Balochistan govt plans to set new commission to trace missing persons

Balochistan [Pakistan], January 5 (ANI): Balochistan government is planning to set up a new commission to trace missing persons, reported New Pakistan, adding that the Commission, if formed, would be the third government body in Pakistan to be given the task.

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, formed by the Supreme Court, and the commission set up by the Islamabad High Court, are already looking into the matter, according to the report.

The government instead of forming various commissions and committees should enforce steps to hold accountable the state element responsible for the enforced disappearances, according to a Dawn report quoted by New Pakistan.

According to New Pakistan, the Pakistani state has the tendency to act like an ostrich, instead of dealing with reality, it prefers to hide its head in the sand by simply setting up another commission. The people of Pakistan, including those who forcibly disappeared, deserve more than simply another commission, it said.

Pakistan's Missing Persons Commission recently presented a report to the Pakistan Supreme Court regarding the number of prisoners in detention centres. In the report, the Commission said that 974 people declared 'missing' were in detention centres while 616 remained in prisons, The Express Tribune reported.

In the report, the Missing Persons Commission revealed that 81 people returned to their homes in November. The commission said that they had received complaints of 9,133 missing people.

Among them, the Commission was able to trace 5,574 people while 3,743 returned to their homes, the Missing Persons Commission informed, according to The Express Tribune.

According to the report, the bodies of 241 missing persons were recovered. The report further revealed that cases of 6,926 missing people had been dealt with. Furthermore, as of November 30, 2,207 cases of missing persons were pending, as per The Express Tribune report.

According to the report, the Missing Persons Commission said it had received a report of 98 cases in November while 101 were disposed of.

The chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, Nasrullah Baloch, recently, has said that the number of enforced disappearance cases in Pakistan has increased.

Raising concern over the issue, Nasrullah Baloch said the number of forced missing cases has increased in Balochistan and at the same time the killing of missing persons in fake encounters is going on, reported Pakistan vernacular media, Intekhab Daily. (ANI)