Abstract
This chapter explores the impact of enforced disappearances on the civilian population in Pakistan. The first section of the chapter examines the practices used by Pakistan’s security forces to conceal the fate and whereabouts of the “disappeared” (e.g., not registering detainees, locking detainees in secret detention facilities, frequently transferring detainees between secret detention facilities…). The second section examines the deaths of detainees who “disappeared” while being held by the Pakistani security forces. The section argues that such deaths should be regarded as prima facie arbitrary executions. The last, third section examines how the Pakistani authorities failed to address the problem of enforced disappearances and, consequently, helped create a culture of impunity for those responsible for disappearances.
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Notes
- 1.
The Pakistani authorities rarely issued statements on the “disappeared.” During the Musharraf regime, the authorities denied that individuals were subjected to enforced disappearances. In 2007, President Musharraf rejected the allegation that hundreds of individuals “disappeared” after being detained by Pakistani security forces (Khattak 2007). Musharraf claimed that many of those who “disappeared” were actually recruited by insurgent groups (ibid.). In one of the rare public statements by Pakistani officials, made in July 2013, Pakistan’s new Attorney General, Munir Malik informed the Pakistani Supreme Court that over 500 “disappeared” persons were being held in custody by security agencies (Omer 2013). That revelation came after security agencies had for years denied involvement in enforced disappearances (ibid.).
- 2.
The examination of factors that led to detentions of civilians is provided in Chapter 7.
- 3.
Article 17 of ICPPED stipulates that the information contained in such registers and/or records must include, as a minimum, the following: the identity of the detainee; the date, time and place where the individual was detained and the identity of the detaining authority; the authority that ordered the detention and the grounds for detention; the authority responsible for supervising the detention; the place of detention, the date and time of admission to the place of detention and the authority responsible for the detention facility; elements relating to the state of health of the detainee; in the event of death during detention, the circumstances and cause of death and the destination of the remains of the detainee; the date and time of release or transfer to another place of detention, the destination and the authority responsible for the transfer (U.N. General Assembly 2007).
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Badalič, V. (2019). The “Disappeared”: Civilian Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan. In: The War Against Civilians. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12406-9_8
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