Enforced disappearances: Replies sought from federal govt, K-P IGP over 52 ‘missing’ persons

Petitioners told the bench their relatives were picked up from various areas and were untraceable.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday put on notice ministries of defence and interior, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IGP, secretary home and tribal affairs and additional chief secretary of Federally Administered Tribal Areas while hearing 52 petitions of enforced disappearances.

The notices were issued by a two-member division bench of Chief Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk and Justice Musarrat Hilali who were hearing petitions of 52 people who have disappeared from K-P and the tribal areas.

When the bench took up the petitions for hearing, advocate Gohar Rehman Khattak informed the court that the son of Zar Nosh Khan, a resident of Buner, was allegedly arrested by the police with explosives but his family was not told about his whereabouts.

Similarly, counsels of other petitioners also told the bench that relatives of their clients were picked up from various areas and their families believed they were in the custody of intelligence agencies.

The counsels requested the bench that families be informed about the whereabouts of their loved ones and if involved in any criminal activities, they should be brought before a court of law. The court, after hearing the counsels’ arguments, issued notices to concerned officials to file their comments by March 25.

On February 11, PHC was informed that eight more missing persons had been traced and shifted to various notified internment centres while the ground check for others is continuing.

However, the bench was not satisfied with the ongoing progress of the federal task force for missing persons which has been directed to produce a comprehensive report to ascertain the whereabouts of missing persons.

“There should be a concrete solution to the problem and the issue needs to be taken up with the federal government as hundreds of people are missing. If these people are not with the intelligence agencies then where are they?” the CJ had questioned at the last hearing.

Stay order on DG sports’ appointment

In a separate case, PHC issued a stay order on the appointment of director general (DG) sports in K-P and stopped the government from appointing anyone at the post till further orders.

The two-member division bench of Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan was informed by Advocate Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik that his client Rashida Ghaznavi has been working on the post of a director in the sports directorate at grade 18 for the last 17 years.

He further said the post of a DG is of grade 19 and currently a grade 17 officer is working on the post as the acting DG while his client is the most senior ranking officer and awaiting promotion.  Malik said the government usually appoints officers on deputation and now a new officer is likely to be appointed the DG which is an injustice with the present director, his client. The court, after hearing arguments, issued a stay order on the appointment and sought a report from the provincial government.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2014.