Cases of Increasing Disappearances in Pakistan

Incidents of disappearances in Pakistan, rising at an alarming rate, are a major concern to human rights organisations. These disappearances are linked to both Pakistan’s internal conflicts and its frontline status in the United States’ ‘War against Terror’. The Karachi office of the independent, non-government Human Rights Commission of Pakistan alone has, in the past few months, received 25 complaints from families who have seen one of their members being picked up by personnel of intelligence agencies, in plain clothes, never to be heard of again. Newspapers report a much higher number.

The initial disappearances were directly a consequence of the US invasion of Afghanistan and pressure on Pakistan to deliver those suspected of Al-Qaeda and Taliban links. Many later surfaced at the American prison facility in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, in some cases years after they went ‘missing’. Those returning home spoke of how they were picked up, often on flimsy evidence, by Pakistani intelligence agencies, kept and interrogated under torture in ‘safe houses’ in Islamabad and later handed over to US agents. Most came home without being charged and in bewilderment at their treatment by their own government.

The current spate of disappearances is linked to both American concerns in the region as well as the political crisis in Pakistan’s provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. The Pakistan army, which finds it easier to govern a unified federal structure, is deeply suspicious of nationalist movements. Those demanding the rights of smaller provinces are deemed to be ‘traitors’, their loyalty to Pakistan questioned. The Baloch nationalists, fighting for the province’s economic rights, have seen vast areas besieged by the paramilitary. The military operation in Balochistan has had repercussions in Karachi where many Baloch reside. As the insurgency continues in Balochistan, with tribal leaders in hiding, the government is picking up individuals suspected to be supporters of the shadowy Balochistan Liberation Army. Among those who went ‘missing’ are journalists, trade unionists and student activists. Munir Mengal, for example, was planning to set up a Balcoh language television channel when, on his return from Dubai in April, he was whisked away by men in plain clothes and has not been heard of since.

Other Baloch nationalists made to ‘disappear’ include Rauf Sasoli of the Jamhoori Watan Party (Democratic National Party), picked up in Karachi and missing since March 2006. Haneef Shareef, a poet and writer, was lucky to be finally released (without charges) after remaining in the custody of intelligence agencies for about five months. Twelve workers of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (which has major commercial interests in Balochistan) were also picked up in Karachi and released months later. They were reportedly kept in cells in Malir Cantonment (Karachi) and claim to have shared space with others who went missing, including Rauf Sasoli, Munir Mengal and Dr. Safdar Sarki.1

The case of Dr. Safdar Sarki is possibly the most high profile one. An American national and former chairman of the World Sindhi Congress, Dr. Sarki was picked up from his home in a residential part of Karachi in February this year. His family’s persistent efforts to seek his release or information about his whereabouts have been futile. Even the concern expressed by a number of US senators has not helped. The higher judiciary in Pakistan has so far failed to provide redress to families trying to locate missing members. Advocates representing the Ministry of Defence routinely deny that the missing persons are in the custody of either the Inter-Services Intelligence or Military Intelligence. In fact, the Ministry of Defence has admitted before the Sindh High Court that it has no powers over the intelligence agencies run by the army.

In the city of Karachi, in front of the centrally located Press Club, passers-by are getting accustomed to the sight of families on hunger strike – in protest against disappearances. Playing at the back of their minds, in all probability, is the case of the young journalist, Hayatullah. He went missing after he photographed and reported on the American bombing of Bajaur (in Pakistan’s tribal areas). The target was an important Al-Qaeda leader. The attack was denied by both the American and Pakistani governments. Hayatullah’s body was found on 15 June, the day his unidentified captors had told his family that he would return home.