News
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
SC gives govt final deadline to trace missing persons* Court hints it will issue orders on all cases in presence of senior officials of interior, defence and foreign ministries
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the government two weeks to furnish a detailed report regarding the whereabouts of the missing persons, and hinted it would issue orders on all the cases in the presence of senior officials of the interior, defence and foreign ministries.
The court directed the government to submit a detailed report by March 18 on individual and collective petitions filed in the Supreme Court regarding the missing persons.
A three-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, was hearing petitions by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, former Pakistan People’s Party senator Farhatullah Babar and several individual complaints by the relatives of the missing persons. The bench said the presence of top officials of the ministries concerned would enable them to learn about the court’s order.
Justice Javed said the court would deliver the verdict on the case this month, after which the final hearing would be held. “The law will take its course irrespective of who is who,” he remarked, directing the government to concentrate on the issue seriously.
Justice Javed said, “We will go to any extent under constitutional provisions and bring the matter to its logical end. We will not go beyond the month of March.”
The court directed the interior, foreign and defence secretaries to appear in the court on March 18 and present their final arguments regarding the efforts made so far in tracing the missing persons.
The court also directed Sajjad Kamran, director general Afghanistan Desk at the Foreign Ministry, to appear in the court on March 18 and submit a report about the Pakistani nationals languishing in Bagram jail in Afghanistan.
Superintendent of Police Kamran Adil, chief of the joint investigation team, told the court investigation was advancing with full support from the military.
Amina Masood Janjua, one of the petitioners and wife of the missing Masood Janjua, told the court that there were 31 Pakistani nationals in different jails in Afghanistan, adding that the detention of 16 of them in Bagram jail has been confirmed.
According to the government’s findings presented to the court last week, about 1,600 people went missing until 2008. The missing people were allegedly picked up by intelligence agencies for interrogation over alleged links to Baloch separatists and other militant groups in the country. Their relatives claimed they were picked up by the agencies but never brought to the court.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk