PAKISTAN –
Disappearances, A written submission to UN Human Rights Council
1. Balochistan province,
at this moment in time, may be said to be the place in the world where the
largest number of enforced disappearances take place. The Supreme Court of
Pakistan and several High Courts have recognised the high level of
disappearances that take place in the province. However, neither the courts nor
the government have been able to take any effective steps to stop the practice
of enforced disappearances or even to bring down the numbers of such instances
that take place. Conservative estimates place the number of enforced
disappearances at between 10,000 and 15,000.
2. In response to the
large scale enforced disappearances taking place in Balochistan a long march
has been undertaken by the families of disappeared persons and their
sympathizers calling for the recovery of the missing persons. The first leg of
the march was from Balochistan to Karachi where the marchers walked for nearly
730 kilometers. The participants continued with the march despite of death
threats being leveled against them. The marchers received warm welcomes
throughout the journey where expressions of solidarity pointed out the brutal
situation prevailing in Balochistan.
3. The government of
Pakistan has refused to take any active steps to sign the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It
appears that the government is under pressure from the armed forces and the
intelligence services to avoid any serious steps to discourage the practice of
enforced disappearances as a counter insurgency measure against the people of
Balochistan. The parliament has not held any serious debate on the issue of
enforced disappearances despite of the Supreme Court and High Courts making
some attempts to intervene in the issue.
4. The Asian Legal
Resource Centre (ALRC) draws the attention of the Working Group on Enforced
Disappearances of the United Nations to intervene in order to stop the
disappearances and the accompanying brutality such as large scale illegal
abductions and the mutilation of bodies. As the Working Group on Enforced
Disappearances is aware of the ongoing large scale disappearances through the
interventions of many human rights organisations the appropriate response from
the Working Group, as well as other UN agencies should be to cause a serious discussion
with the government of Pakistan and to provide advice and any other technical
assistance in order that the government may intervene more clearly and
decisively to stop the ongoing practice of enforced disappearances.
5. The ALRC also calls
on the international human rights community to treat the problem of enforced
disappearances in Balochistan as one of the top priorities of the civil society
organisations and to take appropriate with the government of Pakistan as well
as the relevant authorities in their own countries and the relevant United
Nations agencies.
The delay or failure to act under these
circumstances will lead to the loss of lives on a daily basis in Balochistan.
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About the ALRC: The Asian Legal
Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation
holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights
Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage
positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national
levels throughout Asia.
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