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The War on Terror and the Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan

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Abstract

The movement against enforced disappearances has been exceptionally strong in Pakistan. It has highlighted the extralegal activities of state actors and has prompted the judiciary to question powerful agencies regarding their conduct. With the help of historical analysis, this article argues that the movement has grown out of the reactions generated by War on Terror in Pakistan. The state’s stance to override human rights for combating terrorism is challenged by a movement which is largely anti-War on Terror and which is strengthened by historical and ideological factors as well as by respect for human rights. The movement against enforced disappearances had thus paved the ground for important debates on human rights in Pakistan.

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Notes

  1. According to Supreme Court’s Justice Javed Iqbal, “Missing persons are only those who have been picked up by intelligence agencies as we cannot include every case of ransom, abduction or enmity into the category of missing persons.” Dawn, Islamabad, 7 January, 2010.

  2. Dawn 29 May, 2004. Jamaat-i-Islami is one of the most prominent religious organizations in Pakistan. It was an important element in the Afghan jihad.

  3. Daily Times, Islamabad, 9 July, 2003.

  4. Supreme Court HRC No. 965/05.

  5. Supreme Court HRC No. 965/05.

  6. Supreme Court HRC No. 4399 and 4941/06-965.

  7. Supreme Court HRC No. 965/05.

  8. Dawn, Islamabad, 12 July 2006.

  9. For instance the case of Khalil Khan in Peshawar High Court. Details available in HRCP report (2005).

  10. Supreme Court HRC No. 965/05/2005

  11. Ibid.

  12. Four governments were elected during a period of 11 years from 1988 and 1999.

  13. Daily Times, Islamabad, 1 October 2006.

  14. On 3 November, 2007, President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution and parliament simultaneously.

  15. Daily Times, Islamabad, 29 February, 2012.

  16. Statement of Admiral Adnan Nazir before Judicial Commission, (2012).

  17. Dawn, Islamabad, 17 March 2012.

  18. Statement of Admiral Adnan Nazir before Judicial Commission (2012).

  19. Supreme Court HRC No. 965/05.

  20. Supreme Court of Pakistan HRC No. 965/2005.

  21. Dawn, Islamabad, 27 March 2007.

  22. Ibid. 11 October 2007.

  23. Daily Times, Islamabad, 29 February 2012.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Jamiat-i-Ulema-Islam.

  26. Moonis Ahmar, “The phenomenon of disappearances,” Dawn, 17 March 2007.

  27. Statement by relatives of missing persons, Mrs. Abid Sharif, Salman Aziz, Husain Ahmad, Arif Abbasi, Muzammil Shah, Tariq, Hanzala, and many others. Dawn, Islamabad 28 October 2008.

  28. Chairman of the World Prisoners Relief Commission, Jawed Ibraheem Paracha, Dawn, Islamabad, 22 May 2007.

  29. Statement by sister of Dr. Abid Sharif, BBC News, 7 October 2009.

  30. Dawn, Islamabad, 21 July 2006.

  31. Dawn, Islamabad, 23 November 2006.

  32. Defense of Human Rights Organization vs. Federation of Pakistan, Supreme Court Const.P.29/07.

  33. MMA leader accused the government of having handed over the missing people to the United States and demanded immediate recovery of the disappeared. Dawn, Islamabad, 29 December 2006.

  34. “Siddiqui's supporters insist she spent the missing five years at the US detention centre in Bagram, north of Kabul, and her youngest child may have died. US officials deny she was in their custody.” Guardian, 24 September 2010. However, testimonies of two individuals, British journalist Yvonne Ridley and an intern in Bagram jail, British national Moazzam Beg, are usually presented to prove that Aafia was “Prisoner No. 650” and “The Grey Lady of Bagram” jail for 5 years. The matter was however complicated further when Yvonne retreated from her statement.

  35. “Punjab Assembly echoes with protest against Aafia’s arrest,” Dawn, 14 August, 2008.

  36. Perhaps this was so because Aafia had been on the FBI’s list for wanted terrorists. According to a report by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others, FBI had requested information on her from Islamabad Capital Police on 18 March 2003. She went missing on 28 March 2003 (Amnesty International et al., 2006). Her name and photograph was released by FBI on 26 May 2004 among those who “pose a real and present danger to US interests around the world.” On 29 May, 2004, Pakistani newspaper Dawn published a report on authority of interior ministry personnel that Aafia was handed over to FBI in 2003. Since she was on the most wanted list for many years, she could have been handed over by the Pakistani government or arrested by the US forces. See FBI (2004). Also see Dawn, 29 May 2004.

  37. Dawn, 4 February 2009.

  38. Defense of Human Rights Organization vs. Federation of Pakistan, Supreme Court Const.P.29/07.

  39. Dawn, Islamabad, 27 March 2007.

  40. Daily Times, 16 February 2007

  41. BBC News, 22 February 2007.

  42. Daily Times, 10 April 2010.

  43. Supreme Court, Const.P 1/2012

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Aysha Shafiq

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  1. Aysha Shafiq
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Correspondence to Aysha Shafiq.

Annex 1 Proclamation of Emergency Issued by Gen. Pervez Musharraf on 3 November, 2007

Annex 1 Proclamation of Emergency Issued by Gen. Pervez Musharraf on 3 November, 2007

WHEREAS there is visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan;

WHEREAS there has also been a spate of attacks on State infrastructure and on law enforcement agencies;

WHEREAS some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism thereby weakening the Government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace;

WHEREAS there has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular; …

WHEREAS some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released. The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies subdued;

WHEREAS some judges by overstepping the limits of judicial authority have taken over the executive and legislative functions; …

WHEREAS the humiliating treatment meted to government officials by some members of the judiciary on a routine basis during court proceedings has demoralized the civil bureaucracy and senior government functionaries, to avoid being harassed, prefer inaction;

Source: Dawn, Islamabad, 4 November 2008

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Shafiq, A. The War on Terror and the Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan. Hum Rights Rev 14, 387–404 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-013-0282-2

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