Govt not interested in adding to strength of inquiry commission on enforced disappearance

Turns down proposal for appointing former chairman as member

ISLAMABAD: The government has turned down a proposal to strengthen the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance by appointing one more member and a new fulltime chairperson to trace the whereabouts of the missing persons.

According to documents available with The Express Tribune, the inquiry commission wants to strengthen itself by bringing on board an additional retired judge from Balochistan, and this plan had been submitted before the cabinet in a meeting last week.

However, the plan was not approved and the cabinet directed the Interior Division to bring a summary to appoint a fulltime chairperson. Currently, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman is holding the office of the commission’s chairperson.



Moreover, the division informed the cabinet that the commission was formed by the federal government in 2011 with the sole mandate of locating the supposedly disappeared persons. The division told the cabinet that data till February 25, 2018 indicated that the commission had received 4,801 cases out of which 3,164 had been disposed of and the remaining were still under investigation.

The cabinet was informed that NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, being an honorary chairperson of the commission, had to work additional hours for the commission currently comprising a head and two members.

Likewise, the cabinet was also told that in order to cope with the situation, the commission was of the view that a member should be added to its existing strength.

In this regard, the commission proposed the name of Justice (retd) Fazalur Rehman, a former judge of the Balochistan High Court, to be inducted as senior member. According to the commission, Rehman has rich experience of working on the issue of enforced disappearances as he has chaired the commission in 2011.

Subsequently, the cabinet considered the summary to strengthen the commission by adding one more member to it for speedy disposal of cases, but did not approve the same.

The cabinet directed that Interior Division to bring a summary for its consideration on appointing a fulltime chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances.