Islamabad [Pakistan]: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday summoned Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on February 19 over the failure to recover allegedly missing Baloch students, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.
The court summoned Anwaarul Haq Kakar as Islamabad High Court’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resumed hearing a petition regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on enforced disappearances, according to Dawn report.
The commission was formed in 2011 to find missing persons and fix responsibility on the people or organisations responsible for them. In November last year, the IHC said a case could be lodged against the caretaker PM and others if they were unable to find the missing Baloch students and unite them with their families.
During that hearing, the Attorney General for Pakistan said that out of 50 missing persons, 22 had been recovered. He further said that the whereabouts of 28 others were still unknown.
At the previous hearing on January 10, Justice Kayani stated that a day would come when intelligence officials would also be held accountable and face prosecution for their cases, Dawn reported.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Kayani expressed displeasure over the failure of the authorities to find the missing persons and said, “The punishment for enforced disappearances should be the death penalty.”
He further said, “Usually the death penalty is awarded once but in these cases, the punishment should be given twice.” The judge stated that he was summoning Pakistan’s caretaker PM for now and would later issue instructions for the incoming PM to appear before the court, according to Dawn report.
During the hearing, Assistant Attorney General Usman Ghumman said that the government required more time in the case. He said that another Baloch missing student had been recovered.
However, Justice Kayani remarked that he was being “generous” by not summoning the director generals of the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence.
Subsequently, Justice Kayani directed Kakar to appear in court on February 19 at 10 am (local time) and tell the court why a case should not be lodged against him.
According to a report released in December last year by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Defence of Human Rights (DHR), Pakistan reported 51 more cases of enforced disappearances by 2023.
The DHR said, “The total number of cases stands at 3,120, with 51 cases registered in 2023 alone. Notably, 595 individuals have been released and reunited with their families, 246 people have been traced, and 88 cases have sadly resulted in extrajudicial killings.”
According to the report, 17 missing persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were released, while the whereabouts of two others were traced. Furthermore, one person was extrajudicially killed, while another 20 remained missing.
Out of the 82 missing persons from Balochistan, the whereabouts of 67 people remained unknown, while 12 were released. According to the report, two people were traced and one was extrajudicially killed.
In Islamabad, 47 people remained missing, while 32 were released. Meanwhile, seven people were traced and three were extrajudicially killed.
According to the report, out of the 1,091 missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 121 people were released, while 151 people were traced. Meanwhile, 792 people remained missing and 27 were extrajudicially killed, according to Dawn report.
In Punjab, 343 people were released, while 76 were traced. Meanwhile, 323 people remained missing and 46 people were extrajudicially killed. In Sindh, 134 people remained missing and 70 people were released. According to the report, eight people were traced, while 10 people were extrajudicially killed.
Earlier on February 11, Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch alleged that families of missing persons who participated in the march were being forcibly disappeared by the state and termed it a “cruel act of targeting families of victims to sabotage their struggle.”
She mentioned that the whereabouts of Gulkhan Shikari, his son Miran Shikari, and Zahid, son of Aktar Muhammad, remain unknown since their abduction on February 7, 2024. She urged human rights organisations to speak out against state barbarism.
In a post on X, Mahrang Baloch stated, “The families of Baloch missing persons who participated in the march are being forcibly disappeared by the state, a cruel act of targeting victim families to sabotage their struggle.”
“The whereabouts of Gulkhan Shikari, his son Miran Shikari, and Zahid son of Aktar Muhammad remain unknown since their abduction on February 7, 2024. They joined the march for the release of Nawab Imran and Najeeb Baloch. Their lives are in grave danger. We urge human rights organisations to speak out against state barbarism,” she added.
Earlier in December, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) organised a massive, long march to raise their voice against the issue of enforced disappearances. This long march witnessed massive participation from every corner of Balochistan. The march had started in Turbat, reached Quetta, and eventually ended in Islamabad.
On January 23, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) announced ending their sit-in outside the National Press Club (NPC) in Islamabad against enforced disappearances, Pakistan-based The News International reported.
At that time, Mahrang Baloch said they would head back to Balochistan with pain, suffering and anti-Baloch attitudes of Islamabad. The decision of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee came a day after NPC Islamabad registered a complaint with the Kohsar Police Station on Monday requesting to remove the Baloch protesters from the open park in front of the NPC.
