The Lahore High Court on Wednesday sought the record of official correspondence by the Government Pakistan with the authorities at Bagram Theatre Internment Camp in Afghanistan for the release of seven Pakistanis detained at the camp.
Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh passed the order on a petition by Sultana Noon, a fellow of Reprieve, a UK-based organisation dedicated to human rights of prisoners, asking the government to take measures to secure the release of innocent Pakistanis detained in Bagram.
These seven Pakistanis are identified as Awwal Khan, Hamidullah Khan, Abdul Haleem Saifullah, Fazal Karim, Amal Khan, Iftikhar Ahmad and Younas Rehmatullah. The counsel for the federation told the court that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had contacted the authorities at the prison camp for the release of Pakistani prisoners and a breakthrough was expected soon.
On hearing this argument, the judge ordered the office of attorney general to produce the record of that correspondence in court to prove that the government was interested in securing the release of detained Pakistanis. The court then put off the hearing until June 9. Earlier, the deputy attorney general claimed that those Pakistanis had gone to Afghanistan to take part in so called ‘Jihad’ there.
The petitioner alleged that they were picked up in Pakistan and then shifted to Afghanistan. The petitioner had requested the court to issue direction for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Pakistan to take diplomatic measures to secure their release. She claimed that they were innocent and falsely charged with having affiliations to banned militant outfits. She alleged that Pakistani authorities had a role in the abduction of these Pakistanis.
