Govt vows to end enforced disappearances

Families of missing people rally at D-Chowk to mark global day

ISLAMABAD: Echoing their manifesto promise, the newly elected government on Thursday vowed to bring an end to enforced disappearances in the country with a key minister going as far as to say that such abductions may be criminalised.

This was announced by the Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari on Thursday as she joined a protest at D-Chowk by activists and members of rights groups and families of those whose loved ones have been missing to mark the international day of victims of enforced disappearances.



Acknowledging that a large number of people have gone missing during the war on terror, Dr Mazari said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will work to bring all stakeholders on to one page on the issue of missing persons.

However, she added that as the warheads towards its logical end, incidents of enforced disappearances must also stop.

Dr Mazari stated that if there was any charge against any detainee, they should be produced before a court instead of being detained illegally.

She insisted that the present government would declare enforced disappearances as a criminal offence and under the democratic dispensation, no one would be abducted.

Her assurances came a day after a Senate body was told that of the 5,290 cases of missing people registered with the Commission on Enforced Disappearances since 2011, 3,462 cases had been disposed of while 1,828 cases remain under investigation.

NCHR for remedial mechanism

The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) on Thursday urged the government to devise legislation on enforced disappearance or to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to list enforced disappearance as an offence.

“We welcome the fact that the Senate functional committee chairman has directed the ministry of human rights to take the NCHR and other stakeholders on board to draft a bill on enforced disappearances within a month,” read a statement issued by NHCR.

It further said that they frequently receive reports of individuals disappearing.

In some instances, the authorities are blamed for the disappearances and in other instances, these disappearances are justified by citing the victim’s alleged anti-state activities. On the other hand, some were picked up for settling personal vendettas and the blame is shifted on to the authorities.

“Whatever the fact may be, it is the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens and hound the criminals as well as rogue elements within the authorities who have brought such a bad name to our respectable and well-established institutions,” the NCHR said.

It called for introducing a remedial mechanism within the government structure to take care of disappearances and keep a check on irresponsible elements working with impunity on this subject.

“We expect that the new government will establish a mechanism so that the rights are guaranteed, people are safe, enjoying the freedom guaranteed by the constitution and the international treaties such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and Convention against Torture (CAT),” it stated.

The NCHR is a guardian to protect and promote human rights guaranteed in the constitution and in the international human rights treaties. It shall always speak for the safety of the citizen being its primary duty.



We hope adequate steps will be taken for developing a remedial mechanism at the government level which may also include legislation as unfortunately our law neither defines disappearances nor torture which is not good for the state and creates an embarrassing situation at the international forums. We also hope that the new government will devise a mechanism for the rehabilitation and financial support of those who have been recovered from enforced disappearance as well as the families of those who are either still disappeared or have been dead during disappearance.

Earlier this year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a landmark ruling in the case of a man who had disappeared from the capital had adjudged that the state must bear the expenses of the families of those who were victims of enforced disappearance. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2018.