Islamabad, the 2nd June, 2022: The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has serious concerns about the practice of enforced disappearances and welcomes the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order directing the Federal Government to produce missing persons before the court.

The practice of enforced disappearances is a violation of international human rights norms and the Constitution of Pakistan. Called the “[seemingly] undeclared tacit policy of the state” by IHC, enforced disappearances affect not only the disappeared, but also their families, especially women and children, who are given no information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

NCHR hopes that IHC’s order holding chief executives and interior ministers, both past and present, accountable for enforced disappearances will result in the return of missing persons to their families. NCHR welcomes the notification issued by the Government of Pakistan to form a committee to deliberate on a policy related to enforced disappearances, and encourages the committee to also reformulate and pass a bill on enforced disappearances.