ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the federal government to recover six missing persons, including journalist Mudassar Naro, warning that in case of non-compliance, the incumbent prime minister would have to appear before it on September 9, 2022.
In a nine-page order, Chief Justice Athar Minallah expects that the prime minister will appear before the Court in September and inform about actions taken against those public functionaries, who are involved in the most inhuman and heinous phenomenon of enforced disappearances.
“The PM has to show in practice that enforced disappearance is not an unannounced policy of the state,” said the order. The IHC, on June 17, had directed the government to take affidavits from former chief executives, including former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, regarding missing persons.
The chief justice stated that all the state institutions are responsible for enforced disappearances and the government has a big responsibility.
The order said if the government had any sympathy, the families of the missing persons would have been contacted, adding that the state had failed to fulfil its responsibility. “In the case of the two missing real brothers, all the state agencies, ISI, MI, Counter-Terrorism and Task Force declared that the brothers were forcibly disappeared.”
The chief justice questioned what action did the State take to find out which institution has them … from whom should this court now investigate this matter? “This is a huge national security issue. Should the court declare that there is a state within a state in Pakistan?” Justice Minallah said the main purpose of the Constitution was civilian control and supervision, which the court would ensure. He questioned if enforced disappearance is a violation of the Constitution then who should be prosecuted and for how long? The chief justice said that an order of the Supreme Court in the missing persons’ case had not been implemented since 2013.
“If a prime minister can be sent home for disobeying a court order, why not the others? The prime minister may also be summoned in this case.” The CJ said, “There are rules that if there is a civil servant, action will be taken according to the rules and if any military officer is involved, he should face a court-martial, but who will do all this?” The order noted; “The phenomenon appears to be an undeclared policy of the state as was acknowledged by one of the former chief executives, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, in his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire”.
“Despite giving opportunities, the executive branch of the state has failed in fulfilling its obligations proactively so as to dispel the presumption that the most heinous and despicable phenomenon is an undeclared tacit policy of the state.” “The state has not yet investigated the people who have been picked up from the jurisdiction of this court in the last two years.” The CJ said that the court was giving an opportunity to the government to demonstrate its concrete political commitment on the issue of missing persons through practical steps.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022