{"id":17909,"date":"2023-10-25T18:35:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T18:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/lawyer-aitzaz-ahsan-moves-sc-against-enforced-disappearances-of-citizens\/"},"modified":"2023-10-25T18:35:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T18:35:07","slug":"lawyer-aitzaz-ahsan-moves-sc-against-enforced-disappearances-of-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/lawyer-aitzaz-ahsan-moves-sc-against-enforced-disappearances-of-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan moves SC against \u2018enforced disappearances\u2019 of citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Former senator and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court to \u201cchallenge the illegal and unlawful practice of enforced disappearances\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The move comes amid the PTI\u2019s <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jhagra\/status\/1709147808148627583\">complaints<\/a> as it faces a months-long crackdown following the May 9 riots that occurred due to party chairman Imran Khan\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1779781\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Last month, anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1777723\">back home<\/a> after remaining <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1753583\">missing<\/a> for four months.<\/p>\n<p>This month, four PTI-affiliated politicians who were said to have been \u201cmissing\u201d \u2014 namely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1781413\">Farrukh Habib<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1779295\">Usman Dar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1780225\">Sadaqat Ali Abbasi<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1782508\">Sheikh Rashid<\/a>, resurfaced and condemned the party\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Ahsan filed the petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution (original jurisdiction of Supreme Court) through senior advocate Sardar Latif Khosa.<\/p>\n<p>The plea has made the state, the governments and inspector generals of police (IGP) of all four provinces, the Islamabad IGP, and the \u2018Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances\u2019 (CIED) respondents in the case.<\/p>\n<p>It urged the apex court to accept the instant petition and declare that enforced disappearances are \u201cviolative of, inter alia, Articles 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law, etc), 9 (security of person), 10 (safeguards as to arrest and detention), 14 (inviolability of dignity of man, etc), 19 (freedom of speech, etc) and 25 (equality of citizens) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The petition further requested the top court to declare that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances \u201cdoes not adequately comply with legal and international standards\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Ahsan sought the formation of an \u201ceffective and purposeful commission\u201d led by a Supreme Court justice with two years ahead of them in office and comprising 11 others \u2014 including presidents of the Pakistan Bar Council and the high courts\u2019 bar associations, chairpersons of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and National Commission on Status of Women.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed commission would also include the director general (DG) of the Inter-Services Intelligence, the additional DG of the Intelligence Bureau and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president.<\/p>\n<p>The plea urged the apex court to \u201cdirect the concerned authority to ensure legal and international standards in formation of the commission, so that the amount expended out of the national exchequer for its expenses should be accounted for\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It further requested for directives to be issued to the federal government and the provincial governments to submit a list of all disappeared persons in state custody to the court.<\/p>\n<p>The petition also sought directives to the same parties to \u201cprepare and submit a report probing and identifying the law enforcement and other officers responsible for the practice of enforced disappearances\u201d in the Supreme Court within four weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, it asked the court to \u201cissue a writ of habeas corpus for the release of all disappeared persons in the custody of the State, and, order that all such disappeared persons be produced within four weeks\u201d before a high court of competent jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p>In the plea, Ahsan contended that \u201crecently, there has been a surge of enforced disappearances, and \u2018re-appearances\u2019 of citizens\u201d. \u201cSuch victims include journalists, politicians, bureaucrats and other dissenting voices,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1781413\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>It went on to mention the cases of Riaz as well as Rashid and the three PTI leaders who \u201cwent missing for weeks, only to \u2018re-appear\u2019 on media via talk shows\/press conferences delivering from a predictable script\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The PPP leader asserted, \u201cThe same illegal and unlawful practice of enforced disappearances and \u2018re-appearances\u2019 also befell bureaucrats such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1760218\">Azam Khan<\/a> and Muhammad Ahmad Bhatti.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat surely as the guardian of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, this honourable court will not look the other way, while the state acts with total impunity,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n<p>The petition highlighted \u201csimilar facts\u201d that were common among the cases: \u201ceach one disappears, police deny arrest, no one in the family is aware of his whereabouts and all are fervently anxious, [and] none is produced before a magistrate, each one upon \u2018re-appearance\u2019 cannot recall where he has been, and each one switches political loyalties and denounces previous political party and its chairman\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach passing day, citizens \u2018disappear\u2019 only to \u2018re-appear\u2019 after they publicly express support for the state narrative. Countless citizens still remain missing. The state has a duty to protect its citizens \u2014 it must not subjugate its own people,\u201d the plea asserted.<\/p>\n<p>In its ground, the petition argued that the \u201ccrime against humanity of<br \/>\nenforced disappearances is clearly violative of the Constitution\u201d. \u201cTherefore, this Court can also apply the principles enshrined in the 2006 Convention in order to achieve the ends of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It further contended that such disappearances violate one\u2019s fundamental rights as well as Pakistan\u2019s international law obligations, citing it was a party to the \u2018International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights\u2019 and the \u2018Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment\u2019.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"missing-politicians\" href=\"#missing-politicians\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Missing politicians<\/h2>\n<p>Detailing Rashid\u2019s case, the petition purportedly quoted a part of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1782508\">interview<\/a>: \u201cHe nevertheless in a state of helplessness revealed that \u201c<em>maeray khilaf toh koi shae nahe nikli sawai Twitter keh \u2014 ae parho je .. ae parho je .. ae parho je<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly, he was interrogated while being [in] held-in isolation as opposed to <em>self-imposed<\/em> isolation,\u201d the plea contended.<\/p>\n<p>In the cases of Dar and Abbasi, Ahsan cited the proceedings of high courts on pleas seeking their recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Retelling Habib\u2019s case, the plea highlighted that he held a press conference after his reappearance despite a recent ban on providing airtime to proclaimed offenders, as he had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1780583#:~:text=been%20declared%20a-,proclaimed%20offender,-in%20the%20Jinnah\">declared<\/a> so in the Jinnah House attack case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuite clearly, such a ban does not apply upon switching of political loyalties by such individuals,\u201d the plea stated.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"missing-bureaucrats-anchorperson\" href=\"#missing-bureaucrats-anchorperson\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Missing bureaucrats, anchorperson<\/h2>\n<p>Explaining their cases, the petition said Azam \u201cre-appeared from \u2018somewhere\u2019 unknown (unbeknown even to his anxious and agonized family) to become a state approver against his former boss and ex-prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In July, Azam had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1766115\">recorded a statement<\/a> in the Al-Qadir Trust case alleging that former premier Imran Khan retained the original diplomatic cable at the heart of the cipher case.<\/p>\n<p>About Bhatti, a former Punjab Assembly secretary and a close aide to Pervez Elahi, the plea stated he \u201cre-appeared from \u2018somewhere\u2019 unknown to be charged alongside\u201d the former Punjab chief minister.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Riaz, the former senator raised the questions: \u201cWhere was Imran Riaz Khan recovered from?\u201d and \u201cHave those<br \/>\nresponsible for his disappearance been identified and held accountable?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"baloch-missing-persons\" href=\"#baloch-missing-persons\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Baloch missing persons<\/h2>\n<p>The petition also talked about the matter of Baloch missing persons, which has \u201chistorically and disproportionately beleaguered the Baloch people\u201d. Mentioning the case of Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, it stated that \u201crecently, Baloch students have been subjected to short-term disappearances\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar\u2019s statement about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1781052\">50 missing persons<\/a> in Balochistan, the plea argued the claim was not \u201cbacked up by the official figures\u201d. Even if the figure was accurate, \u201cwhere are these people?\u201d, it asked.<\/p>\n<p>The petition went on to cite several reports, including those by the HRCP, CIED and the United Nation\u2019s agencies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former senator and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court to \u201cchallenge the illegal and unlawful practice of enforced disappearances\u201d. The move comes amid the PTI\u2019s complaints as it faces a months-long crackdown following the May 9 riots that occurred due to party chairman Imran Khan\u2019s arrest. Last [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/2514301914a732b.jpg?r=143021","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}