SHC directs interior, defence secretaries to submit reports on missing persons

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the secretaries of federal interior and defence ministries to seek reports on missing persons from internment centres and produce them before the court.

Hearing petitions against enforced disappearance of citizens, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto observed that reports from internment centres as well as police of other provinces had not been filed despite the court orders.

The high court observed that several joint investigation teams (JIT) and provincial task force sessions had been held for recovery of missing persons but to no avail. The SHC observed that a JIT was directed to seek DNA record of the missing persons for matching with the record of unclaimed dead bodies and to collect fresh travel history of such missing persons.

A deputy attorney general told the high court that he had requested the ministry of interior to call reports from internment centres. The SHC observed that the replies of the interior and defence ministries had not been filed yet with regard to detention of missing persons in internment centres.

The SHC warned the secretaries of the ministries of defence and interior to collect reports from the internment centres with regard to the presence of missing persons and produce the reports before the court by the next date of hearing or else appropriate orders shall be passed.

The high court directed the home secretary and relevant officers to repeat the sessions of joint investigation teams and the provincial task force and submit compliance reports on the next date of hearing.

While hearing petitions against disappearance of Yonus Khan and Saqib Afridi, the high court was informed that the two men had not been found in any internment centre of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The bench directed the home department to repeat the JIT and task force sessions and submit a progress report on next date of hearing.

In another missing person case, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petition for the recovery of detained person had been in place since 2015 and now the petitioner was suffering from various ailments, including cancer, and required financial help.

A provincial law officer submitted that he would take up the matter with high-ups of the home department so that some financial assistance may be provided to the petitioner.

The SHC directed the police investigation DIG to entrust the investigation of the case to an officer not below the rank of a DSP to investigate the case and submit a compliance report.