A Pakistani anti-drone campaigner has been missing since he was allegedly picked up by security agencies from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, his lawyer said today.
Kareem Khan, who is involved in legal proceedings against the Pakistani government over its "failure" to investigate the deaths of his son and brother in a drone strike, was picked up from his Rawalpindi home by "15-20 men in police uniform and plainclothes" on February 5, witnesses were quoted as saying by Reprieve, a UK-based charity.
"He continues to remain missing. He did not appear in the case today which was heard in the Islamabad High Court. Our petition against his illegal detention will be heard by the Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court tomorrow," his lawyer Shahzad Akbar told PTI.
Akbar runs the Foundation for Fundamental Rights and rose to prominence in 2010 when he named the then CIA station chief in Islamabad in an application filed in a court over US drone strikes in the tribal belt.
The US accused Pakistan's intelligence agencies of leaking the name of the spy chief, who was later withdrawn from the country.
According to Reprieve, Khan was due to travel this Saturday to Europe, where he was scheduled to speak to German, Dutch and British MPs about his personal experience with drone strikes and the impact they have on Pakistan.
Khan's wife and young children were present at the time of his alleged detention, as was a neighbour, the statement said.
Despite numerous inquiries with Pakistani police, Khan's family has yet to be able to locate him or discover why he was detained, it said.
