News
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Missing persons’ issue might take decades to solve: AGPBy Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan Munir A Malik submitted before the Supreme Court on Monday that the issue of missing persons is the legacy of dictatorial regimes and might take decades to be completely solved.
The AGP, on Monday, appeared before a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja in the missing persons’ case. He stated that the missing persons could be divided into four categories: Those about whose forced disappearance there is direct evidence. Those about whose disappearance there is circumstantial evidence. Then there are those about whose disappearance there is no clue or evidence. And lastly those who are missing for other reasons and do not fall in the category of forced disappearances.
Malik said that taking cue from the past it seems that investigation in the matters related to the forced disappearances was very difficult. He said that stories of internment centres’ detainees are true and there is a possibility that these people have been picked up on national security grounds. The AGP said that there would be no progress in this category of missing persons until legislation by parliament. Justice Jawwad asked the top law officer when would the trial of internment centres’ detainees start, while Justice Khilji Arif Hussain questioned how long would these people be detained in internment centres.
The AGP responded that it was difficult to answer these questions, as due to these reasons democracy was derailed in the past. The court retorted that the doctrine of necessity may be the government’s need but not the courts. Malik told the court that according to the Interior Ministry a task force would be constituted for the recovery of the missing persons. He asked the bench to give an opportunity to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) to pursue disappeared persons’ matters.
However, rejecting his recommendation the bench said that the purpose of the commission could not be achieved because the authorities concerned did not implement its orders. During the hearing of the case regarding the recovery of Zaheer Muzaffar, SP Rawalpindi Muhammad Khurram told the bench that police had written a letter to the Defence Ministry to probe the spy agencies’ officials.
Meanwhile, counsel for Military Intelligence (MI), Ibrahim Satti, appeared before the bench over the application of a woman, Abida Malik, whose husband Tasif Ali went missing on November 23, 2011 from the Sadiqabad police precinct in Rawalpindi. The counsel stated that the Supreme Court and the police had no jurisdiction to proceed against any serving army officer under the Army Act, 1952.
On the other hand, in response to the Supreme Court’s June 6 order, Inamul Raheem, counsel for Abida Malik, submitted a rejoinder over the MI’s reply and requested the court to start contempt proceedings against the head of the spy agency on account of a contemptuous reply by the agency. “MI does not have any power to arrest, detain or investigate any civilian on mere information or evidence as held in Saifuddin Saif Case, PLD1977 Lahore 1174. What to talk of a civilian as per Army Act, MI can not detain or investigate even army personnel. Their only duty is to collect, correlate and analyse information relating to enemy and provide security clearance for employment and deployment of own troops, a step ahead is, in fact, a transgression of authority and the same can not permitted at all, no person, institution or any agency of Pakistan can be above the law,” he stated.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk