The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the FATA law secretary to redress the grievances of Adiala Jail prisoners, presently kept in Internment Center Landikotal and arrange a meeting of their counsel with them. FATA Law Secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan submitted a report about the condition of the detainees, but a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez rejected the report, saying that it meant that he accepted that the detainees were kept in miserable conditions.
The court directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Asadullah Chamkani to immediately shift one of the detainees, Dr Niaz Ahmed to hospital. The chief justice said it was against human dignity the condition in which the prisoners were being detained. He asked the counsel for the ISI and the MI, Raja Muhammad Irshad that they could not keep them for indefinite period in inhuman conditions. Justice Hussain asked Raja Irshad under what law the Adiala Jail prisoners were being kept in Internment Centers. According to the report submitted by Khan, the room given to the detainees was very small. However, the report suggested that the detainees might be allowed to walk in the open air and get sunlight for half an hour daily. About Dr Niaz Ahmed’s health, the report mentioned that the medical official on duty was consulted and he also suggested that Dr Niaz be taken to hospital for proper treatment. The report stated that a room, where detainees were kept, had the facility of washroom and light. It was part of the Quarter Guard of the FC Fort and other detainees were offered the same facilities, therefore the allegation that they were being treated inhumanly was not correct, the report said, adding that the Quarter Guard was part of the fort, which was inside the cantonment in Landikotal and was very secure.
The medical officer had confirmed that all the detainees were being given medicines per their prescriptions and he also gets the medicine from Lady Reading Hospital per his requests. The secretary said due to short period of time, most of the notified Internment Centers do not have the facilities as per the criteria given in the Rules framed for the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2001. Therefore, resources may be allocated so that these internment centers may be provided with the additional facilities. The report stated that the detainees are served with the same diet as is provided to the troops stationed there.
