Illegal detention: Acquitted by courts, missing persons languish in jails
WPRC Chairman warns of public backlash if detained persons not released.
PESHAWAR:
Missing persons who have been acquitted by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) continue to languish in jails across the country, World Prisoners’ Relief Commission of Pakistan (WPRC) Chairman Javed Ibrahim Paracha said on Wednesday.
He expressed concern over the non-compliance of court orders while in the presence of relatives of missing persons at the Peshawar Press Club.
“The political administration of Miramshah, North Waziristan, is yet to release 18 to 22 missing persons hailing from Punjab,” said Paracha, adding that there are also some people from Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency.
“If there is no case, then the detention of missing persons is totally illegal,” said Paracha. He added there are around 1,500 to 2,000 missing persons in the four provinces and cautioned the government that if “the innocent” were not released, people will take the law into their own hands.
Relatives of missing persons had their own ways of expressing their agonies.
Azhar, a resident of Lahore, is on hunger strike to press for the release of his son, Muazzam, who is being held in Miramshah. His brother, Akhtar, was of the view that his detainees in Miranshah are being forced to take part in military operations in North Waziristan.
The mother of Muazzam Bashir, who was picked up from Peshawar, said she will self-immolate in front of the Supreme Court if her son dies.
Lal Muhammad told media persons that his son, Shazad worked in Spain for 10 years and upon his return to attend his brother’s wedding he was picked up by security agencies. “Since that day, we have been searching for him, and at last someone has informed us that he is in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency,” said Muhammad. “I ask the government and agencies that on what grounds was my son apprehended and why was his entire family been made to suffer?” he added.
Paracha said that Muhammad Omar, a computer engineer, is also in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency. “His only fault was that he hails from Imam Dehri area of Mingora,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2012.
Missing persons who have been acquitted by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) continue to languish in jails across the country, World Prisoners’ Relief Commission of Pakistan (WPRC) Chairman Javed Ibrahim Paracha said on Wednesday.
He expressed concern over the non-compliance of court orders while in the presence of relatives of missing persons at the Peshawar Press Club.
“The political administration of Miramshah, North Waziristan, is yet to release 18 to 22 missing persons hailing from Punjab,” said Paracha, adding that there are also some people from Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency.
“If there is no case, then the detention of missing persons is totally illegal,” said Paracha. He added there are around 1,500 to 2,000 missing persons in the four provinces and cautioned the government that if “the innocent” were not released, people will take the law into their own hands.
Relatives of missing persons had their own ways of expressing their agonies.
Azhar, a resident of Lahore, is on hunger strike to press for the release of his son, Muazzam, who is being held in Miramshah. His brother, Akhtar, was of the view that his detainees in Miranshah are being forced to take part in military operations in North Waziristan.
The mother of Muazzam Bashir, who was picked up from Peshawar, said she will self-immolate in front of the Supreme Court if her son dies.
Lal Muhammad told media persons that his son, Shazad worked in Spain for 10 years and upon his return to attend his brother’s wedding he was picked up by security agencies. “Since that day, we have been searching for him, and at last someone has informed us that he is in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency,” said Muhammad. “I ask the government and agencies that on what grounds was my son apprehended and why was his entire family been made to suffer?” he added.
Paracha said that Muhammad Omar, a computer engineer, is also in the custody of the political administration of Orakzai Agency. “His only fault was that he hails from Imam Dehri area of Mingora,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2012.