The Supreme Court was moved on Friday to seek the release of 11 prisoners allegedly picked up by intelligence agencies outside Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, just after their release on the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The petition was filed by Ms Rohaifa, widow of Syed Zainul Abideen, under Article 184 (3) of the constitution through advocate Tariq Asad, making the federation respondent through the defence secretary, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), director general of the Military Intelligence, Judge Advocate General (JAG) Department, the General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi and the commanding officer.
The petitioner stated that the 11 prisoners were acquitted by the Anti-Terrorism Court, Rawalpindi on April 8, 2010. However, she added that the same day before their release, their detention orders under subsection 1 of Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance were issued by the district coordination officer (DCO), Rawalpindi, and their detention was extended for another 90 days by the secretary of the Punjab Home Department.
She argued that the LHC set aside the detention orders and ordered their release. The petitioner said the 11 prisoners were abducted by the intelligence agencies soon after they were released from the Adiala Jail. She said the 11 prisoners included her three sons namely Abdusaboor, Abdul Basit and Abdul Majid. The other prisoners are: Dr Niaz Ahmed, Mazharul Haq, Shafiqur Rehman, Muhammad Aamir, Shafique Ahmed, Said Arab, Gul Roze and Tehseenullah.
The petitioner claimed that her three sons, along with other persons, were being illegally held by the respondents. She said that three prisoners out of 11 had died during confinement. She said that Muhammad Aamir died on August 15, 2011, Tesheenullah on December 17, 2011 and Said Arab on December 18, 2011, and that their dead bodies had been handed over to their relatives in the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.
The petitioner requested the court to direct the respondents to file a complete report about the deaths of Muhammad Aamir, Tehseenullah and Said Arab, and the proceedings of trial so far conducted against the deceased and other surviving detainees.
