ISLAMABAD: A leading Pakistani human rights group has accused the country’s official commission on enforced disappearances of closing cases without proper investigation, warning that the practice is denying justice to hundreds of families.
The Defence of Human Rights (DHR), chaired by long-time campaigner Amina Masood Janjua, said it was “deeply alarmed” by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances’ (COIED) claim that it had resolved 103 cases in a single month. Such rapid disposals, the group argued, point to perfunctory hearings in which complaints are dismissed within minutes and family evidence is ignored.
In a statement reported by Dawn, DHR said many of the commission’s conclusions — such as noting that “the detainee disappeared by himself” — mislead the public and obscure the scale of the problem. One of the 21 cases DHR tracked among the August closures involved a man who had already reappeared alive a decade ago but was only now officially “disposed of” by the COIED.
The watchdog warned that bulk closures under vague headings erode the commission’s credibility and violate the Supreme Court’s intent when it created the body to provide speedy but fair relief to victims’ families. Blanket assertions of voluntary disappearance, DHR added, are especially troubling where substantial evidence suggests state involvement.
Enforced disappearances remain a chronic human-rights challenge in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where activists and relatives have for years accused security agencies of detaining critics in secret. International groups have also pressed Islamabad to deliver transparency and accountability.
DHR urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to overhaul the commission’s procedures and strengthen oversight. “Justice cannot be delivered through hurried dismissals,” it said, calling for a thorough review of investigative mechanisms and fair treatment for victims’ families.
The criticism adds to mounting domestic and international pressure on Pakistani authorities to reform how missing-persons cases are handled and to restore public trust in a process meant to address one of the country’s most painful human-rights issues.
