The ministry of foreign affairs here Friday informed Lahore High Court that the government had no role in alleged extradition of seven Pakistani citizens to any foreign country from Afghanistan jail. This was stated in a written reply of the ministry to a petition challenging alleged abduction and extradition of Pakistani citizens detained in an Afghan jail.
The petition was pending adjudication in the court for last year and Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh heard it on Friday. The ministry in its reply further said that the government was trying to arrange meetings of such detained Pakistanis with their families through Red Cross. The law officer representing federal government said the alleged detainees had gone to Afghanistan for Jihad. The officer, however, argued that the petitioner had no locus standi to agitate the matter and requested to dismiss the petition.
Meanwhile, the petitioner by filing a civil miscellaneous application asked the court to summon ISI director general as the agency had played its role in abduction and extradition of Pakistani citizens from Afghanistan. The court raised a legal point whether the ISI chief could be made party before the court and asked the petitioner's counsel to come up with arguments on next hearing and adjourned the proceedings till last week of May.
The petition was filed by Ms Sultana Noon, a fellow of "Reprieve" in Pakistan, a UK based organisation dedicated to ensuring enforcement of human rights of prisoners. Pleading the case of seven Pakistani citizens, detained at "Bagram Theatre Internment Camp" in Afghanistan, petitioner alleged that they were abducted from the prison and handed over to foreign countries without any reason. These seven included Awwal Khan, Hamidullah Khan, Abdul Haleem Saifullah, Fazal Karim, Amal Khan, Iftikhar Ahmad and Younas Rehmatullah.
Ms Noon contended that ordinary citizens of Pakistan who, for one reason or another, were suspected of being involved in any purported wrongdoing deserved to be benefited from the presumption of innocence and due process rather then be handed over to foreign powers for rendition torture abroad. The petitioner, therefore, prayed to the court to direct the respondents to make arrangements for their release. She further prayed to the court to order registration of criminal cases against those involved in the abduction of Pakistani citizens and their handing over to foreign countries.