Fate of disappeared

For all their impassioned rhetoric, denunciations of law-enforcement agencies over enforced disappearances have done little to change the fate of scores of people allegedly detained by the state. Neither are any of them close to an appearance in a court of law. Yet, in the absence of any effective tool or measure, the head of the parliamentary panel on human rights, Nasreen Jalil, and civil society members continue to fulminate against the illegal practice. Frustration within the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights seems to be growing on the issue. Jalil is spot on when she wonders aloud for us all: how can anybody obey the law if law-enforcement agencies themselves do not abide by it?

One of the bitter truths about enforced disappearances is the lack of legislation concerning the issue. This makes it extremely difficult to institute legal measures against those responsible. If only the definition of missing persons was less hazy. The Senate’s draft recommendations on the issue — prepared a year ago — must be reviewed thoroughly by parliament and citizenry. Similarly, the 2012 report on missing persons compiled by Justice Mansoor Kamal as well as the report compiled by the UN’s Working Group on Enforced Disappearances would be useful if we wish to resolve the problem to the satisfaction of all parties.

Balochistan and Sindh have suffered the most on this count. Over the last few months, a large number of political, social workers and human rights defenders have vanished without a trace. The irony is that even those struggling for the release of missing persons in restive areas have themselves gone missing. The Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances estimates that up to 728 Pakistanis were added to the list of missing persons in 2016 — the highest in more than half a decade. Rights activists believe the situation is not irredeemable in the wake of sufficient laws and judicial systems. A collective will and response will help.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2017.

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