ISLAMABAD: Legislators of Upper House of Parliament on Monday expressed concern over enforced disappearances and demanded the government make public the findings of an inquiry held in this regard.
Chairing a meeting of the Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights, Nasreen Jalil, the chairperson, accused law enforcement agencies of abducting people. She said that law enforcement agencies should abide by the law. The committee was of the view that several missing persons’ cases had not even been registered. “Abducting someone and then not presenting him in court is totally against the law,” she said.
Taking part in the debate, Senator Farhatullah Babar of the PPP observed that the parliament, the Supreme Court of Pakistan and other institutions had failed to resolve the missing persons’ issue.
He alleged that despite evidence, the people involved in abductions were never punished. The session was attended by officials of the Interior Ministry, additional secretary of the Foreign Office and the chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights.
“Members of the Inquiry Commission for Missing Persons have not attended the session despite being issued notices,” Jalil said. Other members of the committee also expressed disappointment over their absence.
Babar criticised the commission’s performance as well, saying that it had failed in dealing with the issue. He said the commission should have informed the Senate earlier about the unavailability of its officials so the meeting could have been rescheduled.
Several Senators expressed concern over the alleged disappearance of people from NA 120 constituency during the polls. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Nisar Muhammad claimed that people were abducted to fulfill particular political purposes.
Senator Karim Ahmad Khawaja said the government should resolve the issue. “It will bring disrepute to the country if the issue is raised in the United Nations,” he said.
NCHR Chairman Chohan claimed that it was difficult to take legal action as there were no laws concerning the issue. “Even the definition of missing persons is not clear,” he said.
The committee demanded that the 2012 report about missing persons, compiled by Justice Mansoor Kamal be made public, along with a report compiled by the UN’s Working Group on Enforced Disappearances which visited Pakistan the same year.
The senators also said that the government must look into the Senate’s draft of recommendations regarding the issue.
