Missing person’s case: ‘Who runs the Ghallanai internment centre?’

PHC asks governor, FATA additional chief secretary to clarify if it’s Mohmand Rifles or PA.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) sought reports from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor and Fata’s additional chief secretary to explain the status of the Ghallanai internment centre in Mohmand Agency.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Malik Manzoor on Thursday directed officials to clarify whether the centre is administered by the Mohmand Rifles or the agency’s political administration.



The petitioner’s lawyer Khanzada Ajmal Zeb informed the court that Mohaida Bibi’s husband was taken into custody on November 17, 2011. On August 18 2012, officials told the court that the missing person was at the Ghallanai internment centre.

Zeb said the missing person’s body was handed over to his family on February 10 last year by khasadar officials, who alleged he had died of natural causes at the internment centre. No written proof was provided to establish a natural death, said Zeb, adding the family should be compensated under the diyat (blood money) law.



Mohmand Agency Political Agent Khushal Khan informed the court the internment centre falls under the authority of Mohmand Rifles and political administration officials are not allowed entry. The medical officer of the centre’s hospital has submitted a written statement portraying the missing person’s death as natural.

The chief justice said necessary measures were not followed after the individual’s death as the autopsy was not conducted, which is otherwise a necessity.

The political agent’s counsel Jehanzeb Mehsud told the court that the post-mortem of the deceased was not carried out in accordance with tribal law.

The chief justice asked whether the tribal law allowed people to be picked up from their homes and kept in illegal lockups. The court, after hearing arguments, sought a clarification as to who controls the internment centre as under the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011, internment centers in the tribal areas fall under the responsibility of the Governor and additional chief secretary Fata.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2014.