ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the attorney general and the SC Registrar’s Office to compile a list of all missing persons against whom evidence was available that they were in custody of intelligence agencies.
A three-member bench – comprising Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa – sought the list so that the court could order registration of criminal cases against those responsible. The court noted that nothing new had come up and the issue remained the same except that efforts had been launched to recover the missing persons.
The court observed that all state functionaries, agencies and government officers were subject to the law and the constitution and were supposed to act only and only in accordance with the law and the command of the constitution. Justice Ahmed observed that the federal government seemed helpless and it had no control over the spy agencies.
The court said the November 3, 2007 emergency and the PCO was also linked with the missing persons cases. Justice Khosa said the issue of missing persons had become very sensitive in Balochistan, as the intelligence officials there thought they were securing Pakistan by lifting people but were in fact damaging the country. The court observed that according to the Judicial Commission’s report, 290 people had been traced, of which 78 were recovered from the agencies.
It noted that the JC in its report also recommended the government give compensation to the families of illegal detainees. In pursuance of the court’s order, the Interior and Defence secretaries appeared before the court, but the bench noted that Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq had not come.
“Additional Attorney General (AAG) KK Agha was required in view of his submission which he had made before the court earlier to specify those lines which he wanted to be omitted before making the report of the Inquiry Commission on missing persons public,” the court said.
It was noted that no such lines and paragraphs, in respect of sensitivity, were pointed out by the attorney general yet. The AAG made submission that intelligence agencies were effectively combating terrorism. He said their efforts were commendable. Hearing was adjourned until today (Friday).
