The Comm-ission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances expressed their concern over the increasing number of missing persons from January 2011-February 2012, which reached 333. The commission has observed that on January 1, 2011 around 138 cases of missing persons were pending.
During the period from January 1, 2011 to February 29, 2012, 333 new cases were received in the commission, taking the total number of missing persons to 471 of which 175 cases have been disposed of. Amna Masood Janjua, Chairperson Defence of Human Rights denied the figures released by the commission and claimed that the number of missing persons were around 10,000, which are much higher than those reported by the commission.
She further claimed that she had registered 180 new cases of missing persons in last 20 days during their sit-in call at D-Chock. She said that relatives of missing persons from Waziristan, Swat, Hydrabad, Quetta and other parts of the country were joining them in the camp.
She expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the Commission in resolving the cases of those missing persons who disappeared before 2007. Meanwhile, the commission under the chairmanship of Justice Javed Iqbal (Retd) is holding hearing of the mission persons. Proceedings of the commission are being held at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta periodically. The commission claims that last month, during the proceeding held at Islamabad and Karachi, 18 mission persons have been traced out.