Business Recorder (27 July 2008)
ISLAMABAD (July 27 2008): Former federal human rights minister and Ansar Burney Trust Chairman Ansar Burney has strongly condemned the arrest of two innocent men in Kabul on July 2, 2008 due only to their Pakistani nationality; and demanded that they be immediately released.
According to an information received by the Ansar Burney Trust from Kabul, the two Pakistanis named Syed Furqan Shah and Mohammad Inam Ullah were working as employees at the 5-Star Safi Landmark Hotel in Kabul when Afghan Security Police arrested them. Ansar Burney said no reason for their arrest was provided, except that they were Pakistani nationals and looked suspicious.
Ansar Burney also said the arrest took place at 11 am on the July 2, 2008, at the Safi Landmark Hotel, where Syed Furqan Shah was performing his duties as general manager and Mohammad Inam Ullah as manager of the hotel.
Ansar Burney Trust, which has already established contact with family members, has demanded of the Afghan government the reasons for the arrest of these two Pakistanis be provided immediately.
Ansar Burney, who is also senior lawyer, has already written to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, demanding that the Afghan government should provide a list of all Pakistanis being held in Afghanistan; while the Trust has sought permission from the United States and Afghan governments to be allowed Ansar Burney Trust team to visit the Bagram Prison in search of missing and illegally detained Pakistanis and other nationals.
According to the Ansar Burney Trust, dozens of Pak nationals and other foreign prisoners have been arrested and imprisoned illegally in Afghanistan without ever committing a crime, only because of their Pakistani or other nationality.
On Saturday, Ansar Burney wrote once again to the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad demanding that reasons for the arrest of these two Pakistanis be provided, along with a list of all Pakistanis being held in Afghan prisons.
Burney, in his letter, stated that unless this information was provided, he would raise this issue of illegal arrest and detention of persons based on their nationality at the international platforms. The Ansar Burney Trust has also appealed to the Pakistani government to take interest in the illegal arrest and detention of Pakistanis all over the world
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