Ratification with a reservation

Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari has recommended a straight and safe route for the country out of the tricky issue of enforced disappearances. Pakistan ought to become a signatory to the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances. While the move itself is unlikely to settle the issue in one fell swoop, it will nevertheless bind the authorities to the commitment that it will end disappearances. It is clear that Pakistan has a few reservations on the convention, especially the clause that allows representatives of a UN body to carry out sudden and unannounced inspections. That in part might explain why previous governments have dithered over ratification plans but it does not indicate the source of their disinterest. But now it seems, judging from the minister’s remarks on Nov 6^th, Pakistan can perhaps forego the clauses that don’t suit it and still become a signatory.

Successive governments, including the ones headed by the PPP and the PML-N, simply did not have the teeth, much less the will power to adopt the convention. Here’s where the PTI can take the lead and give the long-suffering relatives of the disappeared lasting relief. It must be understood that Pakistan does not have a legacy of enforced disappearances like many signatories to the convention. The missing persons file only opened in earnest in Pakistan some 17 or so years ago when the country joined the US-led war on terror. As a result, hundreds of individuals joined the ranks of the disappeared. The PTI is uniquely placed to reverse these wrongs and restore the rights of those individuals as well as shield them from harm.

It could also adopt a landmark piece of legislation regarding enforced disappearances. This will help avoid any conflict in compliance. Pakistan must not ratify any treaty until its domestic laws and policies comply with the international legal requirements. If a state anticipates that its domestic law will prevent it from complying with the requirements of a treaty, but it nevertheless wishes to ratify the treaty — perhaps because it complies in most other areas, or intends to draft or amend domestic law in due course — then the proper course is to ratify a treaty with a reservation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2018.

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