The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore high court on Wednesday ordered the ministry of interior to ask its various intelligence agencies to produce Karim Khan on February 20. Mr Khan who lost his son and brother in a U.S. drone attack was due to travel to Europe this Saturday when he was picked up on February 5 from his home by unidentified men dressed in police uniforms. He was scheduled to
address German, Dutch and British parliamentarians about his personal experience with drone strikes and the impact these strikes are having in Pakistan.
Shahzad Akbar, director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights told The Hindu that the court had initially directed the police to produce him Wednesday. However, police officials told the court that they
had filed a first information report on Tuesday that Mr Khan was kidnapped by men in police uniforms who had come in police vehicles. The police denied Mr Khan was in their custody. Mr. Akbar submitted that
if the police didn't have him, then it must be the intelligence agencies. The judge then directed the ministry of interior to ask its various intelligence agencies to produce Khan in court.
On Monday the Foundation had filed habeas corpus proceedings on behalf of the family. Meanwhile Reprieve, a legal charity partnering the Foundation, said in a press statement that Parliamentarians from
across Europe have written to the Pakistan government raising concerns over the disappearance of Mr Khan who was set to meet with them this month to discuss his case. Tom Watson MP, Chair of the UK's All Party
Parliamentary Group on Drones and a former British defence minister, wrote to Pakistan's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The Dutch Minister for International Development said Mr. Khan's case had been raised with Pakistan's Ambassador to the Netherlands and in Germany, Bundestag member Hans-Christian Ströbele has written to Mr.
Sharif to ask him to investigate Mr. Khan's disappearance. Mr. Khan is involved in legal proceedings on behalf of his brother, Asif Iqbal, a teacher, and his son Zahinullah. He has filed a petition demanding the police launch a criminal investigation into the drone strike, and said it amounts to murder under domestic law.
