LAHORE, March 7: The Defence of Human Rights on Friday renewed its call for the army to release 500 people “who have been illegally detained” by March 15. The statement said if the missing people are not released, they would hold Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani responsible.

Organisation head Mrs Amina Janjua stated that while the DHR was currently dealing with only 500 cases, the actual number of people illegally abducted by the Musharraf regime is thought to number thousands.

Mrs Janjua also cited a report issued by the US Freedom Forum last week, which called for the Pakistan Army and its agencies to release all those citizens who had been illegally abducted.

“All those who have been arrested should be presented before courts and their names issued,” she quoted the report as saying. She reiterated that no institution or individual had the authority to abduct citizens and subject them to torture or above or cross the limits of law in anyway, and added that the government had no right to send its citizens abroad to the United States or to secret prisons abroad for interrogation.

Mrs Janjua later told Dawn: “We also want to make sure that the new government makes this its top priority – the first item on its agenda.”

She said her group had been in discussion with PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari, and would soon be meeting ANP leader Afsandyar Wali Khan. Mrs Janjua’s own husband went missing on July 30, 2005, and she has since taken a leading role in lobbying the Musharraf regime for their release.

Asked whether she was optimistic, she said: “We have all been suffering so long, so it’s essential to remain hopeful. We just want to see an end to all this and be re-united with our loved ones.” —Staff Reporter