Relatives unable to meet detained family members
Internment centre officials have yet to facilitate mandated supervised visits.
Internment centre officials have yet to facilitate mandated supervised visits. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR:
Relatives of those held in internment centres in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) complain they are not allowed to visit their loved ones. Nadar Khan is yet to meet his son, Abdul Haseeb, despite court directives to both military and civilian officials to create an implementable system for such visits.
Under Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted the right to visit detainees and interning authorities were asked to assist relatives in doing so. The court clarified the visits would be observed by security officials to prevent sensitive information from being leaked.
On January 23, the PHC directed the K-P home secretary and additional chief secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to devise a plan within 20 days with the interning authorities. However, three months on, Khan has still not seen his son.
Khan, a Mohmand Agency resident with physical disabilities, has to make a very tough journey from Ghallani, the agency headquarters, to Swat, where his son is detained in the internment centre Phaitom. He has not seen his child for nearly three years; Haseeb went missing on July 27, 2010.
Sixteen-year-old Haseeb was in Faqeerabad at his aunt’s house when forces allegedly raided her place and picked up the eighth-grader. They shifted him to an unknown location. It was only in 2012 when Haseeb was able to inform his father about his whereabouts. On March 28, the court also learned of his internment at Paithom.
“Look at my state. I cannot walk without support of another person but in this very condition I have paid several visits to Paithom. But they refuse to let me see my son,” complained the distraught father. “Is this in compliance with court orders?” Khan questioned.
However, the father was not one to let the negatives overshadow the good news. Haseeb was not only alive but also wrote to Khan in 2012, announcing his engagement. Khan was more than pleased to hear another detainee had asked his son to marry his sister.
“I was really excited – not only because I finally knew my son was alive but also because he got engaged in the internment centre,” stated Khan. He now awaits his son’s release with hope, so both father and son can be reunited and there is someone to share his old-age burdens.
Khan is not the only one seeking access to family – Gul Haya, Samiullah’s mother-in-law, is also focusing all her efforts to meet Samiullah at Paithom.
Samiullah, 27, a resident of Khazana, was a vendor and has been in custody of security agencies since 2010. Since his mother passed away in his absence, Haya has been taking care of Samiullah’s family.
Haseeb and Samiullah have been interned over allegations that they were in contact with anti-state elements.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2013.
Relatives of those held in internment centres in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) complain they are not allowed to visit their loved ones. Nadar Khan is yet to meet his son, Abdul Haseeb, despite court directives to both military and civilian officials to create an implementable system for such visits.
Under Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted the right to visit detainees and interning authorities were asked to assist relatives in doing so. The court clarified the visits would be observed by security officials to prevent sensitive information from being leaked.
On January 23, the PHC directed the K-P home secretary and additional chief secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to devise a plan within 20 days with the interning authorities. However, three months on, Khan has still not seen his son.
Khan, a Mohmand Agency resident with physical disabilities, has to make a very tough journey from Ghallani, the agency headquarters, to Swat, where his son is detained in the internment centre Phaitom. He has not seen his child for nearly three years; Haseeb went missing on July 27, 2010.
Sixteen-year-old Haseeb was in Faqeerabad at his aunt’s house when forces allegedly raided her place and picked up the eighth-grader. They shifted him to an unknown location. It was only in 2012 when Haseeb was able to inform his father about his whereabouts. On March 28, the court also learned of his internment at Paithom.
“Look at my state. I cannot walk without support of another person but in this very condition I have paid several visits to Paithom. But they refuse to let me see my son,” complained the distraught father. “Is this in compliance with court orders?” Khan questioned.
However, the father was not one to let the negatives overshadow the good news. Haseeb was not only alive but also wrote to Khan in 2012, announcing his engagement. Khan was more than pleased to hear another detainee had asked his son to marry his sister.
“I was really excited – not only because I finally knew my son was alive but also because he got engaged in the internment centre,” stated Khan. He now awaits his son’s release with hope, so both father and son can be reunited and there is someone to share his old-age burdens.
Khan is not the only one seeking access to family – Gul Haya, Samiullah’s mother-in-law, is also focusing all her efforts to meet Samiullah at Paithom.
Samiullah, 27, a resident of Khazana, was a vendor and has been in custody of security agencies since 2010. Since his mother passed away in his absence, Haya has been taking care of Samiullah’s family.
Haseeb and Samiullah have been interned over allegations that they were in contact with anti-state elements.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2013.