Forced custody: 367 missing person cases pending at PHC

International Day for Enforced Disappearances fails to stir any response.

PESHAWAR:

Two years and more than 400 petitions later, nearly 367 cases of missing persons are still pending before the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

According to statistics compiled by the PHC, around 2,500 people have been shifted to federal and provincial internment centres so far, while 1,500 have been released.

Although families of missing persons frequently protest out the court premises and the Peshawar Press Club, no such demonstration was held on Friday, which marked the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Speaking at a protest camp last week, Dolat Khan said he had been searching for his brother Hafiz Muhammad Tariq since December 20, 2012. I am not sure what the court’s verdict will be, but I hope to get justice for my brother, he said.

His brother’s case was taken up last on August 21 when the PHC bench comprising Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain and Justice Ikramullah Khan was hearing petitions filed by families of missing persons.

When the bench asked Par Hoti SHO Nihar Ali why Dolat’s brother was picked up, Ali categorically denied involvement. Dolat too flatly refused to accept the SHO’s defence, claiming his brother was picked up before his eyes.

Dolat told the court his brother was released on bail from jail, but was still in the custody of a police detention centre. He asserted this was against the law.

“I swear that my brother was picked up by SHO Nihar Ali, and when I tried to resist I was severely beaten,” claimed Dolat. “My brother was released on bail three months later but he is still in police custody.”

When the SHO rejected the allegations, Dolat started screaming in the courtroom. Media personnel gathered around as Dolat shouted for help from the court. “Who should I approach for help then?” he said.  The court has asked the SHO to produce the bail bond in the next hearing, which is to be held in the last week of September.

The international day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2010, in a resolution which expressed its deep concern over the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world.

“We are calling on states to take or strengthen measures to protect relatives and civil society groups working on issues related to enforced disappearances and prevent and punish any act of intimidation, persecution or reprisal,” said a statement issued by the United Nations human rights experts.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2013.