Supreme Court wanted to solve the problem of missing persons & enforced disappearances ‘once and for all’: CJP Qazi Faez Isa

ISLAMABAD, Jan 02 (SABAH): Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court wanted to solve the problem of missing persons and enforced disappearances “once and for all”.

“This country belongs to all of us, even those who may have other points of view,” he said. “This matter will only be resolved when we all work together and take responsibility. Let’s make Pakistan strong from within. If Pakistan is strong from within, no outside forces can touch it,” the CJP added.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa passed these remarks as a three-member bench comprising the CJP, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali heard a set of petitions against missing persons. One of the pleas included an application filed by former senator and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan.

At the outset of the hearing, which was broadcast live, Advocate Shoaib Shaheen appeared on behalf of Aitzaz Ahsan. He urged the apex court to accept the instant petition and declare that enforced disappearances are “violative of, inter alia, Articles 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law, etc), 9 (security of person), 10 (safeguards as to arrest and detention), 14 (inviolability of dignity of man, etc), 19 (freedom of speech, etc) and 25 (equality of citizens) of the Constitution.

He further requested the top court to declare that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances “does not adequately comply with legal and international standards”.

Here, the CJP inquired about the commission of inquiry to which the lawyer read out loud a notification issued by the PPP — notifying the constitution of the same — in 2011. Shaheen argued the commission had failed to adequately function and fulfill its responsibilities. “So far, over 2,200 people are still missing and there is no information about them,” he told the bench.

Justice Isa remarked that the formation of a commission was a good thing and asked if the petitioner wanted the body to be dismissed.

At one point during the hearing, Shaheen raised the matter of the disappearances of several political activists, including Usman Dar, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Azam Swati, Farrukh Habib, Muhammad Azam Khan and others. However, the CJP wondered if these people were willing to come to court.

“We cannot grant you the permission to make the matter political,” he said.

The lawyer mentioned how political activists were “kidnapped” and forced to change their parties. “Are you upset that they left the PTI?” Justice Isa asked. “Should we tell them to come back to the PTI? We don’t have a solution to this.

“There is an English phrase ‘if you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen you should not be in the kitchen’,” the top judge remarked, adding that these were things that could not be used for political purposes.

For his part, Shaheen said the matter of enforced disappearances in Balochistan had also been mentioned in the petition. He further recalled that a bill regarding the same presented by former human rights minister Shireen Mazari had “gone missing”.

“Was she a minister at that time? Did she tender her resignation?” Justice Isa asked. “The problem in Pakistan is that a person on a post does not take responsibility for their job. It is strange that a minister is saying her bill has disappeared.”

Meanwhile, Justice Mazhar remarked that Mazari could have submitted the bill again. Justice Isa inquired about the process of sending a bill to the Senate from the National Assembly, noting that a “serious allegation” had been leveled against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

The CJP further noted that the incident occurred during the PTI government. “It is strange that a federal minister is saying that a bill went missing […] when a mistake is being made inside your own house, admit it,” he said, adding that the “missing persons case has become a missing bill case”.

During the hearing, the case of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan — who had gone missing last year for over four months — was also brought up. However, the CJP asked why the cases of journalists Matiullah Jan and Asad Ali Toor had not been mentioned in the petition.

“Did you talk to these journalists?” he inquired, to which Shaheen said he had taken up “live issues”.

“Once you pick and choose, then we ask you questions,” CJP Isa said, recalling that the case of the aforementioned journalists had come up in court earlier and he was one of the judges who decided on that.

At one point, the lawyer stated that Dr. Deen Muhammad Baloch, a Baloch physical and politician, had been missing for 14 years and his family had filed applications in both courts and with the police. However, there was no trace of him for years.

“Moreover, Baloch students have been subjected to short-term disappearances, being picked up, kept in secret detention facilities and released several days later,” Shaheen highlighted. He also claimed that there were “serious allegations” against the state in every third case of missing persons.

Here, Justice Isa said that when he was the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court, cases pertaining to missing persons were heard every Tuesday and recoveries were made.

“I am surprised that there was a sit-in in Islamabad, but there was no mention of it in the petition,” he noted, to which Shaheen said the petition was filed before the protests took place. “You could have filed another petition, this way facts could have come before us,” Justice Isa said.

The CJP also stated that a list should have been provided of missing persons, name-wise and date-wise. In his response, the lawyer said the inquiry commission had been made a respondent in the case and they would provide the report/details on missing persons.

Justice Isa asked if the members of the inquiry commission had been changed after it was first formed. “From 2011 to 2023, the commission has not been changed,” Shaheen replied, to which the CJP promised to find a solution to the matter.

The top judge said he wanted to look at the number of people missing since 2001. “You should provide year-wise data,” Justice Mazhar remarked.

The hearing was subsequently adjourned till 11:30 AM tomorrow (Wednesday). The CJP said the matter was serious and instructed the lawyer to prepare bullet points on “what can the court do”. He also instructed Shaheen to consult with Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Amina Masood Janjua.

Justice Isa also urged Shaheen against making the matter political, noting that some people were completely ignored in the petition. “This is a public interest matter we have taken notice of. God willing, we will move to resolve it,” he said, adding that everyone had a right to protest.

Further, the CJP said the Attorney General for Pakistan be told to appear before the court tomorrow (Wednesday) and briefed on Tuesday’s proceedings. Chief justice also appreciated Amina Masood Janjua for raising voice for the missing persons indiscriminately from the very fist day.