Former senator and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court to “challenge the illegal and unlawful practice of enforced disappearances”.
The move comes amid the PTI’s complaints as it faces a months-long crackdown following the May 9 riots that occurred due to party chairman Imran Khan’s arrest. Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday filed the petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution (original jurisdiction of Supreme Court) through senior advocate Sardar Latif Khosa.
The plea has made the state, the governments and inspector generals of police (IGP) of all four provinces, the Islamabad IGP, and the ‘Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances’ (CIED) respondents in the case. It urged the apex court to accept the instant petition and declare that enforced disappearances are “violative of, inter alia, Articles 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law, etc), 9 (security of person), 10 (safeguards as to arrest and detention), 14 (inviolability of dignity of man, etc), 19 (freedom of speech, etc) and 25 (equality of citizens) of the Constitution. The petition further requested the top court to declare that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances “does not adequately comply with legal and international standards”.
