Pakistan’s top judges review missing persons issue amid rights outcry

Pakistan’s Supreme Court held a high-level meeting on Friday to review the government’s response to enforced disappearances, as human rights lawyers warned that official assurances remain symbolic and detached from reality.

The 55th meeting of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) was chaired by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi at the Supreme Court in Islamabad. It was attended by the chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court, chief justices of all provincial high courts and the attorney general of Pakistan.

According to an official statement, the committee reviewed the implementation of past decisions and “unanimously reiterated its resolve to strengthen institutional capacity, accelerate access to justice, and ensure efficient and effective justice delivery.”

Attorney General says issue ‘almost resolved’

Opening the meeting, Chief Justice Afridi invited the attorney general to brief the committee on institutional efforts to address enforced disappearances. The attorney general told participants that “the issue of enforced disappearances has almost been resolved” following amendments to Section 11EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, which now mandates that detainees be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours.

He added that a comprehensive mechanism to ensure compliance with this legal provision is being developed and will be presented at the committee’s next meeting.

Rights lawyers call assurances ‘superficial’

Human rights advocates, however, rejected the official account as insufficient and disconnected from conditions on the ground.

Former Pakistan Army colonel and human rights lawyer Inam ur Raheem, who has pursued disappearance cases for years, told Nukta that despite legal amendments, the state has failed to implement even basic safeguards.

“The law allows keeping alleged suspects in custody for three months, but no one knows how many have actually been produced before a magistrate within 24 hours,” he said.

Inam said the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) has ordered the release of over 700 individuals after declaring them victims of enforced disappearance, but none have been brought before a court of law.

“This order was related to then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and later taken up by former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa as well, but the situation has not changed,” he noted.

He cited the case of Major Haroon, who was abducted while traveling from Jhelum to Rawalpindi and has not been presented before any court for four months. Haroon previously spent 14 years in illegal detention before being released on the orders of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani of the Islamabad High Court, only to be abducted again.

“These are not missing persons anymore - they are cases of enforced disappearances, and the state must be held accountable,” Inam added.

He also described the NJPMC’s meetings as “largely symbolic.” “Attorney generals give briefings to the chief justice of Pakistan, and the CJP simply accepts them,” he said, adding that even service matters decided during the tenure of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remain unimplemented.

‘Lack of understanding of global norms’

Human rights lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari voiced similar concerns, saying the government’s approach reflected a lack of understanding of how the issue has been addressed globally.

“It appears from this that the attorney general has no understanding of the issue of enforced disappearances or how it has been resolved in countries where the practice once existed,” Mazari told Nukta.

She said the 26th constitutional amendment has made it even harder to register FIRs in disappearance cases, while the Commission of Inquiry remains neither independent nor aligned with international standards.

“The repeated conflation of terrorism with enforced disappearances is intellectual dishonesty,” she said, adding that courts are often unwilling or unable to exercise their powers in habeas corpus petitions.

Ongoing disappearances and limited accountability

Mazari cited data from Baloch organizations claiming over 300 new cases of enforced disappearances so far in 2025. Among them is Saeed Ullah Baloch, a student at Quaid-i-Azam University who was taken off a bus in Islamabad on July 8 and has not been produced before any court.

She also pointed to the case of Jeeyand Liaqat, a Baloch law student later produced before an anti-terrorism court after several days in custody, and the abduction of two brothers of journalist Ahmad Noorani, who were released after more than a month.

New data released by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) on September 9 highlights the scale of the issue. According to its monthly report, 103 cases were disposed of and 11 new cases registered during August 2025, including several from Islamabad.

Between March 2011 and August 2025, the Commission received 10,618 cases and disposed of 8,873, tracing the whereabouts of 6,809 people. Another 1,745 cases remain under investigation at its registries in Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, and Lahore.

The Commission also announced that its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registry would become operational in late September and that hearings via video link had been introduced to improve accessibility.

Legal reforms without enforcement

While officials cite these measures as signs of progress, rights lawyers argue that they fall short of meaningful accountability.

“We have legal amendments and meetings, but no real implementation,” said Inam. “Until the state actually follows the law and produces detainees before courts, enforced disappearances will continue.”