Opposition asks PM office to give undertaking on enforced disappearances

ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the National Assembly Monday called on the office of the prime minister to submit an undertaking as directed by the Supreme Court on enforced disappearances and form a special parliamentary panel to look into such cases of members of Parliament and their families.

The call was made in a resolution passed during the joint parliamentary party meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Sunni Ittehad Council and allies held here. The forum held deliberations on political, constitutional and legal matters.

The resolution read, “The former prime minister of Pakistan and chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has been subjected to an unjust and illegal imprisonment for the past one year.”

“Calls upon the Office of the Prime Minister to submit an undertaking in the House regarding enforced disappearances as directed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan; recommends that a resolution be placed before the House for the constitution of a special parliamentary committee to exclusively look into the cases of enforced disappearances of parliamentarians and their families.”

The parliamentary meeting contended in the resolution that this incarceration of leadership stems from politically motivated, baseless and fabricated cases aimed at stifling the will of the people expressed through its support for Pakistan’s most popular political party.

“Whereas, the cases filed against Imran Khan and other leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are politically motivated and lack any substantive evidence, reflecting a flagrant abuse of the justice in Pakistan, whereas, the unlawful and arbitrary detention of Imran Khan and PTI leaders constitutes a direct assault on the principles of justice, human rights, and democratic values enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan,” it stated.

The parliamentary party meeting strongly condemned, the illegal imprisonment and fabricated cases against Imran Khan, his spouse Bushra Bibi, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chaudhry Ijaz, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Yasmin Rashid, Aliya Hamza and other political prisoners, particularly women workers of PTI and military court prisoners.

The meeting strongly condemned the ‘enforced disappearances’ of PTI activists and parliamentarians and the use of coercion, intimidation, arbitrary detentions and unlawful means to silence political opposition, which undermines the very foundations of democracy in Pakistan.

The forum expressed complete solidarity with the families of the imprisoned PTI members and assures them of its unwavering support in their quest for justice; strongly demanded the immediate release of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, and the withdrawal of all baseless charges against them; called for an independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unlawful imprisonment of Imran Khan to hold accountable those responsible for this grave miscarriage of justice.