The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday criticised the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances over its failure to recover the forcibly disappeared persons.
During the hearing of a case pertaining to the recovery of Zahid Amin, who has been missing for eight years, and Sadiq Amin, who went missing a year ago, IHC CJ Athar Minallah said the commission has failed to fulfill its responsibility.
The court directed the commission to submit a clarification as to why it failed to take effective action against the disappearances. The commission should also submit a report regarding why it failed to take action after its production orders for the recovery of the missing persons were apparently snubbed, it added.
In hindsight, it is apparent that the proceedings that followed the issuance of the production orders were merely a formality. “Why didn’t the commission give its recommendations regarding eradication of enforced disappearances to the federal government despite a passage of 10 years?” the court asked. As per the record, the commission has never sought proceedings in case its production orders were ignored, added the IHC. CJ Minallah said the high court had said time and again that enforced disappearances were a heinous crime and added it was the responsibility of the commission to approach the families of the missing persons to facilitate them.
