Return from hell

With Bagram jail to be handed over to Afghan authorities soon, Pakistan must do everything to get all its people home.

Nine more Pakistanis have been released from the notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan, where they had been held for years without access to legal representation or any process of trial. The prisoners were handed over by US authorities, who still control the jail, to their Pakistani counterparts in Rawalpindi. The Justice Pakistan Project (JPP), an organisation working since 2010 for the release of Pakistanis at Bagram, has appealed to the Pakistan government to ensure the early return of the nine men, whom they have named, to their families. Presumably, there will be some questioning before this happens. Thousands of Pakistanis have been detained in Afghanistan, notably after 2001 when they crossed the border to conduct ‘jihad’ against the invading US troops. The fate of a significant number of these persons is still unknown. The anxiety of their families can only be imagined.



The Pakistan Foreign Office, while confirming the release of the nine prisoners, has said some 15 more Pakistanis remain at Bagram. Batches of Pakistanis had been released from the jail in 2013 and earlier this year. With the jail due to be handed over by the US within months to Afghan authorities, Pakistan must of course do everything possible to get all its people home in case of further chaos or confusion following this. Reports of torture from the Bagram prison have leaked out periodically and of course it was the place where one of Pakistan’s best known detainees, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, was held from somewhere around 2003 to 2008, after being mysteriously whisked away from Pakistan. In 2010, Dr Siddiqui was of course sentenced by a US court to 86 years in jail on charges of terrorism.

What is also a concern is that the persons released from Bagram will be kept away from their homes by Pakistani authorities. This has happened before, and our record on missing people is not very good. The JPP has already expressed concern on this count. Certainly, one can understand the need to question the people returning, given our own battle against militancy. But we must remember they have already suffered a great deal and in the absence of evidence need to be reunited with their families as quickly as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2014.

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