Enforced disappearances

IHC takes the bull by the horns

The issue of enforced disappearance continues to haunt Pakistan since Musharraf’s assumption of power through a coup in late 1999. The inhuman practice which was unknown before Musharraf was initially aimed at curbing dissent in Balochistan. Soon after Musharraf assumed the office of the President of Pakistan, Baloch nationalists who demanded greater autonomy and more rights for the province began to be picked up without following legal procedures. They were not presented before any court of law and nothing was known of them after they were made to disappear. The issue was finally raised at the SC where the counsel representing the army maintained that the armed forces enjoyed a special status in the constitution which protected all of their actions. Further, army personnel could not be investigated or inquired into by any court, including the Supreme Court. The position was not accepted by the court but with no strict and exemplary action following, the malpractice not only continued but also led to reports of enforced disappearances from the other three provinces also.

As time passed, Baloch activists set up protest camps in Karachi and Islamabad besides Quetta. Before they came to power, both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan visited the camps in display of solidarity with the missing persons and their families. It appears now that the gesture was meant only to gain sympathies as after coming to power neither Nawaz Sharif nor Imran Khan tried to stop the enforced disappearances. While both finally ended up on the wrong side the army, it was not because of the issue of the enforced disappearances.

It is encouraging that the IHC has taken up the issue now. As the malaise started with Musharraf and was allowed to continue to spread by the successive administrations, IHC has sent notices to the former military ruler as well as to his civilian successors. Instead of pushing things under the rug, the court wants them to explain how disappearances became state policy. As the court put it, the involvement or even a perception of the involvement of the armed forces in acts amounting to violation of human rights and freedom of the citizens weakens and undermines the rule of law. Unlike others before it who allowed themselves to be dodged, one expects IHC to be fully alert.

Editorial
Editorial
The Editorial Department of Pakistan Today can be contacted at: [email protected].

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