Human Rights campaign group, Amnesty International, has said that it is alarmed by reports it has received of a wave of enforced disappearances that have taken place over recent days in Balochistan. It called upon authorities to immediately carry out independent and effective investigations with a view to determining the fate and whereabouts of all missing people.
It must be remembered that on 30th October wife of Dr. Allah Nazar, sister of Aslam Baloch and other women and children were “abducted” by Pakistani state forces from Quetta. This followed abduction of Nawaz Atta, an office holder of Baloch Human Rights Organisation, and other children from Karachi.
In their statement released on Monday, AI said that anyone reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for enforced disappearances must be held to account.
The campaign group said that while some of the missing persons have returned home but there are credible reports that many others, possibly in thousands, still remain missing.
“Victims of enforced disappearances are at considerable risk of torture and other ill-treatment and even death. To date, not a single perpetrator of the crime has been brought to justice,” the statement by AI read.
AI said that it has received by far the largest number of cases from August to October 2017 involving nearly 300 cases of enforced disappearances.
After its last visit to Pakistan, in 2012, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, noted that there is “a climate of impunity in Pakistan with regard to enforced disappearances, and the authorities are not sufficiently dedicated to investigate cases of enforced disappearance and hold the perpetrators accountable.” Amnesty International noted that this situation has not improved over the past five years.
Amnesty International said that Pakistan has thus far failed to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance – a glaring omission that casts an unflattering light on the country’s claims to be committed to the highest human rights standards.
The UN Human Rights Committee – the treaty-monitory body that oversees how States implement and comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – took note of Pakistan’s record on enforced disappearances and recommended that the country: “Criminalize enforced disappearance and put an end to the practice of enforced disappearance and secret detention,” and “Ensure that all allegations of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings are promptly and thoroughly investigated; all perpetrators are prosecuted and punished with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crimes”.
On October 16, Pakistan became one of 15 states elected by the UN General Assembly to serve as members of the UN Human Rights Council, from January 2018 to December 2020. In its election pledges, Pakistan said that it is “firmly resolved to uphold, promote and safeguard universal human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.”
AI said that for this claim by Pakistan to be taken seriously, and to fulfill “the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” expected of all Council members, it must make ending enforced disappearances a priority and hold all suspected perpetrators – including military and intelligence personnel – to account, through fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.