‘Agencies’ custody’: Detained man’s family knocks on IHC door

Justice Aamer Farooq will hear the <br /> case today.

ISLAMABAD: Family of a missing person has filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court. The family of a Swat resident allegedly detained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) upon his arrival from Qatar and later handed over to an intelligence agency for ‘being the brother of a militant’ has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for justice.

Dilshad Begum, the wife of Nisar Ahmed, has petitioned the IHC saying FIA detained her husband, who along with his wife, mother and six children arrived at the BBIA after eight years, as his name was on the Exit Control List (ECL).

She has made the interior secretary, FIA director general, FIA police station SHO, defence secretary and directors general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence as respondents.

The case is fixed before Justice Aamer Farooq today.

The petitioner, through her counsel Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Zafar, stated that the petitioner’s family was kept at the airport for the whole day on June 1 and at the end of the day, FIA allowed them to go home and kept Ahmed in custody saying he would be released in a day after necessary investigation.

Next day, when the family approached them, FIA officials told petitioner her husband was now in custody of the ISI for further inquiry and will be released in a couple of days.

On June 5, the officials of the agency brought Ahmed to his home in Swat for a meeting with the family and assured them that he would be released in three to four days after completion of a necessary inquiry, Dilshad stated in the petition.

After four days, Zafar said Ahmed’s elder son got a call from an agency official saying his father would be released only after he produces one of his uncles, identified as Ishaque, before them.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Zafar said ISI officials suspect that Ishaque was a militant and is affiliated with the Taliban. He also revealed that Ahmed’s brother, Riaz, was also detained in a similar fashion from Peshawar airport last year and asked to turn his brother in. He was later released and now works in Qatar.

Zafar said the family has not been in contact with Ishaque for a while and do not even know if he is alive.

There is a big question mark over the agencies’ detention of innocent people, Zafar shared. He alleged that the agencies torture people physically and mentally and the same was happening with the petitioner’s husband.

Petition also revealed that Dilshad submitted an appeal before Commander 11 Corps for releasing her husband but there has been no response from army. She maintained that her husband would be ready to face any kind of inquiry and trial before competent court of law if charges are levelled against him.

She has prayed the court to direct the respondents to release her husband and produce him before a court, delete his name from the ECL and restrain the respondents from unlawfully interfering with the liberty and freedom of her husband.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2015.