Senate question-hour: Number of missing persons rising in K-P, Punjab
Of 538 registered cases, 358 are from the two provinces, according to interior ministry.
ISLAMABAD:
The interior ministry has revealed that the “number of people going missing” is rising in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab.
Of around 538 missing persons’ cases, 358 were reported from K-P and Punjab to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforcement Disappearance (CIED) since December 2011, the ministry told the Senate in its written reply.
The CIED, which has yet to submit its report to the concerned quarters – the apex court, prime minister and president — registered a total of 676 cases since it was constituted on September 26, 2011 on the orders of the apex court. The commission, in its written statement, also stated that it had registered approximately 138 cases in December 2010.
According to CIED’s findings, the number of missing persons is rising in K-P and Punjab rather than in Balochistan. In K-P, 189 missing persons were registered, 169 in Punjab and 82 in Sindh and 44 in Balochistan, where the current balance of cases is at 56.
Approximately 16 cases of enforced disappearances were also registered in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), 16 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 22 in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The commission has disposed of 209 cases and claimed to have traced 176 missing persons. It traced 68 persons in K-P, 43 in Punjab, 21 in Sindh, 22 in Balochistan, 11 in ICT, six in Fata and five in AJK accordingly.
Thirty-three cases were scrapped on the directives of CIED President Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal because either they were bogus or the men reported missing could not be identified.
Minister of State for Interior Imtiaz Safdar Warraich informed the house that around 315 missing persons have been traced so far and 471 such cases have been disposed of by the two commissions constituted to investigate the issue of missing persons.
After going through the report, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Col (retd) Tahir Mashhadi said: “The issue of missing persons is a stigma on the face of the incumbent government … [enforced disappearances] are [former military ruler Pervez] Musharraf’s legacy.”
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Farah Aqil questioned if any law existed to keep a check on the country’s spy agencies, which continued to keep ‘missing persons’ in their custody despite court orders to release them.
“There should be some check on the intelligence agencies now.”
Responding to queries, Warriach informed the house that the commission has already submitted a comprehensive report to the concerned quarters. “Once the interior ministry receives the report, it will be made public,” he said.
The CIED is still working to resolve the missing persons issue and will finalise its second report in the near future, he added and stressed that court decisions were binding on all state institutions and that spy agencies had no role in such matters.
To another question raised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Senator Talha Mahmood, Warraich said that both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were working on a joint strategy to exchange more and more prisoners under an extradition treaty.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2012.
The interior ministry has revealed that the “number of people going missing” is rising in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab.
Of around 538 missing persons’ cases, 358 were reported from K-P and Punjab to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforcement Disappearance (CIED) since December 2011, the ministry told the Senate in its written reply.
The CIED, which has yet to submit its report to the concerned quarters – the apex court, prime minister and president — registered a total of 676 cases since it was constituted on September 26, 2011 on the orders of the apex court. The commission, in its written statement, also stated that it had registered approximately 138 cases in December 2010.
According to CIED’s findings, the number of missing persons is rising in K-P and Punjab rather than in Balochistan. In K-P, 189 missing persons were registered, 169 in Punjab and 82 in Sindh and 44 in Balochistan, where the current balance of cases is at 56.
Approximately 16 cases of enforced disappearances were also registered in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), 16 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 22 in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The commission has disposed of 209 cases and claimed to have traced 176 missing persons. It traced 68 persons in K-P, 43 in Punjab, 21 in Sindh, 22 in Balochistan, 11 in ICT, six in Fata and five in AJK accordingly.
Thirty-three cases were scrapped on the directives of CIED President Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal because either they were bogus or the men reported missing could not be identified.
Minister of State for Interior Imtiaz Safdar Warraich informed the house that around 315 missing persons have been traced so far and 471 such cases have been disposed of by the two commissions constituted to investigate the issue of missing persons.
After going through the report, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Col (retd) Tahir Mashhadi said: “The issue of missing persons is a stigma on the face of the incumbent government … [enforced disappearances] are [former military ruler Pervez] Musharraf’s legacy.”
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Farah Aqil questioned if any law existed to keep a check on the country’s spy agencies, which continued to keep ‘missing persons’ in their custody despite court orders to release them.
“There should be some check on the intelligence agencies now.”
Responding to queries, Warriach informed the house that the commission has already submitted a comprehensive report to the concerned quarters. “Once the interior ministry receives the report, it will be made public,” he said.
The CIED is still working to resolve the missing persons issue and will finalise its second report in the near future, he added and stressed that court decisions were binding on all state institutions and that spy agencies had no role in such matters.
To another question raised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Senator Talha Mahmood, Warraich said that both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were working on a joint strategy to exchange more and more prisoners under an extradition treaty.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2012.