Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED) has said that still 1,828 cases of missing persons are pending. A high profile meeting of all the law enforcement and intelligence agencies was held on Thursday in the Supreme Court building. The chairman Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, and secretaries of defence and interior also attended the meeting.
At the outset, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar showed concern towards the constitutional obligations of all the state institutions, especially the courts, on the subject being an issue relating to inviolable right of every citizen to life and liberty.
It was explained by almost all the participants that the figures generally quoted in this regard are extremely exaggerated and fact is so evident from the cases reported to the Commission. In this regard, the Commission, since its inception i.e. March, 2011 has received about 5,290 cases out of which 2,636 have been traced, 446 were found not to be cases of enforced disappearance, whereas 382 cases were deleted on different technical grounds including non-prosecution and incomplete addresses. Presently the Commission has a pendency of only 1,828 cases. The performance of Commission, its dedication and understanding of the subject was appreciated.
It was highlighted in the discussion that there is a wide gap between the public perception and the reality that a far larger number of persons are shown as missing than actual. Even the persons who have themselves gone abroad, languishing in the jails of different countries, especially Afghanistan and Middle East, are also wrongly included.
Though some of them have crossed the borders to join terrorist outfits and a large number has also been identified who have been declared proclaimed offenders by the courts in different cases and have gone under ground. That is besides the fact that in quoting the figure, many of the cases are reported in duplication i.e. some cases are reported at different forums and counted twice. It was also apprised that there is reported role of hostile agencies of neighbouring countries as well and in many of the cases the persons attempting to impersonate themselves officials of agencies were apprehended.
It is emphasized by the chair that the Supreme Court will not tolerate such illegality qua the life and liberty of the citizens. They were asked to devise a reporting mechanism to verify if some missing persons are not confined in jails of neighbouring countries or have joined terrorist outfits, crossing the borders. It was also emphasized that a proper forensic data of finger prints and DNA be developed as thousands of burials of unidentified dead bodies are made by NGOs like Edhi and others.
That is besides the need to have clear reporting of the persons killed in drone attacks and conflicts in neighbouring and other countries. Whereas, there is a large number of workers of an ethnic political group who are settled in South Africa, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries and generally they are wrongly counted in missing persons.
The Chief Justice emphasised that it is duty of all departments concerned to guard their image and clear the issue to the extent of perception. Whereas, whatever number of persons are apprehended, they should be dealt with in accordance with law. In this regard, if a good improvement is not seen in near future, the Supreme Court can consider taking up the matter as serious violation of human rights under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution.