3,485 people went ‘missing’ from K-P
The Baloch protestors were taken into custody during a crackdown on demonstration demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. PHOTO: APP
The report prepared by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on Tuesday revealed that most people in the country -- 3,485 – went “missing” from the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Around a week ago, the Supreme Court directed the body to submit within 10 days a comprehensive report detailing all its orders issued to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for the production of missing persons.
In line with the top court’s orders, the body handed over its report to the attorney general for Pakistan. “The province-wise details of the cases in which production orders were issued but not implemented, indicate that 503 (72.68%) out of 692 such cases pertain to the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which obviously appears to be due to decade long insurgency and warlike situation in the province, coupled with deaths of unknown persons in drone attacks,” the report read.
Read Bill on missing persons never went missing: Senate
Apart from other reasons, the report also cited people’s “migration to other countries” without informing their families as one of the causes behind the cases The commission informed the SC that 2,149 cases in K-P had been disposed of leaving a balance of 1,336 -- a success percentage of 61.66% The report further revealed that after K-P, the highest number of ‘enforced disappearances’ was reported in Balochistan -- 2,752.
However, the body maintained that it had addressed 2,284 of these cases, leaving only 468 unresolved as it claimed to achieve a success rate of 82.99% in the province. After Balochistan, the report claimed that the highest number of missing people was reported in Sindh – 1,787. It continued that it had disposed of 1,624 of them and 163 remained unresolved boasting a success rate of 90.87%. The body claimed that it had disposed of 1,365 cases out of 1,625 in Punjab – with a success rate of 84% as only 260 remained unresolved.
Read SC wants missing persons’ report
In the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the body stated that it had addressed 306 cases out of 361 leaving a balance of 55. The report cited the body’s success percentage in ICT at 84.76%. The commission claimed in its report that it had addressed 53 of 68 cases reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) leaving a balance of 15 unresolved ones. It maintained that it had achieved a success rate of 77.94% in AJK.
The body informed the SC in its report that it had issued a total of 744 production orders. “Out of which, 52 have been implemented by the addresses, while the remaining 692 production orders are yet to the executed by the quarters concerned,” it added. The body continued that it had received 182 petitions from the quarters concerned requesting for a review of the production orders in these cases.