Invalidating Internment Centres: KP govt asked to withdraw appeal against PHC verdict

PESHAWAR: A lawyer from Peshawar has sent a letter to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, and party’s leadership, urging them to withdraw the appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s verdict that declared the establishment of internment centers and the enforcement of the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation unconstitutional.

Advocate Shabbir Hussain Gigyani stated in his letter that the PHC had previously ruled these laws as illegal and unconstitutional, yet the provincial government had appealed the verdict. He urged that this appeal should be withdrawn immediately.

The letter stated that the controversial Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation was introduced in 2011 by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government and was initially enforced in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

Under this law, security forces were granted unchecked powers, allowing them to detain individuals indefinitely without any charges, reason, or complaint. Although the law was abolished after the Fata merger in 2018, PTI reintroduced it in 2019 through an ordinance passed by the then-governor, extending its enforcement across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Advocate Gigyani said that he had filed a petition in the PHC against the establishment of internment centres and the implementation of the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation.In 2019, a two-member bench, led by the late Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, declared these laws void.

The court ordered that internment centres be transferred from security forces to the custody of the inspector general of prisons, KP. However, the then-PTI provincial government challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court.

According to the lawyer, thousands of individuals, particularly Pakhtuns, were currently detained at internment centres due to the pending appeal in the Supreme Court.He urged the PTI government to direct the advocate general to withdraw the appeal, as many detainees had suffered severe mental and physical distress over the years.

The lawyer stated that enforced disappearances lead to the illegal detention of individuals in these centres, violating fundamental human rights.Given that PTI itself has faced similar challenges after the events of May 9, he appealed to the KP government to reconsider its stance and withdraw the appeal.