Missing Persons' case

Anwer_Pasha · February 3, 2012, 5:33am

re: Missing Persons' case

When I say this about Boots, Takht e Lahore , Intermediate pass intellectuals Rawalpindi and Aabparah ,
These terms are for them ,Their foolish conspiracies and Killing culture .

Ali_Syed · February 5, 2012, 2:00pm

re: Missing Persons’ case

With reference to the Ch Nisar’s criticism of the army, Rahman Malik has apologized to the armed forces and asked Nisar to do the same…

Army criticism: Malik wants Chaudhry Nisar to apologise

By Web Desk
Published: February 5, 2012

http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/332314-rehmanmalikpid-1328442394-812-640x480.jpg

Interior Minister says Chaudhry Nisar’s statements regarding the Army had hurt the whole nation. PHOTO: PID/FILE

****ISLAMABAD: **Interior Minister Rehman Malik pressed opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar to take back his statements regarding the Army, while speaking to the media on Sunday.
**
Malik said that if the people of the country start criticising the Army then there will be no difference between the people and other states, including India, which malign the institution.

“The states can fight as much as they want to, but the institutions should be kept aside,” he remarked.

**Stressing on Nisar to issue an apology, Malik said: “Chaudhry Nisar is like my elder brother… I hope he will apologise.”

He added that he wants to apologise to the Army, and everyone who was hurt by the statements, on behalf of the government and the parliament.

Nisar, during his speech in the National Assembly on Friday, had slammed the army and the security agencies, and had called on the prime minister to deal with them in a stern manner.
**
He raised the criticism in light of the recent extra-judicial killings, which included the murder of four GHQ attack suspects who were killed after being picked up from the Adiala jail.

Ali_Syed · February 14, 2012, 9:13am

re: Missing Persons’ case

Adiala missing prisoners’ case: After a heart-wrenching sight, SC wants answers Detainees show up in shabby condition, court seeks written explanations from ISI, MI chiefs.

By Azam Khan
Published: February 14, 2012

**ISLAMABAD: ****Everyone in the jam-packed courtroom number 1 was dumbfounded when authorities escorted them inside — each of the seven surviving detainees holding urine bags in their hands.
**
**Frail, weak, unable to talk and walk properly, the physical condition of the once missing prisoners – brought before the Supreme Court on Monday by the country’s top spy agencies – seemed abysmal.
**
**Four of his fellow detainees have already died in custody.
**
As the prisoners appeared before Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – more than a year and a half after being picked up – he ordered a full medical examination. The Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) last month handed over the men to the custody of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, after the Supreme Court took up the case.

“These people have been languishing in torture cells for over one and a half years,” Advocate Tariq Asad told the court, adding that, during confinement, the prisoners were not exposed to sunlight which deteriorated their health.

**Resuming the Adiala missing prisoners’ case, the apex court sought written explanations from the ISI and MI chiefs, Judge Advocate General (JAG) and K-P Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir Khan regarding the details about the prisoners and why they were not presented on the court’s earlier order.
**
Six-year-old son of prisoner Mazharul Haq hysterically sobbed upon seeing his father after almost two years.

“I have severe pain in my chest, my shoulders are itching. I am still shocked and unwell,” another detainee told AFP.

Meanwhile, the court told the K-P chief secretary to submit a comprehensive report entailing the details of the detention and a medical board report of the detainees within four days, while the JAG, MI and ISI were told to submit their reports on March 1.

**The court directed the ISI and MI chiefs to satisfy the court as to how they had held the 11 prisoners, what sort of trial was conducted, how they dealt with them and why their health conditions were deteriorating.
**
**“My son was kept in Parachinar in an open room where temperatures were below zero degrees,” one of the detainees’ mothers told The Express Tribune.
**
The chief justice then inquired about the prisoners and asked where they were before January 26. K-P chief secretary replied he did not have any knowledge regarding the whereabouts of the prisoners.

The chief justice criticised his statement and said, “A provincial chief secretary should be aware of everything that happens in the province.”

“A medical board shall be constituted to examine their health.”

Counsel of the prisoners Advocate Asad informed the court that three out of the seven prisoners were suffering from kidney failure, while the rest had been diagnosed with other chronic diseases.

Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Amina Janjua prayed to the court to order the release of all the missing persons currently detained in the country’s jails. Meanwhile, the court ordered that prisoners will now remain under provincial administration and not the ISI or MI.

The three-member bench, headed by the chief justice, had served notices to the ISI and MI chiefs on January 25 to explain the circumstances behind the deaths of the four prisoners.

The 11 accused had been facing a court martial under the Army Act on charges of attacking General Pervez Musharraf, the General Headquarters and ISI’s Hamza Camp base. They were picked up from the Adiala Jail by intelligence agencies after they had been acquitted of the charges by the court.

Four of the 11 detainees died in the custody of the ISI and MI, according to one of the detainees.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14[SUP]th[/SUP], 2012.

bao_bihari · February 14, 2012, 9:29am

re: Missing Persons' case

There is no proof that they were terrorist, even if they were even then it is not the treatment they should be getting, where are human rights champions?

Different treatment for Raymond davis , some one who killed a pakistani on pakistans soil, :(
*
asfal us safileen *

I have kid of similar age, have seen this kid as used to live in the same neighbourhood.Cant stop my tears. :(

Ali_Syed · February 14, 2012, 9:34am

re: Missing Persons' case

I was reading another report, that the previous case for these detainees was shelved almost a year ago and SC asked the military to launch court martial against them. But even that was not conducted by the army, and still the ISI and MI kept them in confinement. I wonder what our agencies have been doing with their detainees, it seems to be far worse than guantanomo bay! All of these people had urine bags when they arrived in SC, as far as Balochis are concerned (they dont matter) thats why they are killed like animals and their mutilated bodies thrown away in isolated places. The way our army is acting is really disgusting and its no different than the conduct of the terrorists they are fighting against, the dead bodies thrown by the military have burns, broken ribs, body parts cut out, and multiple bullet wounds.

bao_bihari · February 14, 2012, 9:46am

re: Missing Persons' case

Very true, for balochis no one is raising his voice.

Same is the plight of Masood janjua and others.There was a news that Mullah Ubaid ullah akhund ex-taliban minister was killed/Died in karachi jail.

Still we are hope full that inshallah things will improve some day, this is how spiritual buzurgs are telling.

Let us see how events unfold in next 6 months.

Ali_Syed:

I was reading another report, that the previous case for these detainees was shelved almost a year ago and SC asked the military to launch court martial against them. But even that was not conducted by the army, and still the ISI and MI kept them in confinement. I wonder what our agencies have been doing with their detainees, it seems to be far worse than guantanomo bay! All of these people had urine bags when they arrived in SC, as far as Balochis are concerned (they dont matter) thats why they are killed like animals and their mutilated bodies thrown away in isolated places. The way our army is acting is really disgusting and its no different than the conduct of the terrorists they are fighting against, the dead bodies thrown by the military have burns, broken ribs, body parts cut out, and multiple bullet wounds.

Ali_Syed · February 15, 2012, 11:04am

re: Missing Persons’ case

Civilians surrender their authority meekly Backgrounder
[FONT=Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif]

**ISLAMABAD: The hearing of the ISI-held prisoners’ case by the Supreme Court has highlighted how easily, quickly and frequently the civilian administration surrenders its power to the army and intelligence agencies without the slightest resistance.
**
**On paper, a lot of power is vested with the civilian offices but, in reality, it is exercised by the military and the buck is passed on to the judiciary for being soft on the questions relating to the accountability of armed forces/agencies.
**
This point came under sharp focus when the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry asked the chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP)/Fata where the prisoners were kept before their shifting to the FC-run internment centre in Parachinar.

**Ghulam Dastgir, the CS, who earlier claimed very proudly that the KP and Fata were under his administrative control, had no answer to the question. He instead feigned ignorance when asked who handed over the detainees on January 26, for shifting to the internment centre.
**
**Upon his display of sheepish attitude, the court directed him to submit his reply on the next hearing, as the learned bench was curious to know who kept the prisoners in custody before that time. “You are the administrative head of KP and Fata. The army can’t move in those areas without your consent, however, you don’t know what is happening there,” remarked the Chief Justice.
**
Dastgir is not the first sorry example in this case. Imtiaz Ahmad, the DSP (City), Peshawar, confronted a similar question during Friday’s hearing. The Lady Reading Hospital, where the four ailing detainees were kept, falls under his jurisdiction. Asked whether he knew the detainees were hospitalised there, as he is responsible for that area, he feigned ignorance too.

**The situation is relatively better in the Punjab. Its chief secretary Nasir Khosa’s statement before the court on the abduction of these 11 prisoners from the Adiala Jail on May 29, 2010, was instrumental in forcing the ISI to confess that it conducted the operation, an admission that was avoided before.
**
**Recently, an effort by the agencies to forcibly take away a detained accused, Saleem Masih (a sweeper in army unit) from the Lahore Police custody, was foiled only due to the brave stand taken by the authorities.
**
**A sub-inspector, Javed Iqbal, who resisted this abduction by the agencies, was also taken away, thrashed and then left. This incident resulted in an FIR against 50 army personnel, followed by the handing over to police of the taken-away accused.
**
Even before that, a terrorist accused in the case of attacks on Ahmedi community’s worship places, was abducted by the agencies and his family moved the court. The police had to admit whom he was handed over.

**The civilian administration, right from the political government down to bureaucracy, doesn’t assert its power and looks towards the judiciary in every case, say close observers of the situation.
**
**Already, several institutions have gone under the army’s control. The latest example in this respect is the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) that was under civilian control. However, the army chief used to be the Chairman of its Board of Governor, a position that should have been held either by the president of Pakistan or his nominee. As the legal anomalies started making headlines, the PPP government issued an ordinance that followed legislation through parliament legally surrendering its control to the army.
**
**The National Logistics Cell (NLC) is under the army’s control but technically this civilian department falls under the Planning Division’s jurisdiction. While the army handles it functioning and budgetary affairs, it is the secretary planning who has to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer on behalf of the NLC as its Chief Accounting Officer.
**
**The Frontier Constabulary in KP/Balochistan as well as Rangers in Punjab/Sindh are civilian arms under interior ministry’s control, but they are headed and manned by army officials.
**
The position of DG Military Lands and Cantonments is a civilian post, but a serving major general runs its directorate. The slot of secretary defence is a civilian post, but it mostly goes to retired generals barring a few exceptions.

**The situation is not different in the ISI either. Technically, it falls under direct administrative control of the prime minister, but he doesn’t know about its functions as the DG ISI, a serving general, is answerable to the army chief.
**
All attached/autonomous departments have their powers defined in the government’s rules of business book. How the inter-departmental interaction should take place and their jurisdiction has been mentioned in that book. It mentions that the Intelligence Bureau is under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division but there is no mention of the word ‘ISI’, let alone defining its functions and scope.

Ali_Syed · February 16, 2012, 9:51am

re: Missing Persons’ case

Govt complicit in missing persons’ abduction, persecution

ISLAMABAD: **A report of the Judicial Commission on Missing Persons is yet another indictment of the police and the government. The former helped intelligence agencies in abductions and the later neither struggled for their recovery nor implemented the commission’s recommendations to arrest this trend.

The FC in Balochistan that also faces the allegations of enforced disappearances falls under the direct control of the provincial government. Nevertheless, Chief Minister Aslam Raisani was one of those who submitted a list of 831 missing persons to the commission for their recovery instead of taking action himself.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s government, that was asked to evolve a mechanism between the police and intelligence agencies in addition to conducting legislation granting arrest/detention powers to the army and agencies for a limited period, has also failed to honour its recommendations.

**The recommendation of setting up a Commissionerate to looking after the complaints of disappearance cases has also been disregarded by the government. The government’s unwillingness to resolve this grave issue affecting hundreds of families and inciting anger to a dangerous level is evident from the fact that the report has not yet been made public, let alone honouring recommendations.

From March to November 2010 only, the period that the commission spent conducting fact-finding, it received yet another 203 fresh cases of missing persons meaning thereby 25 cases per month.

Although the agencies’ role in abduction cases is already condemned, the commission has found how the police partnered with the shadowy forces in this crime, right from helping in abductions down to committing intellectual dishonesty through faking FIRs.

Other than the lukewarm cooperation of the agencies and their stereotypical denial to allegations, the report has also noted with concern that the police chief and home secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one of the most affected province, refused to appear once before the commission.

About police, the commission notes that in many cases of enforced disappearances, the officers of DIG/SSP level were “aware of the identity of the person apprehended and kept under custody by the intelligence agencies.” However, they avoided “disclosing it before the courts or the commission.”

Also, the report says, the police officers committed “intellectual dishonesty by registering fake FIRs against the persons who are picked up by the intelligence agencies and handed over to the police after a long time.”

When the courts set such people free on non-production of sufficient evidence, a false propaganda is made that the courts are acquitting the culprits, said the report. The case of one Abdul Khaliq Awan, the report explains, who went missing from Rawalpindi, was shown as having been arrested in a case instituted in Mianwali. “It was such a weak and fabricated case that the relevant court acquitted him at the very first hearing.”

In view of the foregoing, the commission recommended the chief secretaries of all provinces and the chief commissioner Islamabad to issue directives to the police establishment asking them to refrain from illegal practices, yet no action has been taken in this regard.

As for the role of agencies in enforced disappearances is concerned, the commission report said affected families asserted on oath/affidavits the involvement of the agencies, however, the agencies would deny in many cases.

In one case of Ali Asghar Bangalzai, picked up in October 2001 from Quetta, the commission said that JUI-F leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad and others recoded on oath they met ISI Brig Siddique who admitted having held Ali Asghar, promised release but it was never done.

Likewise, in case of Attiqur Rehman, a scientific officer of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission who was picked up in June 2004, the day the wedding was to take place of this sole son of the parents, the investigation officers of the police concluded he was abducted by the agencies. The police also recorded this before the Supreme Court, yet neither any admission by the agencies nor recovery made.

The report said that the agencies’ cooperation in general with the commission remained lukewarm and “not up to our expectations”, though they helped in tracing some persons.

A number of instances have also been made where the army-led agencies first denied the custody of persons, however admitting later on that the persons under question are facing Field General Court Martial. There were as many as 12 individuals whose custody was acknowledged in this respect.

Describing the ugly apprehending tactics, the report said the “uncivilised methods were adopted by the police and agencies’ personnel.” The arrests from the residence of the victims were usually made, the report explain, “in the dead of night by scaling the outer walls of the house, rapping at the door, overpowering the wanted person, tying his hands behind his back with ropes, blindfolding him or putting his shirt over his face and pushing him into the waiting vehicles.”

In eight-month time, the commission dealt with 392 cases of missing persons, 203 fresh cases registered during that period were also included. Through investigations and police/agencies help, 134 persons could be traced; 96 deleted being not cases in the category of enforced disappearance; 24 were not considered due to incomplete particulars.

The list of missing persons it received from Amina Masood Janjua, chief minister Balochistan and Baloch Liberation United Front, contained 2,390 cases that after verification and removing duplication, went down to 1,601.

In its recommendations, the commission said the agencies should be restrained from arbitrary arrests/detention; a mechanism be evolved for information sharing between agencies/police and appropriate legislation for providing specific arrest/detention power to army/agencies for a limited period. It also recommended setting up of a commission headed by a sitting/retired high court judge to deal with missing persons cases.

Certain recommendations on procedural level were also forwarded like the immediate formation of Joint Investigation Team on missing person cases; the establishment of task forces on provincial level and others.

Ali_Syed · February 16, 2012, 9:51am

re: Missing Persons’ case

Govt complicit in missing persons’ abduction, persecution

ISLAMABAD: **A report of the Judicial Commission on Missing Persons is yet another indictment of the police and the government. The former helped intelligence agencies in abductions and the later neither struggled for their recovery nor implemented the commission’s recommendations to arrest this trend.

The FC in Balochistan that also faces the allegations of enforced disappearances falls under the direct control of the provincial government. Nevertheless, Chief Minister Aslam Raisani was one of those who submitted a list of 831 missing persons to the commission for their recovery instead of taking action himself.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s government, that was asked to evolve a mechanism between the police and intelligence agencies in addition to conducting legislation granting arrest/detention powers to the army and agencies for a limited period, has also failed to honour its recommendations.

The recommendation of setting up a Commissionerate to looking after the complaints of disappearance cases has also been disregarded by the government. The government’s unwillingness to resolve this grave issue affecting hundreds of families and inciting anger to a dangerous level is evident from the fact that the report has not yet been made public, let alone honouring recommendations.

From March to November 2010 only, the period that the commission spent conducting fact-finding, it received yet another 203 fresh cases of missing persons meaning thereby 25 cases per month.

Although the agencies’ role in abduction cases is already condemned, the commission has found how the police partnered with the shadowy forces in this crime, right from helping in abductions down to committing intellectual dishonesty through faking FIRs.

**Other than the lukewarm cooperation of the agencies and their stereotypical denial to allegations, the report has also noted with concern that the police chief and home secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one of the most affected province, refused to appear once before the commission.

About police, the commission notes that in many cases of enforced disappearances, the officers of DIG/SSP level were “aware of the identity of the person apprehended and kept under custody by the intelligence agencies.” However, they avoided “disclosing it before the courts or the commission.”

**Also, the report says, the police officers committed “intellectual dishonesty by registering fake FIRs against the persons who are picked up by the intelligence agencies and handed over to the police after a long time.”
**
**When the courts set such people free on non-production of sufficient evidence, a false propaganda is made that the courts are acquitting the culprits, said the report. The case of one Abdul Khaliq Awan, the report explains, who went missing from Rawalpindi, was shown as having been arrested in a case instituted in Mianwali. “It was such a weak and fabricated case that the relevant court acquitted him at the very first hearing.”
**
In view of the foregoing, the commission recommended the chief secretaries of all provinces and the chief commissioner Islamabad to issue directives to the police establishment asking them to refrain from illegal practices, yet no action has been taken in this regard.