ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International on Monday urged Pakistani authorities to stop years of forcible disappearances of suspected terrorists without trial, calling the practice abhorrent.
In a report titled “living ghost”, the rights group described the difficulties faced by missing families in obtaining information about their detained relatives. It said hundreds of Pakistani rights defenders, activists, students and journalists have gone missing since the start of the US-led war on terrorism.
in such prisoners Idris Khatki, which disappeared in 2019 while traveling in the northwest of the country. Weeks later, officials acknowledged that he was in their custody on unspecified treason charges. Khattak worked for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch before disappearing.
Forced disappearance is a cruel practice that has caused indelible pain to hundreds of families in Pakistan over the past two decades. With the untold pain of losing a loved one and no idea of their whereabouts or safety, families suffer other long-term effects, including poor health and financial problems, said Amnesty International’s acting South Asia researcher Rihab Mahmoor.
He asked Pakistan to reveal the fate and whereabouts of all the missing people to their families and release those who are still being held. The group also urged the authorities to prosecute such enforced disappearances.
There was no immediate comment from the government, which has repeatedly denied the allegations. It added that most of the missing in recent years had gone to Afghanistan to join terrorist groups.
Although Pakistani law prohibits detention without court approval, officials have privately acknowledged that there was an unspecified number of suspects to be detained by intelligence agencies.
Published in Dawn, November 23, 2021