The Supreme Court, Pakistan Army and Balochistan government unite to shield the military perpetrators in cases of disappearances
The case of the disappearance of Mr. Ali Asghar Bangulzai and the manner in which the courts and the military are dealing with the case shows a remarkable lack of sensitivity and exposes the invisible adherence of the courts to the dictates of the military.
Mr. Bangulzai who has been missing for the last 13 years was the first Baloch political activist to be forcibly disappeared during the Musharraf régime. The family members of the victim have been struggling since then for his safe recovery. They have knocked on the doors of all the state institutions, to no avail.
After the arrest of Mr. Bangulzai in 2001, three cases were heard in the Balochistan High court. The court directed the Police to investigate and file a First Information Report (FIR) against the military and intelligence agencies. The police, under pressure from the military recorded statements from the eye witnesses but did not file an FIR against the state run spy agencies.
At the end of 2006 the Balochistan High Court in the third hearing of the case made its decision for Mr. Bangulzai’s safe recovery and his production in court. However, as is usual, no action was taken by the police and local administration. Mr. Bangulzai’s family members then filed a Constitutional Petition in Supreme Court of Pakistan in February 2007. In 2010, on the orders of the Supreme Court the FIR on the disappearance of Mr. Bangulzai by the military and its agencies was filed and registered. It was the first ever case in Balochistan that an FIR was filed against the high officials of the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies. The names of General Qadir, then governor of the military government and now incumbent Federal Minister; Colonel Bangash, and Brigadier Siddique were named in the FIR.
After the FIR was filed the police was compelled to start an investigation into Mr. Bangulzai’s case. A former member of the National Assembly (MNA) Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Mohammad Iqbal (who was abducted along with Ali Asghar) and some 12 other persons recorded their statements before the Judicial Commission and Joint Investigation Team.
In March, 2012, the police brought the investigation report to the attention of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. On the basis of the report the Supreme Court held Brigadier Siddique to be the main accused in the case of Mr. Bangulzai’s disappearance and directed the Inspector General of Police (IG) to arrest him. On the direction of the IG, police officers under the supervision of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) went to Khyber Paktoon Khwa (KPK) province to arrest the Brigadier.
The team submitted its report in the Supreme Court in which they reported, “We went to the residence of Brigadier Siddique, a person came out from his home and told that the Brigadier’s wife is not well and he has taken her to hospital. The team then visited hospital but could not find either the Brigadier or his wife”.
The police assured the Supreme Court that they will soon have Brigadier Siddique in custody but after the passing of two years he remains free.
Last year the Supreme Court transferred the cases of missing persons from the police to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and directed the CID to take action against the concerned officials of the agencies. Since then the CID police have on two occasions submitted a report in the Supreme Court that they went to arrest the Brigadier but have been unable to find him.
Mr. Nasrullah Baloch, the chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) stated in the court that the Brigadier is getting his pension from the government and therefore cannot be arrested as he is not a common person but a Brigadier of the Pakistan Army. The VBMP chairman stated to the court that until the Brigadier’s pension is stopped, along with all the other official perks, it would not be possible for the police to arrest him. At the beginning of 2013 Brigadier Siddique was arrested on the orders of the Supreme Court. He was held for about one hour before being released by the police. This was on the Brigadier’s assurance that he would appear before the Supreme Court at the next hearing. However, when he appeared before the court he appealed that he must be given a chance to have legal counsel with him and that he was not feeling well. Accordingly the court permitted him to have a counsel in order to prove his innocence.
The Brigadier then submitted a case before a Magistrate to cancel the FIR against him and it was accepted as he belongs to a powerful institution and the Magistrate could not stand before the military. In doing so the Magistrate ignored all the court procedures and laws. He was released by the Magistrate who showed no respect for the orders of a superior institution, the Supreme Court.
Again on the request of the chairman, VBMP to shift the Brigadier’s case from the Magistrate’s Court to the Supreme Court as the police and Magistrate are dealing above the law and outside their remit. The Supreme Court ordered the CID to produce the report of the Magistrate. However, twisting the facts about the case of the Brigadier, a DSP of the CID informed the court that the Magistrate has granted bail to the Brigadier. The Supreme Court showed its anger by demanding to know how a Magistrate could grant the bail and ordered the DSP to produce the order of the Magistrate. Then the DSP revealed his connivance in the matter and told the court that the Magistrate had, in fact, not given him bail. He admitted that it was the CID that had granted him bail on Machlka (a personal surety bond).
The Chief justice shouted at the DSP and asked him to explain why he had stated that the Magistrate had granted bail to the Brigadier when it was, in fact, the CID who had done so on Machlka. The court was surprised to see that an accused person in such a case had been released on personal bond. However, the attitude of the DSP was still very insulting towards the whole judicial process when he stated that the CID had released him due to lack of evidence.
In reply the Chief Justice announced that the Supreme Court had all the necessary, concrete evidence in the case of the disappearance and it was not for the CID to tell the court that there was no evidence in the case. The Chief Justice asked him whether the court is to decide a case or allow an ordinary police officer to decide who is innocent and who is not? The Chief Justice went on to say that the court has held the brigadier to be a culprit and that he was given all possible facilities to prove himself innocent but chose not to. Finally the Chief justice told the officer that he had done a supra judicial act and that stern action would be taken against him.
During a tea break in the court proceedings the DSP and an Inspector of the CID approached the Chairman of the VBMP and Mr. Bangulzai’s family members and tendered their apologies for lying before the court. They requested Nasrullah Baloch and the family not to file an application against them in the Supreme Court as they both had small children and the court would punish them harshly. However, they showed no compassion towards the family of Mr. Bangulzai. The police officials confessed that they released the Brigadier on pressure from the army and the intelligence agencies. Mr. Nasrullah advised them, first to cancel the release of the Brigadier on bail and obtain a warrant of arrest from the same Magistrate.
In compliance the officers went to the Magistrate’s Court and obtained the cancellation of the bail order and also procured the warrant of arrest. They submitted these documents before the Supreme Court on the same day and promised the court that they will arrest him before the end of the day. However, after the passage of one year the Brigadier has still not been arrested and no report has been submitted before the court.
Beside the case of Mr. Bangulzai, the Supreme Court ordered the IG to investigate cases of missing persons from Balochistan province. The IG submitted a report that the intelligence agencies are involved in missing persons cases. The police submitted video footage in the court to prove that the agencies were, in fact, involved. On the orders of the Supreme Court a judicial inquiry was conducted which revealed that the Army and intelligence agencies were involved in missing person’s cases.
As the Superior judiciary came to the conclusion that the intelligence agencies of the military were involved in disappearances these agencies started forcing the provincial government to send the cases involving military officers to the army courts so that civilian courts could not try them. The military succeeded in pressuring the provincial government of Balochistan to send such cases to the military courts under the Army Act. On 25 and 26 March, 2014, during the court proceedings of the Supreme Court counsel for the intelligence agencies informed the court that the provincial government had agreed to allow cases involving the military to be tried in military courts.
The irony is that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has come under the same pressure from the army as the provincial government of Balochistan for allowing military officers to be tried under the army act. The Supreme Court also advised Mr. Nasrullah Baloch that if he were not satisfied with the decision of military court then he can contact the Supreme Court for justice. Mr. Nasrullah begged the Supreme Court that in view of the fact that more than 13 years had passed in the civil courts without finding justice the Supreme Court was forcing the family members of the disappeared persons to go through the same process. In doing so the Supreme Court has shown its unwillingness to help the families of disappeared persons.
The provincial government of Balochistan also refused to review its decision about sending the cases against military officials to the military court on the request of family members of the disappeared persons.
Pakistan has the largest number of enforced disappearances in recent years and the irony of the situation is that the governments, at federal and provincial levels, the courts that claim to be providing justice to the ordinary persons and the army, which has the responsibility to safeguard the country is conniving in the abductions and extrajudicial killings rather than upholding the law of the land, the constitution and international norms for respecting the dignity of the citizens and providing them with security.
It is virtually impossible for anyone to obtain justice in Pakistan when the very institutions of justice are working hand-in-hand with the perpetrators of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
The very fact that the military have forced the provincial government and the courts to allow cases involving their personnel to be tried in military courts is proof positive that they are trying conceal their involvement. In this manner they will be able to cover their tracks.
It is unbelievable for the people of Pakistan that after they struggled so hard for the independence of the judiciary it is this very judiciary that is failing them in their hour of need. The pillars of justice were resurrected by the people and they are now toppling on the very people that erected them.
It is also unbelievable for the people of Pakistan that in the presence of a strong military institution the citizens were brave enough to chose and elect the people of their choice. It is the elected government that is now polishing the shoes of the military to show their loyalty and sincerity.
