By Sanjeev Sharma New Delhi 23 November : .The families of forcibly disappearing people from Pakistan claim that police refuses or incriminates intelligence agencies and military forces in FIRs.
This is according to Amnesty International.
Sammi Baloch, the daughter of Deen Mohammad, reported that she had to make compromises when police finally agreed to file an FIR.Even though witnesses saw men wearing Frontier Corps uniforms attacking and abducting Deen Mohammed, the police refused to file an FIR against them.
Shabana Majeed (brother of Zakir Majeed) told Amnesty International on June 8th 2009 that despite eyewitness reports of him being attacked and taken hostage by a group, which included men wearing Frontier Corps uniforms.
The police declined to file an FIR against intelligence agents.
Seven months after Zakir Majeed disappeared, the police registered FIR number 102 in January 2010.
Amnesty International spoke with most families of people forcibly missing who said they were unable to use legal systems to find their loved ones despite constitutional safeguards and protections provided by the Penal Code.They also stated that filing FIRs with police was difficult.
Amnesty International was contacted by eight of the 10 interviewed people to say that it was difficult for them to register an FIR with police after their missing loved one disappeared.
Interviewees described the hesitation and intentional delays of police officers in registering the reports.
Two of eight interviewed had to file petitions at the Supreme Court of Pakistan to have an FIR registered.The difficulties in registration of an FIR could be considered a violation to the right for fair trial and due procedure.
Since the late 1980s, forced disappearances have plagued the Pakistani people.
State officials or other agents acting for them can take people away from loved ones, thereby putting them out of the protections offered by the law.Authorities deny that the person in custody is theirs or don’t know whereabouts.The families of those who disappeared find themselves in a constant state of anxiety, trying to hold on to hope while fearing for their loved ones.
This limbo has been a constant for many years.
Amnesty International talked to several families about the enforced disappearance of doctors, tailors and students.
Amnesty International has released a report stating that the missing are in danger of being tortured and even killed.The psychological and physical scars that they leave behind will last if they’re released.
If they die, their family might not find out and may never be able to recover from the loss.The tool of terror is the disappearance.
It can strike individuals, families and entire communities.Enforced disappearances, which are crimes under international law, can be committed in a coordinated attack on a civilian population and constitute a crime against humanity.
Despite Shireen Mazari (Minister of Human Rights) stating that the country wants to join the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, Pakistan has yet to ratify the Convention.
However, twelve of these achievements were thwarted by the kidnapping of Seengar Noonari, a political activist, on June 26, this year.
This happened just weeks after reforms had been presented.
(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at [email protected])
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