The US State Department in its annual country report noted that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances received 4,608 missing person cases in Pakistan and claimed to have closed 3,076 of those cases, while 1,532 remain open.
Data from the commission showed the number of persons reported missing was highest in KP (751 missing), followed by Punjab (245 missing), Balochistan (98 missing), Sindh (50 missing), Fata (48 missing), the Islamabad Capital Territory (45 missing), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) (14 missing), and Gilgit-Baltistan (five missing).
The State Department report also highlights the issue of forced disappearances in Pakistan, noting that in 2017, “there were kidnappings and forced disappearances of persons from various backgrounds in nearly all areas of the country. Some police and security forces reportedly held prisoners incommunicado and refused to disclose their location”.
The report also alleges that dozens of political workers and activists were kidnapped, tortured and killed in all these places.
The most significant human rights issues identified in the report include extrajudicial and targeted killings, disappearances, torture, lack of rule of law and frequent mob violence and vigilante justice with limited accountability.
Additional problems identified in the report are arbitrary detention, lengthy pre-trial detention, a lack of judicial independence in the lower courts, governmental infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, harassment of journalists, and high-profile attacks against journalists and media organisations.
Government restrictions on freedom of assembly, freedom of movement and freedom of religion and discrimination against religious minorities, and sectarian violence have also continued.
The State Department report also highlights the issue of forced disappearances in Pakistan, noting that in 2017, “there were kidnappings and forced disappearances of persons from various backgrounds in nearly all areas of the country. Some police and security forces reportedly held prisoners incommunicado and refused to disclose their location”.
The report also alleges that dozens of political workers and activists were kidnapped, tortured and killed in all these places.
The most significant human rights issues identified in the report include extrajudicial and targeted killings, disappearances, torture, lack of rule of law and frequent mob violence and vigilante justice with limited accountability.
Additional problems identified in the report are arbitrary detention, lengthy pre-trial detention, a lack of judicial independence in the lower courts, governmental infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, harassment of journalists, and high-profile attacks against journalists and media organisations.
Government restrictions on freedom of assembly, freedom of movement and freedom of religion and discrimination against religious minorities, and sectarian violence have also continued.
http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/34102-over-1500-cases-of-enforced-disappearance-remain-open-in-pakistan-us
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