PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday asked the federal government to produce details of the people kept in internment centres of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the internees, who died in custody, and the cases against them.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain directed deputy attorneys general of the federal government Farooq Shah and Manzoor Khalil to provide details of “how many internees are in the internment centres; how many of the detainees whose cases are pending before the court are not in custody of the security agencies; how many of them have died during custody; how many of the internees have been set free so far; and details of the cases registered against internees and status of those cases.”

The directions were issued during the hearing into around 360 habeas corpus petitions, mostly filed by relatives of missing persons.

These petitioners have mostly charged the security forces, intelligence agencies and other law enforcing agencies including police of keeping their missing relatives in illegal detention.

The bench adjourned hearings in the cases to different dates.

The bench expressed dissatisfaction with reports submitted by the two deputy attorneys general in 13 petitions, wherein it was mentioned that 16 of the detainees mentioned in the petitions had been shifted to the notified internment centres.

According to the details provided by them, the detainees interned at Pak-Austrian Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management are Saifullah, Jan Mohammad, Wajid Ali and Abdul Majeed. Those detained at Lakki Marwat are Rashid, Mohammad Mehtab, Qadar Shah, Asghar Shah, Khaliq Niaz, Mian Akhtar Ali, Qudrat Ali, Mian Anwar Ali, Inamullah and Mohammad Abid, whereas Bilal is in Kohat while Qaiser Khan is in Malakand internment center.

The bench observed that under the Action (in aid of civil power) Regulation for Fata and Pata, the relevant oversight boards had to review cases of the internees within 120 days.

It observed that the lists provided by the government should include complete details about when a particular person was interned, what were the charges against him, and the status of his case.

The bench added that even if the authorities expressed ignorance about any of the detainees mentioned in the pending petitions, they had to submit the sworn undertakings.

The cases wherein the detainees were shifted to internment centres the court directed that the family members should be permitted to meet the internee.

The bench disposed of one of the petitions after the DAG informed that an FIR had already been registered last year against three army officers on the complaint of father of a missing person. In that case the petitioner, Khursheed, claimed that his son Asim was taken into custody by the security forces in Swat over three years ago and since then he had been missing. An FIR in this regard was registered on the order of the Supreme Court on Aug 25, 2013, at Raheemabad police station in Swat against Colonel Dilawar, Major Shakoor and Captain Danish of the Artillery Unit.

A representative of the ministry of defence Major Mohammad Ali informed the bench that the security forces had been conducting ground check and it would take time to verify each and every internee in the internment centres.

The chief justice observed that the petitions of missing persons had been pending for the last many years and so far the government should have complete details of all the persons interned in the centres.

The bench observed that while persons were arrested in 2009 during military operations the government had been registering FIRs against them in 2013 and 2014.

In one such case the petitioner, Ms Bushra, claimed that her father Mohammad Rasheed and brother Amjid Ali were arrested in 2009 and since then they had been missing.

She added that she was told recently about the registration of an FIR against the two last year.

Meanwhile, the bench disposed of a petition of Sajida Begum, who had challenged the detention of her son, Ameer Hamza, since March 4, 2014.

The development came after the petitioner said her son had been freed by his captors.

In another petition, the bench directed the chief of Lakki Marwat internment centre to produce reply regarding internment of three relatives and death of the fourth one at the same centre.

Petitioner Mohammad Tasleemul Haq, a resident of Swat, alleged that the security forces had come to his place along with rival Taj Mohammad and took away five of his relatives, including Mian Umaat, Mian Amjid, Mian Qudrat, Mian Anwar and Mian Asad.He said Mian Umaat later died in the internment centre, whereas Mian Asad was freed as he was a minor.