ISLAMABAD: The judicial commission formed on the Supreme Court’s orders for the recovery of thousands of missing persons from across the country will submit a comprehensive report with the SC and the Interior Ministry by December 31.
Sources told Pakistan Today on Tuesday that the commission earlier had to submit its report on August 28. However, it could not do so for unknown reasons. The judicial commission was formed in March 2010 with Justice (r) Kamal Mansoor Alam, a former SC judge as its head. The other two members are Justice (r) Nasira Javed Iqbal, a former Lahore High Court judge and Justice (r) Fazlur Rehman, a former Balochistan High Court judge.
Defence of Human Rights chairwoman Amina Masood Janjua, whose husband, Masood Janjua, is missing since 2005 and she is also assisting the commission. When contacted, she said, “The families of thousands of missing persons are anxiously waiting for the report.”
She said the formation of the commission was encouraging for the relatives of the missing persons. However, they have been disappointed as there has been no outcome yet. She said the commission’s report, which had been delayed for unknown reasons, should be submitted and made public as promised by the government, adding that the testimonies submitted by the people released by intelligence agencies were with the Interior Ministry but no one was being given a copy of those documents, “which is strange as it’s a negation of the government’s assurance that every output of the commission would be made public”.
She said the families of missing persons were living a miserable life and hoped that the recommendations of the commission would also include compensation for these families. According to the sources, the commission had recorded statements of abducted people who were later released and also attained the record from various departments. They said the commission had traced 74 missing persons which the intelligence agencies had claimed were in their custody.
They said only Zafar Iqbal of the 74 missing persons was lucky enough to establish contact with his family but only once and that too while in the custody of a spy agency. According to estimates, the number of missing persons may have crossed 8,000.
Organisations like the Defence of Human Rights and the Voice of Balochistan Missing Persons have compiled separate lists of missing persons. The Defence of Human Rights has registering 950 missing persons, whereas the Voice of Balochistan Missing Persons has a list of 1,200 missing Baloch, whose names do not appear in the list compiled by the Defence of Human Rights. The commission is mandated to prepare a comprehensive list of missing persons with all relevant information and evidence, recommend appropriate procedure for tracing them and also recommend compensation for their families.
The commission was also empowered to fix the responsibility of who carried out the abductions and suggest ways and means to prevent reoccurrence of such events in the future.
