DAWN.COM | Pakistan | SC directs govt to trace missing persons
ISLAMABAD: A protest outside the Supreme Court against inaction on the issue of missing persons drew the ire of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who ordered the interior secretary to submit a report about the missing husband of human rights activist Amna Janjua.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice and comprising Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmed and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi directed the interior secretary to submit the report to the registrar when the court took up the plea of Amna Janjua, chairperson of the Defence of Human Rights group, seeking recovery of her husband Masood Janjua.
The kith and kin of missing persons set up a protest outside the Supreme Court but law-enforcement officers did not take pains to hear their grievances even though they crossed the same road daily, the chief justice observed.
When no-one is allowed to enter the red zone, how Ms Janjua and others had camped in front of the Supreme Court, the chief justice said, adding that it meant that some authorities had facilitated them to encamp there to raise their demand.
However, Ms Janjua was not allowed to enter the courtroom. Islamabad Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam, Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman and Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer Aslam Tareen appeared before the bench and reported that cases of 416 missing persons had been pending before the apex court since September 2006.
Their report said the interior ministry was making hectic efforts to trace the missing persons and 241 people had been traced while 175 were still untraced.
It said that complete particulars of missing persons were being collected with the help of Nadra and the lists had been sent to the provinces and law-enforcement agencies to enhance efforts to locate them. A special task force had also been constituted, the report added.
ISLAMABAD: A protest outside the Supreme Court against inaction on the issue of missing persons drew the ire of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who ordered the interior secretary to submit a report about the missing husband of human rights activist Amna Janjua.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice and comprising Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmed and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi directed the interior secretary to submit the report to the registrar when the court took up the plea of Amna Janjua, chairperson of the Defence of Human Rights group, seeking recovery of her husband Masood Janjua.
The kith and kin of missing persons set up a protest outside the Supreme Court but law-enforcement officers did not take pains to hear their grievances even though they crossed the same road daily, the chief justice observed.
When no-one is allowed to enter the red zone, how Ms Janjua and others had camped in front of the Supreme Court, the chief justice said, adding that it meant that some authorities had facilitated them to encamp there to raise their demand.
However, Ms Janjua was not allowed to enter the courtroom. Islamabad Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam, Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman and Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer Aslam Tareen appeared before the bench and reported that cases of 416 missing persons had been pending before the apex court since September 2006.
Their report said the interior ministry was making hectic efforts to trace the missing persons and 241 people had been traced while 175 were still untraced.
It said that complete particulars of missing persons were being collected with the help of Nadra and the lists had been sent to the provinces and law-enforcement agencies to enhance efforts to locate them. A special task force had also been constituted, the report added.
