ISLAMABAD  -   Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has stressed on the prosecution of the personnel of intelligence agencies to resolve the issue of enforced disappearances.

The judge also observed that the enforced disappearance take place because the state institutions do not believe in the rule of law and emphasized on prosecution of intelligence agencies’ officials allegedly involved in it.

Justice Kayani made the observation during the hearing of a case regarding the implementation of recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and a petition filed by lawyer Imaan Mazari seeking recovery of missing Baloch students.

During the hearing, the bench remarked that whether it is difficult for the police if it writes a supplementary statement in the FIR and makes the intelligence officers accused? He added that the time will come when intelligence officers will be prosecuted. Justice Kayani said that the prime minister, secretaries of interior and defense must give an affidavit that enforced disappearance will not happen in future. He added that the police force is the front face of the state not the other institutions. 

He further said that the trials of terrorists are held in anti-terrorism courts and if it is forbidden to hold the trial of Baloch extremists in the same courts? He also asked the federal government to restore the anti-terrorism courts in Balochistan to hold trials of the accused and added that the petitioners seeking recovery of missing Baloch students did not want to protect terrorists.

Justice Kayani said that the concept of missing persons is only found in Pakistan and not in other countries. He also expressed his concerns about the well-being of recovered persons. He said, “No missing Baloch person has ever come before me after recovery…I do not know if the recovered people are fine or not.”

The IHC judge also inquired from petitioner Mazari whether the protest sit-in staged by protesters against enforced disappearances is still underway. She informed the court that the Baloch protesters sit-in was still going on and they were being harassed again despite court’s directives.

Attorney General Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan informed the court that the Commission shared a list of 68 Baloch missing students and now, there are only 15 missing persons left. He added that they need two more months to recover the remaining missing persons.

The bench asked from the AGP whether the missing persons you have traced, are released or have reached home and from where you have traced them? Awan answered that the Interior Ministry and agencies have traced them.

Justice Kayani said that enforced disappearances is a reality and it the responsibility of Prime Minister to ensure his subordinate agencies work within the ambit of law. Later, the IHC bench deferred the hearing of the case till February 13.