{"id":42871,"date":"2024-01-02T09:57:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T09:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/enforced-disappearances-lets-solve-this-problem-once-and-for-all-cjp-isa-remarks\/"},"modified":"2024-01-02T09:57:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T09:57:05","slug":"enforced-disappearances-lets-solve-this-problem-once-and-for-all-cjp-isa-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/enforced-disappearances-lets-solve-this-problem-once-and-for-all-cjp-isa-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Enforced disappearances: \u2018Let\u2019s solve this problem once and for all,\u2019 CJP Isa remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court wanted to solve the problem of missing persons and enforced disappearances \u201conce and for all\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis country belongs to all of us, even those who may have other points of view,\u201d he said. \u201cThis matter will only be resolved when we all work together and take responsibility. Let\u2019s make Pakistan strong from within. If Pakistan is strong from within, no outside forces can touch it,\u201d the CJP added.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Isa passed these remarks as a three-member bench comprising the CJP, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard a set of petitions against missing persons. One of the pleas included an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1783611\">application<\/a> filed by former senator and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan.<\/p>\n<p>At the outset of the hearing, which was broadcast live, Advocate Shoaib Shaheen appeared on behalf of Ahsan. He 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>He 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>Here, the CJP inquired about the commission of inquiry to which the lawyer read out loud a notification issued by the PPP \u2014 notifying the constitution of the same \u2014 in 2011. Shaheen argued the commission had failed to adequately function and fulfil its responsibilities. \u201cSo far, over 2,200 people are still missing and there is no information about them,\u201d he told the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Isa remarked that the formation of a commission was a good thing and asked if the petitioner wanted the body to be dismissed.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  w-full  w-full  media--stretch  media--embed  \">\n<p><div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"\ud83d\udd34 \ud835\udc0b\ud835\udc08\ud835\udc15\ud835\udc04: Pakistan&#039;s Supreme Court Hears Enforced Disappearance Case | CJP Isa | Dawn News English\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kQr4QGZmcn4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>At one point during the hearing, Shaheen raised the matter of the disappearances of several political activists, including Usman Dar, Sheikh Rasheed, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Azam Swati and others. However, the CJP wondered if these people were willing to come to court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot grant you the permission to make the matter political,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The lawyer mentioned how political activists were \u201ckidnapped\u201d and forced to change their parties. \u201cAre you upset that they left the PTI?\u201d Justice Isa asked. \u201cShould we tell them to come back to the PTI? We don\u2019t have a solution to this.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is an English phrase \u2018if you can\u2019t stand the heat in the kitchen you should not be in the kitchen\u2019,\u201d the top judge remarked, adding that these were things that could not be used for political purposes.<\/p>\n<p>For his part, Shaheen said the matter of enforced disappearances in Balochistan had also been mentioned in the petition. He further recalled that a bill regarding the same presented by former human rights minister Shireen Mazari had \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1667443\">gone missing<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas she a minister at that time? Did she tender her resignation?\u201d Justice Isa asked. \u201cThe problem in Pakistan is that a person on a post does not take responsibility for their job. It is strange that a minister is saying her bill has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Justice Mazhar remarked that Mazari could have submitted the bill again. Justice Isa inquired about the process of sending a bill to the Senate from the National Assembly, noting that a \u201cserious allegation\u201d had been levelled against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.<\/p>\n<p>The CJP further noted that the incident occurred during the PTI government. \u201cIt is strange that a federal minister is saying that a bill went missing [\u2026] when a mistake is being made inside your own house, admit it,\u201d he said, adding that the \u201cmissing persons case has become a missing bill case\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, the case of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1777723\">anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan<\/a> \u2014 who had gone missing last year for over four months \u2014 was also brought up. However, the CJP asked why the cases of journalists Matiullah Jan and Asad Ali Toor had not been mentioned in the petition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you talk to these journalists?\u201d he inquired, to which Shaheen said he had taken up \u201clive issues\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce you pick and choose, then we ask you questions,\u201d CJP Isa said, recalling that the case of the aforementioned journalists had come up in court earlier and he was one of the judges who decided on that.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, the lawyer stated that Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, a Baloch physical and politician, had been missing for 14 years and his family had filed applications in both courts and with the police. However, there was no trace of him for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoreover, Baloch students have been subjected to short-term disappearances, being picked up, kept in secret detention facilities and released several days later,\u201d Shaheen highlighted. He also claimed that there were \u201cserious allegations\u201d against the state in every third case of missing persons.<\/p>\n<p>Here, Justice Isa said that when he was the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court, cases pertaining to missing persons were heard every Tuesday and recoveries were made.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am surprised that there was a sit-in in Islamabad, but there was no mention of it in the petition,\u201d he noted, to which Shaheen said the petition was filed before the protests took place. \u201cYou could have filed another petition, this way facts could have come before us,\u201d Justice Isa said.<\/p>\n<p>The CJP also stated that a list should have been provided of missing persons, name-wise and date-wise. In his response, the lawyer said the inquiry commission had been made a respondent in the case and they would provide the report\/details on missing persons.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Isa asked if the members of the inquiry commission had been changed after it was first formed. \u201cFrom 2011 to 2023, the commission has not been changed,\u201d Shaheen replied, to which the CJP promised to find a solution to the matter.<\/p>\n<p>The top judge said he wanted to look at the number of people missing since 2001. \u201cYou should provide year-wise data,\u201d Justice Mazhar remarked.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing was subsequently adjourned till 11:30am tomorrow (Jan 3). The CJP said the matter was serious and instructed the lawyer to prepare bullet points on \u201cwhat can the court do\u201d. He also instructed Shaheen to consult with Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Amina Masood Janjua.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Isa also urged Shaheen against making the matter political, noting that some people were completely ignored in the petition. \u201cThis is a public interest matter we have taken notice of. God willing, we will move to resolve it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Further, the CJP said the Attorney General for Pakistan be told to appear before the court tomorrow and briefed on today\u2019s proceedings.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"baloch-protesters-call-for-shutterdown-protest-tomorrow\" href=\"#baloch-protesters-call-for-shutterdown-protest-tomorrow\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Baloch protesters call for shutterdown protest tomorrow<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, Baloch protesters have called for a shutterdown demonstration across the country tomorrow (January 3), saying that state officials were trying to label the Baloch long march and sit-in in Islamabad as \u201cpropaganda\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe state has consistently shown a half-hearted and uncommitted concern regarding our demands from the beginning,\u201d the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, organiser of the protest demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan, said in a social media post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHence, on Jan 3, we are calling for a shutterdown demonstration across Pakistan. We urge people from all walks of life to advocate and respect our call for the shutterdown strike in the name of humanity and the Baloch nation, aiming to preserve our identity,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n<p>Baloch protesters, who have been camping outside the National Press Club for over a week now, had on December 28 given the government a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1801371\">seven-day ultimatum<\/a> to fulfil their demands which include the release of all protesters detained during police action, detailed investigation into rights violations in Balochistan, elimination of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, release of all victims of enforced disappearances, restrictions on the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and elimination of \u201cstate-sponsored death squads\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In a video message shared on social media today, Dr Mahrang Baloch, one of the protest organisers, said the protest march had begun after a Baloch youth was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1796530\">allegedly killed<\/a> in custody by the CTD.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur movement is against the decade-long enforced disappearances and murders of innocent citizens in Balochistan,\u201d she said, adding that all the residents of the province supported the protest.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Mahrang recalled that the Islamabad police had used force to \u201csabotage\u201d the long march and numerous \u201cfake\u201d first information reports had been registered against protesters across the country. \u201cWe have been repeatedly told by the administration they are not ready to work on their policy of Baloch genocide,\u201d she claimed.<\/p>\n<p>She said that over 20 Baloch youths have been forcibly disappeared \u201conce again\u201d. Dr Mahrang demanded that all the Baloch people languishing in illegal custody should be presented before courts and given a right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>Further, she urged the nation to support the Baloch people and their call for the shutter-down strike tomorrow.<\/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\/1802535\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The development comes after caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar took exception to the support lent to protesters and said those supporting the demonstration could go join the Baloch militants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdvocates of terrorists in Balochistan should go and join them if they are convinced on the veracity of their issue and fight the state along with them, so that we know where they stand and how to deal with them,\u201d he had said during a press conference in Lahore.<\/p>\n<p>Kakar had also insisted that those protesting in Islamabad were the \u201crelatives of those fighting against the state\u201d in Balochistan. \u201cWe still respect their right to protest because their dear and near ones disappeared. But they should also know that they [militants] were fighting against the state, with the help of RAW funding and aided by India. It is an armed rebellion, with foreign help,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the PM in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Dr Mahrang said the stance of the protesters had been clear from the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the inception of our movement, our demands have been clear: an end to all forms of human rights violations in Balochistan and the cessation of the Baloch genocide. We\u2019ve presented these demands to the state through the media,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She noted that the protesters sought to seek negotiations with the state regarding these demands. \u201cSadly, the world witnesses the continuous irresponsibility and stubbornness of the state, where peaceful protestors endure torture and arrests, and media trials are conducted against this peaceful movement,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan declared victims of enforced disappearances as terrorists, insulting victim families and addressing peaceful political activists in a threatening tone. However, we assert to this state and government that we will persist in informing the world about your oppression and barbarism,\u201d Dr Mahrang vowed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court wanted to solve the problem of missing persons and enforced disappearances \u201conce and for all\u201d. \u201cThis country belongs to all of us, even those who may have other points of view,\u201d he said. \u201cThis matter will only be resolved when 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