murdered by baloch militants by obvious support of indian terrorist agency RAW.What about their families still mourning deaths of their loved ones? Security agencies are doing the right thing.Any balouch militant involved in anti-Pak activity should be met with a fatal fate.ISI should monitor and catch any balouch traitor found in anti-PAK activities.
Endia is secretly building its army in baluchistan to repeat the 1971 scene.Well endia shouldn't ignore the fact that in 1971 pakistan was not a nuclear power and now it is.Rest endians know well what could happen.Baluchi traitors have been killing punjabi and sindhi people.Why didnt SC conduct inquiry into that matter?dozens of people from punjab and sindh have been brutally murdered by baloch militants by obvious support of indian terrorist agency RAW.What about their families still mourning deaths of their loved ones? Security agencies are doing the right thing.Any balouch militant involved in anti-Pak activity should be met with a fatal fate.ISI should monitor and catch any balouch traitor found in anti-PAK activities.
They attack govt officials and poor men like barber, washer-man and poor workers from punjab and sind ... now they are pleading in court that they are missing....... shame on u....
my balochi brother and sister's ,time is very hard for u/and us,we understand u/r pain and suffers.is time to us give vote to people who care about us.
You guys who have absolutely no idea of the ground realities call them innocents while they very possibly be on enemy's payroll and working against the State of Pakistan.
Mr Ejaz you are 200% right the same is here in KPK when ever and where ever some one missing all the locals know that he is involved in some militant activity not a single innocent person in KPK was picked up by the agencies LIVE WITH THE SWORD DIE WITH THE SWORD
@Ejaz: If agencies will whisked away any one weather that is innocent or involve in anti state activity so it would be the responsibility of them to produce them with in twenty four hours before the court then the court will punish them according to the law. Now only those know where the show pinches.
I don't understand why agencies would lift innocent person, what good will it do to them. They have not lifted me nor you why ?????@farooq:
How many seats the Balauch separatists win whenever any election is held?@saleem:
If any one believe or not, it will be surprising for the chief justice that in the first day hearing of missing persons more then sixty persons appear before the chief justice and told him if their dear and near ones are involved in any anti state activity they should be punished according to the law. The family members of victims do not know weather their loved ones are dead or alive.Now more then 150 families came before the court and stated that their loved ones were abducted by FC and intelligence agencies, The best example of it is that police produced a concrete evidence before the chief justice that FC is involved whisking away the people. i think so it is enough to understand the missing persons issue in Balochistan.
A few armed indian agents are trying to create a separation like situation in Balauchistan province. These elements are completely devoid of any public support, as they hardly get even a single seat in the province whenever any election is held. From the arms supplied by India, these mercenaries have not only destroyed gas and electricity installation but killed numerous police and army personnel in the province. Not only this, these rental badmashes have killed numerous innocent civilians and children in cold blood. These traitors should be dealt just as any other sovereign country deals with rebels..Just like America, India, Sirilanka, Pakistan has also a right to safeguard its integrity and crush those enemy agents who conspire to harm Pakistan. U.S.A's Civil War is glaring example to quote.11 of its Southern states declared independence unilaterally.Elected its President and raised a full fledged army. But Abraham Lincoln, the then President of U.S.A rejected this Southern Independence, and waged a war against Southerns.After many years of gruesome battles, the Federal Forces defeated the rebels.In these battles some one million people lost their lives. But then, no American court stepped in and raised questions of missing persons or one million people killed. And now U.S.A is as strong as steel..
On what basis we ask for Kashmier when there is uproar to get seprated by our own provinces
@AFPAK: 14,000? some nationalists just last year were screaming about 8,000 missing, HRW and HRCP could barely register 500 missing, Rehman Malik waveres from 1,100 to 50, and Balochistan Govt claims none are missing.
Something is VERY fishy with these numbers. I believe no side (nationalists and govt) are giving factual numbers, just adding/subtracting zeroes at will.
Mr Chief did you take suo moto notice of anti pakistan activities of BLA or killing of our security officials in baluchistan
How can those 16 persons be 'missing' if every one knows that the agencies have them ? Or is my understanding og english now so poor that I cannot understand the meaning of the word 'missing' ?
@AFPAK: There are hunger camps in Quetta being organized by relatives of the missing persons. If you count the persons present in the missing camps, they, too, won't even total 14,000. Infact it will be way short from 14,000. There are abducted persons from Balochistan, but not 14,000. please don't mind sharing the list of all the abductees and their CNICs, if they have any. Otherwise why don't you just keep quite!!!
@AFPAK:
And what happen to those innocent Non Balochis who were targeted by these balochies?
Just 16 out of 14,000 abducted persons are in the custody of agencies. Whatever happened to the rest 13,984 unfortunate ones?
I feel so sad when I look at the innocent faces of these little children whose father have been removed by someone.
Balochi people should not take it as offense on their ethnicity. Rest of Pakistan is suffering likely from agencies. Nothing wrong with the country but the ego of establishment must be taken out.