A report submitted on orders of the Supreme Court by the Missing Persons Commission has said that most of the cases of missing persons have been reported by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed by Balochistan.
A total of 2297 cases of missing persons are pending while members of the commission as well as the heads are all being paid hefty salaries. The report was presented in front of the two-member commission for missing persons constituted by the Interior Ministry on the Supreme Court’s directions. It is headed by Justice (R) Javed Iqbal while the second member is the former inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Sharif Virk.
According to the information extracted by Samaa’s Sohail Rashid via Auditor General Pakistan, the highest number of 3,485 cases of missing persons were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by the enforced disappearance of 2,752 citizens from Balochistan.
The report states that the reason behind the said disappearances in KP was extremism, war, and deaths in drone attacks. Moreover, moving to another country without informing one’s family owing to a war-like situation was also a reason behind the said disappearances, as per the commission.
Furthermore, 744 production orders were issued to produce the missing persons, while only 52 were executed. The 692 production orders issued by the commission were not even implemented by the relevant authorities, the commission reported.
The police and sensitive institutions filed 182 requests for revision of the production orders, the report says, adding that out of the unimplemented production orders, 503 were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
From March 2011 to December 2023, 4,413 missing persons returned home, while 994 were incarcerated in various detention centres and 644 imprisoned in different jails of the country.
From March 2011 to December 2023, bodies of 261 missing persons were found, according to the commission, which also dismissed 1,477 cases it categorized as non-enforced disappearances.
The commission further says that the disposed of cases involved kidnapping for ransom, personal grudges or willful disappearances.
Moreover, 260 cases from Punjab, 163 from Sindh, and 1,336 from KP are still pending in the commission as well as 468 cases from Balochistan, 55 from Islamabad and 15 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the report, the monthly salaries of the 35 officers and employees of the Missing Persons Commission are more than Rs1.5 million. Commission chief, Justice (r) Javed Iqbal receives a monthly salary of Rs674,000, while that of Zia Parvez, a member of the commission, is Rs829,000, as per the report.
Commission member Justice (r) Amanullah’s salary is over Rs1.1 million, while that of Sharif Virk is Rs263,000.
The Supreme Court has sought a response from the federal government within 20 days of receiving the report of the missing persons commission.
