The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will undertake its first visit to Pakistan from 10-20 September at the invitation of the government. During the mission, the UN experts will gather information on cases of enforced disappearances pending before the Working Group. They will also study the measures adopted by the state to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances, including issues related to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of enforced disappearances.
The Working Group will visit various parts of the country and meet with state officials, both at the federal and provincial levels, as well as with representatives of civil society organizations, relatives of disappeared persons and representatives of relevant UN agencies. The Working Group will be represented by Olivier de Frouville, the Chair-Rapporteur, and by Osman El-Hajjé member. The independent experts will be accompanied by members of the Secretariat of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Working Group will hold a press conference at the end of the visit in Islamabad.
A final report on the mission will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in 2013. The Working Group is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Olivier de Frouville (France) while the other members are Ariel Dulitzky (Argentina), Jasminka Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Osman El-Hajjé (Lebanon), and Jeremy Sarkin (South Africa).
It is sounding like an alarm bell. Involuntary disappearances of people is a very serious issue. I hope that agencies responsible will give this matter a serious thought. Now the world is so well connected that for a country with collapsed economy the repercussions will be damn serious.
Comments are closed.