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‘Renditions’ in Pakistan |
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More than 600 persons have gone “missing” in Pakistan during the first half of this year. Torture is immoral and illegal, and the refusal to allow cruel interrogation techniques is one measure of a civilised society. But this ironclad moral argument does not necessarily apply to the current government’s intelligence services, which are closely following in the footsteps of their US counterparts. The rate of disappearances, illegal arrests, detentions and torture by the authorities in recent years is alarming to say the least. Amidst increasing media and civil society protests, the authorities have released two young men from Sindh, Imran Shamshir Khan and Bilal Ahmad while a third one, Omar Abdullah Sindhi, has been sent to Camp Jail Lahore on charges of recovery of rockets from him. They were all tortured during their illegal detention. Imran Shamshir was arrested from Bajaur on August 14, 2004, and was kept in secret cells in Lahore and Peshawar. Imran and Bilal have also disclosed that during detention, they have seen other missing persons, whose families have repeatedly been told that they are not in the custody of the intelligence agencies. The Supreme Court is set to take up the matter on November 8 to hear the petition filed by the aggrieved families of ‘missing’ persons and there is a chance that the agencies would release more of such ‘missing’ persons before the hearing.More than 600 persons have gone missing in Pakistan during the first half of this year. Even though the Supreme Court has intervened in the matter, many of them have not been produced in violation of court orders. Some of those who were lucky enough to return home spoke of how they were picked up, often on flimsy evidence, kept and interrogated under torture in safe houses in Islamabad and later handed over to US agents. Most came home without being charged and in bewilderment at their treatment by their own government. It seems as if Pakistan supports and follows the US policy of extraordinary renditio, Extraordinary rendition of the American variety is an extra-judicial procedure that involves the sending of untried criminal suspects, suspected terrorists or alleged supporters of groups that the US government considers terrorist organisations, to countries other than the US for imprisonment and interrogation. It is time that Pakistan stops following in the footsteps of its Big Brother and starts thinking in its own national interest. Such disappearances and killings would only fuel anti-government sentiments. Forced/illegal disappearances are linked to both Pakistan’s internal conflicts like that in Balochistan and its frontline status in the war against terror. Journalists, activists, nationalists and alleged al Qaeda militants have been picked up by unidentified men from their houses, streets, etc., and since then only a handful have had the good fortune of returning. Mukesh Rupeta, a reporter and Sanjay Kumar, a cameraman for a private TV channel, were arrested by the military in March 2006 and were finally produced in a court after three months. Hayatullah Khan, a journalist who ‘disappeared’ in Waziristan in December 2005 was found dead in June 2006. His body had marks of torture. Munir Mengal, the managing director of Baloch Voice, a Balochi-language television station based in Bahrain has been missing since April 7, 2005 after allegedly being taken by military intelligence officers at the airport in Karachi. Mr. Mengal’s whereabouts remain unknown till today. The families of the missing persons have resorted to all types of protest, including hunger strikes, demanding that they be freed but to no avail. More than 600 persons have gone missing in Pakistan during the first half of this year. Even though the Supreme Court has intervened in the matter, many of them have not been produced in violation of court orders. Some of those who were lucky enough to return home spoke of how they were picked up, often on flimsy evidence, kept and interrogated under torture in ’safe houses’ in Islamabad and later handed over to US agents. Most came home without being charged and in bewilderment at their treatment by their own government. It seems as if Pakistan supports and follows the US policy of ‘extraordinary rendition’. Extraordinary rendition of the American variety is an extra-judicial procedure that involves the sending of untried criminal suspects, suspected terrorists or alleged supporters of groups that the US government considers terrorist organisations, to countries other than the US for imprisonment and interrogation. It is time that Pakistan stops following in the footsteps of its Big Brother and starts thinking in its own national interest. Such disappearances and killings would only fuel anti-government sentiments.
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