It was close to sunset when they finally arrived at what was to be their final destination, which Rehan identified as the office of the political agent, known as Khyber House40, in Peshawar. Here, all the detainees were taken to a holding cell in the basement, where they were finally unhooded and their handcuffs removed. Held together, their cell was about 15x15 feet, hurdled by walls and not bars. Unsanitary and filthy, Rehan said the premises looked like it had not been cleaned in years. They were kept here for almost four days, with no place to sit, nor sleep, nor maintain hygiene. Rehan described a toilet in a loft area, with no soap, and the flow of tap water so rare it was the equivalent of not having a toilet. They did not shower for days, requests to speak with their families were ignored or refused, and food provided was too sparse for six men to share. There was one light in their cell, which stayed on for 24 hours. With a sliver of a way to see outside, they were only just able to distinguish day from night. I was told that I’m going home. But I’m not home yet. Rehan was kept in the Khyber House holding cell where he was interrogated by agencies for a few weeks, until he was finally released on bail.  Rehan was unable to provide any form of verification that this site was actually the office of the political agent, but his naming of the location is symbolic of the fear of authorities and the power such offices hold in FATA. Until the region’s merger, a political agent was the highest ranking federal government official in charge of the local administration of each agency. A legacy of the colonial era, until June 2018, political agents continued to hold “executive, judicial, and financial powers” who faced little scrutiny from the national government. Khan, Javed. A., “Fata political agents redesignated as DCs, ACs,” The News. Sept. 17, 2019 https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/327361-fata-political-agents-redesignated-as-dcs-acs. JPP legal investigator also explained that political agents serve as magistrates and hear cases. Their offices are equipped with holding cells, where detainees and other suspected criminals are kept until their hearings. 40 26