SHRC demands release or production orders of missing persons

Taking notice of the growing number of cases of enforced disappearances of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has issued a statement demanding release or production orders of detained before the court of law.

SHRC Chairperson Justice (retd) Majida Razvi stressed that the issue of missing persons in Sindh was a critical issue for the fundamental freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan.

The commission noted that “enforced disappearances cause immense distress and anxiety for the family” and “amounts to injustice to keep a person detained for indefinite time without any declaration of their crime and any information shared with the family on the location of the person and the charges against him”. This was a denial of the right to a fair procedure trial of the people concerned, the SHRC said.

Citing statistics shared by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, the SHRC said that there were 1,577 cases registered from the Sindh province. A number of reports suggest that those disappeared were linked to political parties, religious groups and human rights defenders, the commission said.

Razvi reiterated the need for a fair procedure for detained. “Enforced disappearances not only stand as a grave injustice and denial of rights, but it also reinforces repression violence of human rights, marginalisation and polarisation in the society leading to the possibility of social unrest.”

The SHRC is a statutory body established under the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011. The Commission was notified on May 9, 2013 and has been working actively since its inception. Following a framework of protection and promotion of human rights, the law mandates the commission with the powers to intervene on issues related to human rights in the province.