<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court on Wednesday resumed hearing petitions against the chronic malaise of enforced disappearances as a shutterdown strike was observed in several cities of Balochistan against \u201cstate oppression\u201d.<\/p>\n
A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali took up the case.<\/p>\n
Among the petitioners was Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan who highlighted how the unlawful practice of enf\u00adorced disappearances continued unabated, haunting generations upon generations.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, the top judge had emphasised<\/a> that the case held great public importance and that the court intended to resolve the matter for good but insisted that the matter could be settled only if all accepted responsibility.<\/p>\n \u201cThis country belongs to all of us. Even those who may have other viewpoints,\u201d he had observed and called for making Pakistan \u201cstrong from within\u201d.<\/p>\n The court had also requested Ahsan\u2019s counsel, Shoaib Shaheen, to present concise points on potential legal actions regarding enforced disappearances.<\/p>\n As the proceedings commenced today, Shaheen read out loud previous judgments issued on the matter in court. He also mentioned the Faizabad sit-in case. However, the CJP asked how the case was linked to enforced disappearances.<\/p>\n \u201cEnforced disappearances are not directly mentioned [in the order] but it mentions the role of intelligence agencies,\u201d the lawyer said. At that, the top judge remarked that the Faizabad sit-in verdict had upheld the fundamental right to protest.<\/p>\n Justice Isa then asked the lawyer to provide details of the Baloch protesters who faced police action in Islamabad last month.<\/p>\n At one point, while Shaheen read out the court\u2019s judgment on the abduction<\/a> of journalist Matiullah Jan, the CJP asked why the lawyer was mentioning the case now. \u201cDid the government, at that time, accept responsibility?\u201d the judge inquired.<\/p>\n Shaheen replied that the then PTI government had intervened to expedite the recovery of the said journalist. However, the top judge intervened and said: \u201cDon\u2019t take the credit. It was egg on the face and I am surprised that not a single head rolled as a consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen something has been established by video recording, an abduction taking place and presumably state agencies involved in the abduction, look the other way. No consequence. Then why govern? If you had taken a stance then, not a single missing person would have been picked up thereafter,\u201d Justice Isa remarked, noting that Matiullah Jan\u2019s case was \u201cthe only documented case\u201d.<\/p>\n Shaheen argued that anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan was also abducted and footage of the same was available. He added that Riaz had called him to express that he was willing to come to court. The lawyer also referred to other political activists who were \u201cpicked up\u201d but the court inquired why they did not say the same themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease don\u2019t start pleading cases of powerful people who are well-settled and have all the resources in the world and when they want they can come to court. And when they don\u2019t want they don\u2019t come to court. Don\u2019t become their spokesperson,\u201d the CJP lamented, adding that the lawyer was making the case political.<\/p>\n Subsequently, the bench called Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Amina Masood Janjua to the rostrum. She said her husband was \u201cforcefully disappeared\u201d in 2005, during the tenure of Gen Pervez Musharraf, and the then chief justice had taken a suo motu notice of it.<\/p>\n Upon being asked the reason for being picked up, Janjua said there was no reason in her mind. She added that her husband had been declared dead by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and demanded that the SC takes up her case again.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, photos shared by the Balochistan Yakjehti Committee, one of the organisers of the Baloch long march against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Islamabad, showed deserted streets as businesses remained closed in Gaddani, Nohski, Khuzdar, Turbat and other areas.<\/p>\n A day earlier, Baloch protesters \u2014 who have been camping in freezing cold outside the National Press Club in Islamabad \u2014 called for a shutterdown demonstration across the country after their seven-day ultimatum to the government expired.<\/p>\n Their demands included 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 Last night, the BYC said the state had failed to negotiate with the protesters and announced that a press conference would be held at 3pm today.<\/p>\n It also said that a large number of Islamabad police officials had arrived in front of their sit-in camp. \u201cWe are concerned that they\u2019re going to crack down on us and arrest the peaceful protesters,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n Moreover, the protesters said police were not allowing them food, tents, sound systems and other facilities. \u201cIn this cold weather, old mothers and sisters are desperately facing harsh difficulties. Anything can happen to their health,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n More to follow<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Supreme Court on Wednesday resumed hearing petitions against the chronic malaise of enforced disappearances as a shutterdown strike was observed in several cities of Balochistan against \u201cstate oppression\u201d. A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali took up the case. Among […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43282,"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\/2024\/01\/03130015ffd6a2f.jpg?r=130102","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43281","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=43281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Shutterdown strike<\/h2>\n