Far-Reaching Impacts of Enforced Disappearance in Pakistan

Enforced disappearance in Pakistan has long been a potentially harmful measure used by the state to counter all forms of opposition in the country. Indeed, the cruel practice has a far-reaching impact on the victims, their families, and the whole society.

Amnesty International issued a new briefing document on Monday 22 November urging Pakistan to stop using the enforced disappearance as a state measure against opposition members. The report stated: “The Pakistani authorities must end their abhorrent use of enforced disappearance.”

It pointed out: “The practice has been routinely used by Pakistan’s intelligence services since the inception of the so-called 'War on Terror' in 2001, to target human rights defenders, political activists, students, and journalists, with the fate of hundreds of victims still unknown.”

 

Abduction and Torture 

“Even if the president or chief justice tells us to release you, we won’t. We can torture you, or kill you, or keep you for years at our will. It is only the army chief and the [intelligence] chief that we obey,” a Pakistani official told Bashir Azeem, the 76-year-old secretary-general of the Baloch Republican Party, during his unacknowledged detention, in April 2010. His witness came during an interview by the Human Rights Watch Organization.

In fact, the Human Rights Watch interviewed over 100 individuals in Pakistan, including family members of disappeared individuals, persons who had been in detention centers and then released, local human rights activists, lawyers, and other witnesses.

According to Nasrullah Baloch, the Chairperson of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, a collective working for the release of victims of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, he reported that the security forces in Pakistan do not deny their involvement in abducting opposition members, they pretend that they are hunting for “militants.” In 2019, they said that the missing persons are likely to be members of “rebel groups” or terrorist organizations.

 

Families​'​ Indelible Pain

Amnesty's “Living Ghosts” report about this criminal practice was based on interviews with 10 family members of people whose fate remained obscure after they were kidnapped by Pakistan’s security services.

The report revealed the pain and suffering of the victim’s families. The distress covered all aspects of their lives. The report emphasized that losing a family member does not only cause deep psychological pain but also disturbs the economic situation of the family. Many family members losing their breadwinner, especially when the father is abducted, remain in extreme poverty. The pain generated also stress-related health problems, social isolation, and stigmatization.

Rehab Mahamoor Amnesty International’s Acting South Asia Researcher stated that: “Enforced disappearance is a cruel practice that has caused indelible pain to hundreds of families in Pakistan over the past two decades. On top of the untold anguish of losing a loved one and having no idea of their whereabouts or safety, families endure other long-term effects including ill-health and financial problems.”

The enforced disappearances deprive families and communities of the right to know the truth about their loved ones, and from the right to sue the perpetrators for justice and reparations to prevail.

 

The Atmosphere of Fear and Mistrust

Enforced disappearance is considered a strategic method of spreading terror within society. The sense of insecurity that this practice generates is not limited to the relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their local population groups and society as a whole.

The United Nations considers that enforced disappearance also generally violates the economic, social, and cultural rights of both victims and their families. Thus, it dramatically affects the society as a whole. Most families of enforced disappearance lose with the “missing person” the right to protection and assistance, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to health, and finally the right to education. Which affects society as a whole by wasting the potential of its citizens and their children. 

On another side, the political violence and the dictatorship style of ruling that adopts the enforced disappearance as apparatus to control its citizens induce an atmosphere of fear and mistrust in the society. This collective sense of fear has medium and long-term consequences for the person himself and for society as a whole. 

Amina Masood Janjua, a human rights activist and chairperson of Defence of Human Rights Pakistan pointed out that there are more than 5000 reported cases of enforced disappearance in Pakistan, with no formal charges against the persons who forcefully disappeared.

 

International Condemnation

It is noteworthy that enforced disappearance is strictly prohibited under international human rights law in all conditions.

In fact, the Charter of the United Nations imposed on states the obligation to promote universal and effective respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992, noted the severity of enforced disappearance, which constitutes a crime and, in certain circumstances established by international law, constitutes a crime against humanity.

In August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned against using "enforced disappearances" as a means of repression, terror, and stifling dissent.

He emphasized that: "Enforced disappearances continue to be used around the world as a means of repression, terror and stifling dissent."

He added, "Ironically, it is sometimes used under the pretext of fighting crime or terrorism," noting that "lawyers, witnesses, the political opposition and human rights defenders are particularly at risk of enforced disappearance."

He stressed the need for “all states to fulfill their obligations to prevent enforced disappearances, search for victims, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators.”