Amna Masood Janjua, chairperson of Defence of Human Rights (DHR), told journalists at the National Press Club Islamabad that removing cases en masse will not erase the reality of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. She warned that attempts to close files by the dozen amount to denying justice to affected families and do not change the facts on the ground.
Speaking alongside prominent activists Tahira Abdullah and Iman Mazari, Ms Janjua said the Commission on Enforced Disappearances has failed in its mandate and must immediately resume hearings in all affected cases. She described the recent practice of striking cases from the commission’s records as a disturbing policy shift that the DHR strongly condemns.
The DHR chairperson said that over the past 10 months the commission removed 770 complaints from its records without delivering justice to the petitioners. She recalled that DHR’s sustained advocacy and more than 750 cases taken to the Supreme Court previously compelled the state to acknowledge that enforced disappearances are a reality, prompting the establishment of the commission in 2010 and 2011.
While civil society and legal circles have long demanded a better framework to address missing persons, Ms Janjua urged the government and the commission to fulfil their duties in the interim. She insisted that closing cases in bulk will not silence hundreds of victims or erase the need for accountability and redress for families of the missing.
Ms Janjua noted that international bodies, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, have taken notice of the commission’s recent case dismissals and expressed serious concern. The DHR repeated its call for all removed complaints to be reopened, fully investigated and for concrete steps to be taken to provide justice to affected families across Pakistan.
