'Rendition' man in custody in Pakistan-rights group
18 Apr 2007 07:09:13 GMT Source: Reuters
By Paul Simao JOHANNESBURG, April 18 (Reuters) - A Pakistani man whose family says was abducted as part of the U.S.-led war on terror is in custody in Pakistan after 18 months of secret detention, human rights group Amnesty International said. Khalid Rashid, who vanished after being arrested in South Africa as an illegal alien in 2005, appeared before a federal review board in the Supreme Court building in Islamabad on April 12, Amnesty said in a press release late on Tuesday. The group said Rashid was still in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence service as of Monday, although it said authorities reportedly had been ordered to transfer him to a prison and allow him access to his family and medical care. "Mr. Rashid has already suffered 18 months of secret detention, and it is totally unacceptable for the Pakistan authorities to continue to deny him access to his lawyer, family and medical care," Erwin Van Der Borght, acting director of Amnesty International's Africa programme, said in a statement. Van Der Borght said Rashid, a Pakistani citizen, should be given a fair trial or released without delay. His family had feared he had been killed. Rashid's family and lawyers have accused South African authorities of arranging his removal to Pakistan under the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme. South Africa has repeatedly denied the charge, saying Rashid was deported "under special circumstances" and flown to Pakistan, where he was formally handed over to officials. South Africa's government said Rashid did not appeal his deportation. It has said the unusual nature of Rashid's deportation -- in a chartered plane that left from a South African military base -- arose from allegations he was connected to international terror cells. The government has not provided further details.
