A total of 379 missing persons cases were submitted to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED) in 2024, it emerged on Tuesday.
The commission was created in 2011 to locate missing people and determine the responsibility of the people or organizations responsible. Figures released on Tuesday showed that 427 cases were eliminated in 2024.
The commission said the total number of cases received till December 2024 was 10,467, while 8,216 cases were resolved with a total of 6,599 people traced so far and 1,617 cases eliminated.
The report adds that 2,251 cases were abandoned, 4,613 were returned to their homes, 1,011 were in detention centers, 687 in prisons and 288 were found dead.
The monthly progress report for December, dated January 1, said that 29 cases were received and 44 were resolved, 10 of them not related to forced disappearances, 23 returned to their homes, five were confined in detention centers, four were confined in prisons and two bodies were found.
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court emphasized last month that only parliament has the authority to address and resolve the long-standing, albeit illegal, practice of enforced disappearances, a persistent problem that has plagued the nation for decades.
“The solution to this problem must be found by Parliament,” observed Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, a member of the six-judge Constitutional Bench.
“The court has always recognized parliament as the supreme body and it is now up to parliament to prove it,” he said.
On April 23, Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said that the issue of missing persons “could not be resolved overnight,” but the government was committed to finding a solution by first reaching consensus among all the interested parties.
The Law Minister emphasized that when discussing the issue of missing persons, it must be noted that Pakistan has played the role of a frontline state in a war-torn area for the last four decades, adding that the circumstances in which neighboring countries have further exacerbated internal conflicts. challenges.
Azam noted that the people and army of Pakistan paid an “incredible price” with their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism, adding that the same must be kept in mind when finding a solution to the issue of missing persons.
