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.”
2:39 PM
Syed Muneer
