Release and repatriation: Chinese PM’s visit sparks hope of prisoners’ release
A G-B resident claims 450 Pakistanis are in Chinese jails.
The Chinese PM visited Pakistan for two-day official visit. PHOTO: AFP
GILGIT:
Some residents of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) hope that the Chinese premier’s successful recent visit to Pakistan will assist in the release and repatriation of their relatives who are held in Chinese jails.
Wajahat Ali’s brother Itrat is in jail across the border on charges of smuggling drugs into China. Ali says that he, and his family living in G-B, has been unable to offer Itrat any legal assistance since he was arrested in a foreign country.
But he hoped that the roadmap for strategic ties agreed upon by both countries during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit this week would change things.
“We are sure that more than 450 Pakistanis, including 35 females, who are languishing in various Chinese jails for minor crimes, will be back soon.”
A Pak-China agreement
The two countries had signed an agreement in 2007 to swap prisoners, but nothing materialised so far, said Ali.
“It is frustrating that no headway could be made in the wake of this agreement,” he said, adding that lack of action in this matter disappointed the residents of G-B. “Adding insult to injuries, the bodies of at least three inmates have been shifted to Pakistan from China over the years,” he said.
The G-B government was unaware of any follow up work over the agreement. “Let me check its status with the chief minister once he is back in town,” said Ali Madad Sher, Minister for Law and Information in the G-B cabinet said when asked about the agreement and status of Pakistani prisoners in China. “This is the federal government’s subject and therefore I cannot make any statements regarding it.”
How do prisoners fare?
G-B residents are apprehensive of the fate of their relatives in Chinese prisons owing to the poor record of human rights in China, said Ali. He said that the jail authorities had not allowed his brother to communicate with his family via telephone.
Ali and his family also tried to get in touch with the Chinese embassy and Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries for news regarding his brother, but to no avail.
“It is worrying as we haven’t talked to him for the past two years,” said Wajahat Ali. He appealed to the government and to non-governmental organisations for assistance in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2013.
Some residents of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) hope that the Chinese premier’s successful recent visit to Pakistan will assist in the release and repatriation of their relatives who are held in Chinese jails.
Wajahat Ali’s brother Itrat is in jail across the border on charges of smuggling drugs into China. Ali says that he, and his family living in G-B, has been unable to offer Itrat any legal assistance since he was arrested in a foreign country.
But he hoped that the roadmap for strategic ties agreed upon by both countries during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit this week would change things.
“We are sure that more than 450 Pakistanis, including 35 females, who are languishing in various Chinese jails for minor crimes, will be back soon.”
A Pak-China agreement
The two countries had signed an agreement in 2007 to swap prisoners, but nothing materialised so far, said Ali.
“It is frustrating that no headway could be made in the wake of this agreement,” he said, adding that lack of action in this matter disappointed the residents of G-B. “Adding insult to injuries, the bodies of at least three inmates have been shifted to Pakistan from China over the years,” he said.
The G-B government was unaware of any follow up work over the agreement. “Let me check its status with the chief minister once he is back in town,” said Ali Madad Sher, Minister for Law and Information in the G-B cabinet said when asked about the agreement and status of Pakistani prisoners in China. “This is the federal government’s subject and therefore I cannot make any statements regarding it.”
How do prisoners fare?
G-B residents are apprehensive of the fate of their relatives in Chinese prisons owing to the poor record of human rights in China, said Ali. He said that the jail authorities had not allowed his brother to communicate with his family via telephone.
Ali and his family also tried to get in touch with the Chinese embassy and Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries for news regarding his brother, but to no avail.
“It is worrying as we haven’t talked to him for the past two years,” said Wajahat Ali. He appealed to the government and to non-governmental organisations for assistance in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2013.