Govt tells SC Cabinet committee formed to ‘settle’ missing persons issue

  • Justice Mandokhail stresses this issue needs to be addressed by parliament, observing such a serious issue can’t be addressed through mere words

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet has formed a sub-committee to look into the matter of missing persons to resolve the issue once and for all.

This was stated by the Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Javed Iqbal while arguing before the six-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday.

The AGP pleaded before the Court that the Federal Government is concerned about the issue of missing persons and has formed a sub-committee of the cabinet to look into the matter and make recommendations.

The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, issued notices to the Federation, the Ministry of Interior and all other parties in the case to produce their reports before the court in the next hearing to be conducted in the coming week.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail, during the proceedings, observed that this is a significantly important case. Thousands of people are reported missing and cases have been filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, he said.

Politicians like Barrister Aitzaz and Latif Khosa were present in the Court.

Justice Mandokhail said this issue needs to be addressed by the parliament. However, the Court continued to observe that such a serious issue cannot be addressed through mere words without action.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar inquired from the AGP as to how many missing persons were being recovered by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance (COIED).

Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, questioned, that the COIED has the data. What does the data say about the culprits behind the disappearance? What do the recovered people say about their abductors?

Justice Jamal Mandokhial, while indicating some previous incidents of forced disappearance, said that some missing persons after being recovered said that were not missing and were in the Northern Areas for rest and fun.

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