ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the Secretariat police on Thursday to register an FIR against former CIA station chief Jonathan Banks and his legal adviser John A. Rizzo.

The order came as the judge disposed of a petition filed by anti-drone activist Karim Khan. A resident of North Waziristan, Khan lost his son Zahinullah and brother Asif Iqbal in a US drone strike on Dec 31, 2009.

In February this year, Khan was ‘picked up’ from his home, days before he was due to testify before the European Parliament. But he was recovered after the Lahore High Court took up the matter of his disappearance.

Khan approached Islamabad police on Dec 14, 2010 and asked that an FIR be registered against the CIA station chief, but his request was not heeded. He tried again the next year, but remained unsuccessful.

Even a sessions court did not entertain his application, filed under section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The petition sought court directions for the police to register a criminal case against officials of the US intelligence agency.

Finally, Khan filed an application in the IHC, which the court admitted for regular hearing last month and asked the station house officer of the Secretariat police station for a report on the matter.

In the written reply, police said that since the offence in question was committed in the tribal areas, an FIR could not be lodged in Islamabad. The court did not accept this argument and on Thursday, Justice Siddiqui asked SHO Abdul Rahman whether a drone attack was an offence or not? The SHO replied that it was indeed an offence.

Subsequently, Justice Siddiqui directed police to examine the application filed by Khan and proceed in accordance with the law if a cognisable offence was established.

Khan was represented by Shahzad Akbar, who has also served as legal counsel for other victims of drone strikes.

Talking to reporters, advocate Akbar said that the IHC decision vindicated his client’s stance that the families of all those who have been killed in drone strikes have a right to proceed with criminal action against CIA officials and others involved.

He said that the remarkable order also highlighted the strength and independence of the judiciary in Pakistan, which was truly safeguarding the rights of its citizens under the Constitution.

He said that police were bound to register a criminal case against both the CIA station chief and his legal adviser otherwise they would have to face contempt charges.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2014