US citizen arrested at Peshawar Airport

A US citizen was held at Peshawar Airport after 17 live bullets were recovered from his luggage. According to sources, an American citizen, traveling from Peshawar to Islamabad was arrested at the Peshawar Airport after 17 live bullets were recovered from his luggage. The arrested man, identified as William Arthur Charles, was shifted to Police Station Gharbi for further investigation.

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The horrible plight of seven ISI-held suspects brought to SC

ISLAMABAD: Heavens did not fall on Monday when the ISI-held seven human skeletons were produced before the Supreme Court. They wore the bare minimum dress in the freezing weather; their ghastly looks drew fears and tears of the family members; one was limping and another carried a urine bag.


Detainee Dr Niaz had lost 42kg weight in the agency’s custody. The detainees’ brown skins had turned dark and caught multiple skin diseases, among others. Their horrible condition was reminiscent of the inhumane treatment given by US soldiers to Iraqis at Abu Ghraib Jail.


Even Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-member bench, felt alarmed at this sorry sight: “Look at them. They don’t have warm clothing; no jackets even. I feel ashamed to see a detainee with a urine bag at this young age. Humanity means something.”


“Just imagine, you and we also have children,” Justice Chaudhry tried to shake the conscience of the ISI-MI lawyer Raja Irshad and Chief Secretary Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa/ FATA Ghulam Dastgir.
These seven detainees have been made horrible examples since May 29, 2010, when abducted from Adiyala Jail by the agency’s officials, the day they were to be released after an anti-terrorist court bailed them out on terrorism charges.


Four out of seven detainees have already died in the agency’s custody, the killings that will not go unaccounted as the chief justice did not forget to remind the department concerned.
“We will also question the circumstances surrounding their death,” Justice Chaudhry told the ISI-MI lawyer and the chief secretary. It will also be investigated where they were kept, in what condition and if any trial was conducted under the Army Act, he remarked; it was also mentioned in the directive issued later.


The agency and army were directed to produce the entire record from the day they were detained. When the apex court directed the chief secretary to take the detainees in custody, have them examined from the best doctors to determine the diseases they have caught in detention, the ISI-MI lawyer intervened.


The court will have to take responsibility, the lawyer warned, that they don’t indulge in terrorist activity during this period—a point that earned him the fury of the learned bench. “What are you talking about? They can’t walk on foot, let alone committing subversive acts. We will hold to account each and every body.”


You can’t arrest terrorists, Justice Chaudhry told the agency’s lawyer and only pick up sitting ducks. The court also reprimanded the chief secretary for taking no notice of the arbitrary acts of the agencies under his watch, directing him to produce the record of the internment centre where three detainees were kept, how four prisoners that died, and the medical condition of another four admitted to Lady Reading Hospital.


After the proceeding adjourned till March 1, the detainees were surrounded by the agency’s officials, only to be dispersed through a protest from the families citing the court’s directives of granting a meeting opportunity.
There were harrowing accounts to witnesses outside the courtroom. 


The families and the detainees were caught in disbelief to see each other alive, in bad shape and some family members were no longer alive. Zainul Abideen, father of Basit and Majid, has already expired waiting for his sons’ release.


His widow, Rohaifa, 70, is not living a happy life. Her three sons—Abdul Saboor, Abdul Majid and Abdul Basit—were picked up. The first one has already been killed and his body was dropped in January at an abandoned place for the family to collect for burial. Majid, 24, now wears a urine bag and Basit, 26, can’t walk without limping.


“They (ISI) have destroyed my life. I’m shattered. They have invited the wrath of God,” she said, crying without any let-up. Hanzala, the son of Basit, has met his father for the first time in his life. He was only 40 days old when Basit was picked up.


Upon seeing his son, Basit broke into tears. “I could not have dreamed of meeting my son in my life,” he said thanking to the court for intervention. He was in my thoughts throughout, Basit further explained.
Asked about his crime, Basit counter-questioned what the crime of Chief Justice Chaudhry was, a reference to the latter’s sacking in 2007 by the then military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, on fabricated charges that were proven false by the Supreme Court, resulting in his reinstatement.


“We would beg our captors many a time: either kill us or leave us; don’t give us a slow death through trauma and torture,” he told the widowed mother who was about to faint facing tragedy after tragedy.
Amina Masood Janjua, who has been leading the movement against forced disappearances since her husband was picked up in July 2005, still not found, was also there, along with other affected families. She was carrying Hadia, daughter of Majid.


Like his elder brother, Majid was to get the first sight of his daughter on Monday. He was picked up a week before her birth. As he took Hadia into his arms kissing her madly, his urine bag was in the hands of Abdul Shakoor, his brother, who was kissing the bag at that time. Asked why he is doing this, Shakoor replied: “It belongs to my detainee brother and remains with him all the time, unlike me.”


Basit and Majid came to know about the killing of the third detainee brother, Saboor, only during the appearance before the court, a news that played havoc with them.


Dr Niaz, another detainee in his late 40s, registered a significant weight loss in imprisonment. He was 82 kg when in Adiyala jail and is now 40 kg. When asked about the diet they received in detention, he said they would get one piece of bread with a plate of lentils followed by a cup of tea. 


They were not allowed to stay in the washroom, he disclosed, for more than three minutes. “One has to come out within that time. Staying longer means one will be pulled out, no matter in what condition.”


Another three detainees continued to be in trauma. Every word from them was followed by the advice ‘not to be quoted’ as they feared a backlash. One of them said they would not get any warm clothing or blankets in the freezing cold at the internment centre. Once, a detainee was suffering from serious disease, and he asked for help. A low-ranking official passed the information to his officer who replied: “Let him die first.”

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Prisoners’ sight invoked fear of God in me: CJ

ISLAMABAD: As intelligence agencies produced before the court seven missing prisoners who had been picked up after their release from Adiyala Jail in 2010, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Monday said the condition of the prisoners had invoked the fear of God in him.


The Supreme Court on Monday sought records from the intelligence agencies about the whereabouts prior to January 26 of seven prisoners who went missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala Jail in 2010.
A three-member bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervez was hearing the constitutional petition. In compliance with the court’s earlier order, the intelligence agencies produced seven missing prisoners picked up from Adiyala Jail in 2010. 
Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel for the intelligence agencies, produced the detainees including Mazharul Haq, Shafiqur Rehman, Muhammad Shafiq, Dr Niaz Ahmed, Abdul Majeed, Gulroze and Abdul Basit.
The court directed Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Raja Irshad to procure records to satisfy the court about their detention prior to January 26, 2012 and explain whether they were proceeded against under any provision of the law and if so, with what results. 


The court also directed KP Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir to collect relevant records to satisfy the court about the circumstances under which the detainees were allowed to be admitted to the Internment Centre by the internment authority. 
During the hearing, the chief secretary, on behalf of the internment authority/ KP governor, pointed out that the detainees were in detention with effect from January 26 and had been kept at the FC Fort, Parachinar, a notified Internment Centre.


Irshad submitted that the first three persons had been brought from the Internment Centre, Parachinar, whereas the latter four persons had been brought from the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. He told the court that on February 10, when the case was taken up by the court, arrangements were being made to shift the detainees from Parachinar to Islamabad. 


“But on account of poor visibility due to snowfall, the helicopter was not in a position to operate. When conditions improved, the prisoners were brought to Islamabad along with four other persons who were admitted in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. By that time, however, court proceedings had ended,” Irshad said. 
The court then directed him to give this explanation in writing. The court was informed that four of the detainees had been brought from the hospital, where they were under treatment and reports in this regard had also been placed on record.


Based on the report, the court noted that the detainees were not in good health. Similarly, the three persons brought from the Internment Centre, Parachinar also required examination by medical authorities, since the learned counsel for the petitioners had said all seven persons were kept in illegal detention and not provided proper food and medical care/treatment.


In this regard, the KP chief secretary told the court that the persons would be admitted in hospital and a medical board would be constituted to examine their health and proper medical treatment as well as food provided to them. “They will not be shifted to the Internment Centre, Parachinar as long as the matter is pending before this court.”
The chief secretary further assured the court that meetings between the prisoners and their families would be arranged in accordance with rules and regulations, subject to their security and safety.


At the previous hearing, the court had directed the chief secretary to submit whether an oversight board had been constituted in terms of Article 14 of the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011. 


On Monday, the chief secretary placed on record a notification dated August 12, 2011, according to which a board had been constituted. However, he said as per his knowledge, since the detainees were brought to the Internment Centre on January 26, 2012, therefore, the oversight board had neither examined their cases nor visited them. 
The court directed the chief secretary to submit his reports about the health and general conditions of the seven detainees every four days to the registrar of the court. The case was adjourned for further hearing till March 1.

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NATO supply resumption: Parliament to make final decision, says Kayani

JACOBABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has categorically said for the first time that parliament reserves the right to decide on resumption of Nato supplies.

Speaking to reporters at the Shamsi Airbase on Monday, he said that the final decision on whether Nato supplies will be allowed to pass through Pakistan for forces based in Afghanistan will be made by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

Kayani and Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, chief of air staff, took members of the media to airbase in Jacobabad to formally announce that the Shamsi Airbase is now under the control of the Pakistan Air Force. The US, which used the airbase for drone attacks in Afghanistan and possibly those in Pakistan, was told to vacate the base by Pakistan in the aftermath of the November 26 Salala checkpoint attack.

The army chief said that Pakistan and US are cooperating on defence operations and Pakistani officials are taken into confidence whenever bordering areas are to be attacked.

Asked if the F-16 aircraft that Pakistan recently received from the US can down American drones, Suleman said that the PAF does not want any such situation to arise where this capability will have to tested. “Pakistan is manufacturing its own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV drones) at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra and we will soon be able to prepare UAVs equipped with missile technology.”

He said that 14 used F-16s were provided to Pakistan by the US free of cost while 18 other have been bought.

Finances

The army chief said that 18% of Pakistan’s total budget had been allocated for the armed forces, which included the army, navy and air force. Of this, eight to nine per cent is reserved for the use of Pakistan Army.

Talking about the Coalition Support Fund, which was set up by the US Congress after the September 11, 2001, attacks to reimburse allies for costs in supporting the US-led war on militancy, Kayani said that Pakistan was yet to receive 1.5 billion dollars from the US.

an,� � o X�� � ‘ ate the base by Pakistan in the aftermath of the November 26 Salala checkpoint attack.

The army chief said that Pakistan and US are cooperating on defence operations and Pakistani officials are taken into confidence whenever bordering areas are to be attacked.

Asked if the F-16 aircraft that Pakistan recently received from the US can down American drones, Suleman said that the PAF does not want any such situation to arise where this capability will have to tested. “Pakistan is manufacturing its own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV drones) at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra and we will soon be able to prepare UAVs equipped with missile technology.”

He said that 14 used F-16s were provided to Pakistan by the US free of cost while 18 other have been bought.

Finances

The army chief said that 18% of Pakistan’s total budget had been allocated for the armed forces, which included the army, navy and air force. Of this, eight to nine per cent is reserved for the use of Pakistan Army.

Talking about the Coalition Support Fund, which was set up by the US Congress after the September 11, 2001, attacks to reimburse allies for costs in supporting the US-led war on militancy, Kayani said that Pakistan was yet to receive 1.5 billion dollars from the US.

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