Press Release
Islamabad High Court Provides Legal Cover for Abductions and Torture by Government Agencies
Court Refuses to Act Against Government Agencies for Providing False Affidavits and Conducting Illegal Abductions

The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, Iqbal Hameed ur Rehman has showed his loyalty to the government agencies by disposing off the writ petition of two abducted members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, without taking any legal action. A member of Hizb ut-Tahrir registered his statement before a magistrate in which he named ISI and MI as the abductors. But instead of taking action against the intelligence agencies, the Chief Justice simply disposed of the writ. The lawyer of the Hizb's attorney reminded the court that agencies in their written affidavit denied the custody of these members, which has been proven false in the light of new evidence, so legal action must be initiated against them. But the Chief Justice ignored it by simply saying that let's put it aside because detainees have been released. This statement of the judge is not only legally shameful, it has also given an open license to the agencies to continue their criminal acts.

Did the judge not remember that until today an elderly member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Dr. Abdul Qayyum, is still being tortured in their dungeons? So how can one spare these agencies? The question is why in the world the judge did not put any pressure on the agencies to immediately release Dr. Abdul Qayyum? Is this mercy on behalf of the abductors to release the detainees, after torturing them for three months, whilst the thankful judiciary does not even care enough to account them?! Is this the purpose of the judiciary to give lengthy hearing dates in order to provide ample time for the agencies to torture Hizb members? And even when evidences are presented before the court, it simply takes no action? There is no doubt about the fact that an unholy nexus of agencies, police and judiciary, under the shade of imperialists and their agent rulers, is a major source of persecution in Pakistan. In fact, today every institution of this kufr system is equally responsible for the implementation of kufr, resisting Islam and the persecution of Muslims. During the movement of the so-called Freedom of Judiciary, Hizb ut-Tahrir warned the Ummah that merely an independent judge in a Kufr judicial system - a legacy of the British Raj (Imperialist rule) can never provide justice because the laws according to which the judge has to pass his judgment are themselves corrupt and a source of oppression.  Even today, the judiciary is one of the most important tools in the hands of the imperialists to protect this kufr system and to stop the emergence of Islam. Hizb ut-Tahrir demands from conscientious people within the lawyer community, as well as the human rights organizations, that they should raise their voices against this ‘institutional persecution' and join their hands with Hizb ut-Tahrir to rein in the agencies and recover Dr. Abdul Qayyum. The day is not far when institutionalized persecution will be brought to an end through the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" and all those who have committed crimes against the carriers of Islam will be bought to justice.

Naveed Butt
The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan