Contents

INTRODUCTION:........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

DEFINITION .............................................................................................................................................. 2
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON MISSING PERSONS (ICMP): ..................................... 4
RIGHTS OF MISSING PERSONS: ......................................................................................................... 2
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:........................................................................................................................ 2
SALIENT POINTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW RELATED TO MISSING PERSONS:......... Error!
Bookmark not defined.
ROLE OF COURT: ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Case No. H.R.C.No.965/05 ...................................................................................................................... 5
REMARKS: .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Case No HRC NO.2724/2007: ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
BIBLOGRAPHY: ........................................................................................................................................ 8
 MISSING PERSONS

“Addressing the issue of missing persons is key to upholding the rule of law and
preventing systemic and egregious human rights violations,”

DEFINITION:
The term missing persons can simply be defined as, individuals of whom their families
have no news and/or who, on the basis of reliable information, have been reported
missing as a result of an armed conflict or any other situation that might require action
by a neutral and independent body.

The definition of a family member of a missing person will in principle be found in

domestic law, but must include at least close kin.

ICMP Director- General Kathryne Bomberger said. “When people go missing,

governments are legally bound to uphold the rights of survivors to the truth, to justice
and to reparations. In many scenarios around the world today, these legal obligations
are not fully met and sometimes disregarded entirely.”

REASON FOR PEOPLE BEING MISSING:

People may disappear for quiet a many reasons:
By becoming the victim of kidnapping, abduction (of a minor) by a non-custodial parent,
victim of murder, mental illness, seizure by government officials or agencies without due
process of law, sold into slavery, serfdom, sexual servitude, or other un-free labor. To
avoid discovery of a crime, to avoid war or joining a cult and many other

RIGHTS OF MISSING PERSONS:

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:
All persons without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, shall enjoy the following fundamental rights:

(a) The right not to be arbitrarily deprived of his/her life;

(b) The right to be protected against torture, and other cruel, inhumane or degrading
treatment;
(c) The right to liberty and security, and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty;
(d) Right to a fair trial affording all judicial guarantees;
(e) The right to respect for family life;
(f) The right to know the reason for his or her incarceration.
(g) The right to recognition as a person before the law.
(h) Foreign citizens shall be entitled to the same rights under the present Law as
citizens of (name of the State) unless they benefit from a better protection prescribed by
other legislation

RAMIFICATION OF PERSON BEING MISSING:

As a result of this misfortune a variety of issues may arise not only the distress that the
family and friends have to go through but also the issues regarding the family laws and
property may arise. The parties may not be able to deal with the persons assets until
their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate and hence the
property may die with the burden of legal jurisdiction which may continue for ages and
the window/wife will be under the heavy burden of uncertainty regarding her marriage
and as under the Islamic law she would not be able to marry and incase if she does and
somehow the person appears after a long period of time the family will have once more
to go through trauma.

SITUATION IN PAKISTAN:
Missing persons is a generic term used in Pakistan to refer to the alleged seemingly
hundreds of persons in Pakistan who have been forcefully disappeared by the different
security and law enforcement agencies.
There are more than 70,000 reported cases of enforced disappearance in Pakistan.
There are no formal allegations or charges against the persons thus forcefully
disappeared.
Reports of forced abductions by the Pakistani state first began arising in 2001, in the
aftermath of the United states invasion of Afghanistan and the commencement of the
US-led War on terror. Many of the missing persons are activists associated with the
secular Baloch nationalist and Sindh nationalist movements.
According to the International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, 18,000 Baloch have
gone missing by January 2014. Of these, 2,000 were killed between 2001 and
2013.According to a Voice for Missing Baloch Persons, 463 people were forcibly
disappeared in Balochistan, out of whom 157 were tortured to death, in 2015.

WAYS TO ELIMINATE IT:

When a person goes missing, the first step to find him/her is by seeking help from police
department by filing an FIR (First Information Report). It is very essential for a country to
have an efficient police department in order to eliminate the issue of people being
missing. There are several government and non-governmental organizations formed to
help the families of people who have been missing. Following is the list:
 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN:
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), is an independent, non-
profit organisation, founded in 1987, which is not associated or affiliated with the
 government or any political party. It is committed to act with impartiality and
objectivity in all matters.

 INTERNATIONAL VOICE FOR BALOCHISTAN MISSING PERSONS:

Abdul Qadeer Baloch is a Baloch rights activist from the Balochistan province of
Pakistan. He is the founder of the 'International Voice for Baloch Missing
Persons. Qadeer came to national and international attention in 2013 when he
traveled more than 2,000 kilometers from Balochistan to Islamabad along with
other Baloch men and women to protest against the issue of Baloch missing
persons.

 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON MISSING PERSONS (ICMP):

It is an intergovernmental organization that addresses the issue of persons
missing as a result of armed conflicts, violations of human rights, and natural
disasters. It is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands. It
assists governments in the exhumation of mass
graves and DNA identification of missing persons, provides support to family
associations of missing persons, and assists in creating strategies and
institutions to search for missing persons.

 THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

(ICEMC):
ICEMC is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with a regional presence in
Brazil and Singapore, is a private non-governmental, nonprofit global
organization formed in 1998, ICMEC heads a global missing children's network of
22 countries. The organization has trained law enforcement personnel from 121
countries, works with INTERPOL, law enforcement, and elected officials
worldwide to combat child pornography and abduction.

 INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS & RED CRECENT MOVEMENT:International

Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement through their FamilyLinks website they
help track people who are missing after a natural disaster or displaced by war to
re-unite with their families. The movement consists of several distinct
organizations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within
the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes
and governing organizations.

 UNITED NATION HUMAN RIGHT COUNCIL (OFFICE OF THE HIGH

COMMISSIONER):
In 1980, the five-member group was established to examine the Christian
relevant to enforce or involuntary disappearances of persons. Its members are
independent and report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
 Even they have gone that far that a working group of United Nation have visited
Pakistan for ten days on September 2012 on the invitation from the government
in order to gather the information on cases of enforced disappearances.
 ROLE OF COURT:
The initiation of the case of missing persons by the Supreme Court of Pakistan is
an important milestone in the judicial history of Pakistan. The efficacy of court
interventions in matters relating to missing persons is often questioned especially
in situations where the military trace the whereabouts of disappeared persons,
since they lack the power to search places of detention controlled by the military.
It is also alleged that the right to habeas corpus has been systematically
undermined, and in some cases, the courts have ordered that the disappeared
persons be produced before the courts, but these orders have reportedly been
ignored by the military.
For example, after the large scale arbitrary arrests and abductions of members of
the MQM in 1995, family members filed petitions with the High Courts of Lahore
and Karachi, requesting that their relatives be brought before a judicial authority.
However, it is reported that such persons were never produced before the courts
or any judicial body, nor was any information provided to the relatives about the
whereabouts of these detained persons.
A recent constitutional petition seeking direction to discover the whereabouts of a
missing person and to produce him before the court is a typical example of the
court’s desperate attempts to unsuccessfully get cooperation from every
conceivable executive authority.
This situation is likely to persist unless the courts prosecute both those found
guilty of the crime of enforced disappearance as well as those who aid and abet
such a crime.

CASES RELATED TO MISSING PERSON:

Case No. H.R.C.No.965/05
Court: Supreme Court
Complainant/Action Taken upon:
Saqlain Mehdi, Managing Editor, Pakistan Group of News Papers, Islamabad
FACTS OF THE CASE:
The complainant, Mr. Masood Ahmed Jungjua, chief executive of various Business
organizations was missing mysteriously since last five months. Thereafter, on the same
issue several complaints were also received, which are pending adjudication.
CASE STATUS:
On 3rd may 2010 the case was last listened in the Supreme Court, in which additional
attorney general stated that since the commencement of commission no progress and
no person could be recovered during the last four weeks. Secretary foreign affairs was
directed to issue directive to all the ambassadors to take effective measures to assist
those Pakistani nationals who are in jails in different countries specially middle-east,
thiland and Afghanistan
The Supreme Court has sought report from authorities concerned over missing persons,
while raising question, under what law persons have been kept in internment centers for
years
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan observed, if a meeting could be arranged for an Indian spy with
his wife then what barred the concerned authorities to extend the same facilities for
Pakistani citizens. The apex court indicated that whosoever was found responsible for
disappearance would have to answer for each day of confinement of the missing
person.
Justice Javed Iqbal observed that, the intelligence agencies abroad had certain laws
and could not function against the law, ‘ there is no law that permits the abduction of
people.’
On regards to the very same case, Justice Javed Iqbal stated ‘ I wonder how
democracy gets jeopardized all of a sudden,’ adding that, even judges rendered
sacrifices more than anyone else for restoration of democracy. Justice Javed Iqbal
observed that cases like missing persons pose threat to democracy instead of any
judicial verdict

The landmark case of NAVEED BUTT (hizb-ut-tehrir spokesperson):

FACTS:
On 11th may 2012 it is reported that Naveed Butt was abducted by Pakistan security
services from outside his home in Lahore. His current whereabouts are unknown.
The family of Naveed Butt claims that the Pakistani Intelligence institutions have
sent them messages saying that unless he (Naveed Butt) stops his political work and
abandons the call for the Khilafah in Pakistan he would be killed and his body dumped
somewhere.
COURT: Supreme Court

Islamabad High Court ordered Pakistan's security services to produce him before the
court. Despite this request, the Pakistani security services failed to produce Naveed
Butt on Friday 18 May 2012 and he is still missing.

Case No. C.M.A.No.4420/2009

COURT:
Complainant/action taken upone:
This Civil Misc. Application along with list of Missing Person was filed in Const. Petition
No.05/2007 by M.S.Khattak, AOR on behalf of Petitioner Namely Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan through its secretary General.
FACTS OF THE CASE:
As one of the many disappeared during the period of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's rule, the
campaign to "find" him and get him released included prominent human rights
organizations, including Amnesty International,[1] and the Asian Human Rights
Commission calling for his release, while The New York Times and other news
organizations reported that his health was in jeopardy because the Pakistani
government refused to allow him necessary medical attention.
On February 24, 2006, he was seized and, according to eyewitnesses, beaten severely
by members of the Pakistani security forces and held in secret for eighteen months.
In October 2007, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, then Chief Justice of the
Pakistani Supreme Court, compelled the Pakistani government to acknowledge that it
had detained and was continuing to hold Sarki, and order him brought before the courts
for further inquiry. Pakistani police then announced that Sarki was being held on
charges relating to possession of illegal weapons. In early November 2007, a local
judge ordered that Sarki be granted bail and released from custody.
Case status:
After several delays, a renewed hearing on Sarki's detention has been set for January
28, 2008. Both Sarki's lawyers and Ali Dayan Hasan, a senior Human RIghts Watch
official, told The New York Times that they fear further judicial proceedings will be
postponed until Sarki's continued physical deterioration ends in his death.

HELD:
He was released on May 2, 2008, after the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the
heads of Pakistan's Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to
produce him or appear in court personally.

THE CASE OF MUZAFFAR BHUTTO:

Muzafar Bhutto was abducted twice by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan. In first
detainment he was abducted in 2005 and enforcedly disappeared and tortured for 15
months.[2]Bhutto was taken second time from the New Saeedabad toll plaza by
unknown armed personnel.
He was allegedly killed by the interservice intelligence and his deadbody was
found near Hyderabad by-pass.
CONCLUSION:
As many cases clearly show the common citizen of the state that, the agencies and
many other government institutions can, at any time possible, restrict, bind and deprive
the people from their freedom on the basis of absurd and illogical allegations.....does
this feel like the democracy and the freedom as it has been stated in the constitution
and meant to be what it was? i guess not. Is the life of a citizen in the islamic republic of
Pakistan worth this less? Even though, there is no disagreement that there are so many
organisations which are working to help and assist this matter fact, but, it feels like a
long and tough journey ahead.

BIBLOGRAPHY:

http://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/un-team-on-missing-persons-arrives/
https://www.icmp.int/the-missing/
http://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/hrcp-activists/
https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/14170/is-it-time-for-un-intervention-on-the-missing-
persons-in-balochistan/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Commission_on_Missing_Persons
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57226#.WjpkXt-WbIU
https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sgsm17808.doc.htm
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/MissingPersons.as
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