LHC terms Col Rahim’s detention illegal

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday ordered immediate release of Col (R) Inamur-Rahim from an illegal custody of the Ministry of Defence.

Presiding over the proceedings on Thursday, the court termed the lawyer’s detention illegal and directed authorities to set Inamur Rahim free immediately. The Ministry of Defence completely failed to justify the custody and arrest of Col (R) Inam, the court declared.

On January 2, the Ministry of Defence informed the Lahore High Court that Col (R) Inamur Rahim was in the custody of law enforcement agencies and is currently being interrogated. The revelation came during the hearing of a case related to Rahim's abduction from his home in Rawalpindi on the night of December 17.

On this, the court expressed its anger over the matter and summoned the additional attorney general for further queries related to the case. Col (R) Rahim, who has fought court cases on behalf of the families of several missing persons, had been picked from his home in Rawalpindi by unidentified men on December 17, 2019.

Rahim, according to his son Husnain Inam, was abducted from his home in the Askari 14 housing scheme of the garrison city. Husnain said that around eight to ten persons had "picked up" his father from the house.

"They gained entry into our house by claiming to be my friends. My mother had opened the door [thinking they were my friends]," he had stated. "These people were armed, they forcibly woke my father up before taking him along," he had said. According to the son, his father was whisked away in a car with black mirrors, while another vehicle with black mirrors followed behind. "The incident occurred around midnight," he had said.

In a monthly progress report last year, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) had reported that 6,051 cases had been registered before the CIED since March 2011.

Out of these, 3,793 cases had been “disposed of”, while 2,258 cases were still pending. Significantly, out of the 3,793 cases “disposed of” by the CIED, 743 “missing people” were traced in different internment centers.

Some 468 people were located in prisons; and 189 people were found to have passed away. The Commission provided no information on steps taken to establish the circumstances behind these detentions or deaths.