TRANSNATIONAL militancy and the ‘war on terror’ have thrown up complex legal questions, such as how to deal with those accused of terrorism while respecting their fundamental rights, determining the jurisdiction of different governments etc. However, two points appear to be quite clear; all states must be transparent about the individuals they hold in custody while at no time must the accused person’s human rights be violated. In this regard, the government needs to provide more information about the 10 men who have reportedly been released from the US military’s internment facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, recently. As reported on Friday, the Red Cross says the men have been repatriated to Pakistan. The interior ministry has now confirmed that the men are Pakistani and in government custody. The state must inform the men’s families of the charges — if any — they face. The Lahore High Court has ordered the interior ministry to furnish information about the individuals at a hearing scheduled next week. As per the Justice Project Pakistan, the organisation representing the men’s families, no government — Afghan, American or Pakistani — has ever publicly said what charges the individuals have been held under. Six men were also released from Bagram in November last year but were held by the Pakistani authorities for around two months before being returned to their families.

Some media reports have indicated that around 20 Pakistanis may still be incarcerated in Bagram. The state needs to ask the Afghan authorities what charges the men are being held under. Did they cross the border to help the Afghan Taliban or any other militant group? Or were they peaceful non-combatants living and working in Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban regime’s fall? More information in this regard may also help shed further light on the fate of some of the names on the list of ‘missing persons’ in this country.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2014