Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday that the problem of missing persons “cannot be solved overnight”, but the government is trying to find a solution first by reaching an agreement among all stakeholders.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the law minister said that the four-decade-old problem “cannot be solved overnight or concern anyone or social media platforms or courts. When the issue of missing persons was discussed, the law minister said that Pakistan has played the role of the state frontline in the region due to the war in the last four decades and said that there are conditions in neighboring countries worsening.
Noting that the sacrifices of people and the Pakistani army have paid an “unbelievable price” in the war against terrorism, Azam said the issue of missing persons should also be considered. Efforts to resolve the extradition of missing persons began in 2011 under the leadership of the PPP government when the Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances was established. The Supreme Court then took notice of the matter and constituted a commission. About 10,200 cases have been referred to the board, of which 7,900 cases have been resolved, leaving 23 percent of pending cases. Azam said. During the previous PML-N-led coalition government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed the committee with representatives from other coalition parties. During the visit to Quetta, the committee met with several stakeholders, with the law minister alerting them to their presence and asking for reports on missing persons. He said that an order had been given to resume the inquiry into the forced removal of Azam Shehbaz, and the Prime Minister had ordered the reconstitution of the committee. He also stated that the committee would hold a “parliamentary meeting”. Acknowledging that more work needs to be done on the issues raised by both parties, Azam insisted that there was no seriousness. He said that it is not possible to suggest that government agencies are involved in the matter, but it remains to be seen if any strong or concrete evidence will come forward. From what I saw in the report, until I was on the committee, the answer seemed to be negative. “The law minister has questioned whether investigative reports such as missing persons reports can always be trusted.” Is it this person? registered as a missing person? He recalled the cases of registered persons in Sindh who are in jail, the Law Minister said that this issue is not easily resolved and he intends to resolve it through legal and political consensus. that finding a solution is the task of the executive and that any judicial committee will frustrate the efforts of the previous commission of inquiry and the ministerial committee appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the case of the removal of Buluch students, where IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that one day the intelligence officers will also held accountable for the case. “The penalty for forced removal should be the death penalty,” he said at the next hearing. The IHC also directed the creation of a joint committee of intelligence chiefs, an Inter-Services Intelligence Alliance. (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) to trace the whereabouts of the missing students from Bulgaria. However, the federal government approached the IHC to withdraw the order.
