Two missing persons traced, 10 remain untraced, PHC told

PESHAWAR: Amid protests against enforced disappearances across the country to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday heard 12 cases of missing persons, including two who have been traced.

A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Nasir Mehfooz disposed of the cases of the two missing persons after the officials produced records showing that Aiwaz Khan and Hazrat Khan had been traced out.

Muhammad Saleem Khan, the spokesman for the missing persons’ cases on behalf of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments, informed the bench that replies from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other respondents, including Ministries of Defence and Interior, were still awaited in the cases of the missing persons Ahmad Ali, Shakirullah, Hafiz Muhammad Karim, Izharullah, Abzair Ali, Zahoorul Islam, Shafiq and others.

However, despite the occasional tracing out of some missing persons, the issue has persisted. Presently, about 600 cases are pending before the PHC. An official dealing with missing persons cases told The News that during the last several months, about 300 cases of missing persons were disposed of in the PHC as majority of them had been shifted to various internment centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata where they would face terrorism charges and would be tried by the military courts.

The official added that about 1,600 missing persons’ cases were also pending with the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances in Islamabad.   On the other hand, the family members are now least interested in the missing persons' cases in the PHC due to the lack of progress in the court. Many have stopped appearing at the hearing of the cases.