ISLAMABAD, April 18: A lawyer for a Pakistani man, who his family say was abducted from South Africa as part of the US-led war on terrorism, said on Wednesday he would challenge the secret detention of his client in the Supreme Court.
Khalid Mehmood Rashid, who vanished after being arrested in South Africa as an illegal alien in 2005, appeared before a federal review board of the Supreme Court in Islamabad on April 12.
“I plan to file a petition (in the Supreme Court) on behalf of his father to challenge his detention, which is illegal,” Mr Rashid’s lawyer Hashmat Habib told Reuters.
Mr Rashid’s family and lawyers have accused South African authorities of arranging his removal to Pakistan under the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” programme.
South Africa has repeatedly denied the charge, saying Mr Rashid was deported “under special circumstances” and flown to Pakistan, where he was formally handed over to officials. South Africa’s government said Mr Rashid did not appeal his deportation.
It has said the unusual nature of Mr Rashid’s deportation – in a chartered plane that left from a South African military base – arose from allegations he was connected to international terrorist cells.
Mr Habib said he had heard that Mr Rashid was arrested on suspicions of involvement in July 2005 suicide attacks on London’s transport system that killed 52 people.
“This is what I have heard. I have no documentary proof for that.”
Mr Habib said Mr Rashid came from Rawalpindi and went to South Africa in search of work.
“His visa expired and he overstayed. Since he is bearded and religious-minded, it is said that he was arrested on suspicions (of involvement in the attacks).”
Mr Rashid’s detention is due to expire on June 28, but the government can seek an extension through the review board, Mr Habib added.
The Amnesty International has criticised Pakistani authorities for keeping Mr Rashid in “secret detention”.
“Mr Rashid has already suffered 18 months of secret detention, and it is totally unacceptable for the Pakistan authorities to continue to deny him access to his lawyer, family and medical care,” Erwin Van Der Borght, acting director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme, said in a statement.
He said Mr Rashid should be given a fair trial or released without delay.—Reuters
