The Foreign Affairs Ministry on Thursday told the Lahore High Court that the US handed over six detainees to Pakistan on November 16.
Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan is hearing a petition, moved by the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), for the release and return of Pakistanis detained at the Bagram jail.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry’s counsel said their current whereabouts and status was under the authority of the Interior Ministry.
Maryam Haq, counsel for the detainees, brought to the court’s attention that the released Pakistanis had been held by the Pakistani authorities since Saturday. She added that the government’s acknowledgment of release and repatriation of the six detainees had been a cause of relief, but no cause to celebrate. They had been moved from one detention to another, she said.
After recording the statements, the court directed the lawyer to contact the Interior Ministry and provide information to the court on the whereabouts and state of the detainees by November 25.
The petitioner, the JPP, had submitted that Pakistanis had been detained at Bagram jail without any charge or trial since 2003. It said further they were abducted from Pakistan and sent to the infamous US prison in Afghanistan. Initially, the petition was filed for the release of seven Pakistanis; however, later names of another 25 prisoners were included.
It had requested the court to issue directions to the government authorities for the repatriation of the detainees.
