International organisations slam Pakistan for growing enforced disappearances

Islamabad, Aug 30 Marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, several international human rights and civil society organisations on Saturday highlighted the systematic failure of the Pakistani authorities to end the growing menace in the country, calling upon the local authorities to provide truth, justice, and reparations to victims and their families.

“Enforced disappearances impact families and entire communities, particularly in cases where it is targetted against ethnic minorities. These disappearances affect the families’ mental and physical health, financial status, and security and results in stigma and social isolation. Further, families and activists campaigning and protesting for the return of their loved ones have been subject to surveillance, harassment and threats by the Pakistani authorities," read a joint statement issued by eight human rights and civil society organisations.

Citing official data from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) constituted by the Pakistani government, the rights groups mentioned that a total of 10,592 cases were registered from 2010 to August 2025 by the commission. Of these, COIED reported that 1,017 were sent to internment centres, 4,776 individuals returned home, 706 were located in prisons, and 293 were extrajudicially killed or found dead. Another 1,978 cases were disposed of on the grounds that they did not fall under the category of enforced disappearance.

As of August 2025, 1,837 cases remain unresolved, with 140 new cases reported to the COIED alone. “This lack of compliance and accountability not only renders the commission ineffective but further traumatises the families, who are left with written orders but no justice,” the signatories asserted.

According to the statement, grassroots and regional movements painted an equally grim picture, with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) reporting 546 cases of enforced disappearance in Pakistan between January and July 2025. Additionally, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has documented 133 cases, and Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh has reported 40 cases from January to July 2025 across the country.

Furthermore, the rights body Defence of Human Rights (DHR) has documented 3,140 cases since 2006, of which 1,362 victims remain forcibly disappeared, while in 2025, DHR documented 32 new cases.

“Peaceful protests organised by families of the disappeared are often subject to state repression and have resulted in arbitrary arrests and unlawful use of force. Enforced disappearances continue to be routinely used by the Pakistani authorities as a tool to target dissidents and human rights defenders, with thousands of cases having been documented by local civil society organizations," the joint statement added.

The eight signatories urged the Pakistani government to end the practice of enforced disappearances immediately, bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts, and provide truth, justice, and reparations to the victims and their families.

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