Can PTI keep its will from disappearing?
Per latest figures from commission of inquiry of enforced disappearances, 5,507 cases were received till Oct 31, 2018
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari has said that her ministry has drafted a bill that amends the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to declare ‘enforced disappearances’ a criminal offence. The draft of the law has been prepared in consultation with all stakeholders and sent to the law ministry for review.
The bill follows directions from a Senate panel on human rights in August 2018, shortly after the PTI took the reins of the federal government, to draft a bill for criminalising enforced disappearances and making it a punishable offence.
In that committee, the chairman of the Commission of inquiry of Enforced Disappearances, Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, had called for due legislation on the matter as he was critical of parliament and governments for lacking will and dedication to address the issue. Mazari’s ministry was then given a month to draft a bill in this regard.
Per the latest figures from the commission of inquiry of enforced disappearances, around 5,507 cases were received till October 31, 2018. Of these, 3,633 cases have been disposed of thus far with around 1,874 cases of missing persons still pending.
The issue of missing persons is a serious one and there is hardly any province or territory which has not reported such a case, including the federal capital. It is what prompted the Supreme Court to direct the setting up of the commission in 2011 under two retired judges, one of the Supreme Court and the other of the Sindh High Court and a former inspector general of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police.
During its election campaign too, the PTI had promised to tackle this burning issue. In line with that, Mazari had in November 2018, had urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The current government appears to be lurching forward on the critical issue which has spawned multiple movements and protests across the country. But it remains to be seen what kind of a will it can exert on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2019.
The bill follows directions from a Senate panel on human rights in August 2018, shortly after the PTI took the reins of the federal government, to draft a bill for criminalising enforced disappearances and making it a punishable offence.
In that committee, the chairman of the Commission of inquiry of Enforced Disappearances, Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, had called for due legislation on the matter as he was critical of parliament and governments for lacking will and dedication to address the issue. Mazari’s ministry was then given a month to draft a bill in this regard.
Per the latest figures from the commission of inquiry of enforced disappearances, around 5,507 cases were received till October 31, 2018. Of these, 3,633 cases have been disposed of thus far with around 1,874 cases of missing persons still pending.
The issue of missing persons is a serious one and there is hardly any province or territory which has not reported such a case, including the federal capital. It is what prompted the Supreme Court to direct the setting up of the commission in 2011 under two retired judges, one of the Supreme Court and the other of the Sindh High Court and a former inspector general of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police.
During its election campaign too, the PTI had promised to tackle this burning issue. In line with that, Mazari had in November 2018, had urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The current government appears to be lurching forward on the critical issue which has spawned multiple movements and protests across the country. But it remains to be seen what kind of a will it can exert on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2019.