Missing persons’ case: K-P to submit third list of detainees to high court
Detained persons to be transferred to internment centre in Kohat prison.
Two lists have already been submitted to the court on December 18 and May 16, 2012.
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court (PHC), on Tuesday, directed security officials to produce a categorised list of detained persons next week.
During the hearing of 135 habeas corpus petitions filed by family members of missing persons seeking information of their detained relatives, the government requested the court to adjourn the hearing for January 22, since the list was not yet complete.
The court was informed that officials of security forces and spy agencies were in contact with the provincial government and were compiling a report with information about the detainees.
Deputy Attorney General Muzammil Khan informed a PHC division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Irshad Qaisar that the list would be produced before the court on the next date. This will be the third categorised list to be produced before the court. Two lists have already been submitted to the court on December 18 and May 16, 2012.
Section Officer (Judicial) Usman Zaman from the home and tribal affairs department informed the court that an internment centre had been constructed in Kohat prison and the process of shifting detained persons there would begin on Tuesday (today).
He said Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Muhammad Azam Khan would personnally appear before the court and produce a list of the detained persons. The bench later adjourned the case till next Tuesday.
A number of relatives of missing persons were present outside the courtroom. Lal Shirin, a resident of Gamkot, Shamozai tehsil in Swat district, was present to seek information about his missing son Muhammad Shirin.
I voluntarily handed over my son and nephew Azam Khan to security forces in September 2009 at Zarkhela check post in Barikot and there has been no news of them since, he added.
Another petitioner Muslim Shah, a resident of Palay in Malakand Agency, said his relative Sakhawat Shah went missing from Karachi in June, 2011.
“Shah was a daily wager and escaped Palay after the military started an onslaught against militants in 2009.” Shah took shelter in Karachi where he was arrested, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2013.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC), on Tuesday, directed security officials to produce a categorised list of detained persons next week.
During the hearing of 135 habeas corpus petitions filed by family members of missing persons seeking information of their detained relatives, the government requested the court to adjourn the hearing for January 22, since the list was not yet complete.
The court was informed that officials of security forces and spy agencies were in contact with the provincial government and were compiling a report with information about the detainees.
Deputy Attorney General Muzammil Khan informed a PHC division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Irshad Qaisar that the list would be produced before the court on the next date. This will be the third categorised list to be produced before the court. Two lists have already been submitted to the court on December 18 and May 16, 2012.
Section Officer (Judicial) Usman Zaman from the home and tribal affairs department informed the court that an internment centre had been constructed in Kohat prison and the process of shifting detained persons there would begin on Tuesday (today).
He said Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Muhammad Azam Khan would personnally appear before the court and produce a list of the detained persons. The bench later adjourned the case till next Tuesday.
A number of relatives of missing persons were present outside the courtroom. Lal Shirin, a resident of Gamkot, Shamozai tehsil in Swat district, was present to seek information about his missing son Muhammad Shirin.
I voluntarily handed over my son and nephew Azam Khan to security forces in September 2009 at Zarkhela check post in Barikot and there has been no news of them since, he added.
Another petitioner Muslim Shah, a resident of Palay in Malakand Agency, said his relative Sakhawat Shah went missing from Karachi in June, 2011.
“Shah was a daily wager and escaped Palay after the military started an onslaught against militants in 2009.” Shah took shelter in Karachi where he was arrested, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2013.