August 31, 2026
By Hashir Ahsan
ISLAMABAD
In March 2026 the United Nations said that on December 20, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance will turn 20 years old. As of February 27, 2026, a total of 78 countries had ratified this convention. But even in 20 years, Pakistan has neither signed nor ratified this convention, despite the persistent prevalance of enforced disappearances in the country. Now protesters have demanded that the government must immediately sign and ratify the convention, and enact domestic legislation for its implementation.
Protesters collected at a demonstration outside the Islamabad Press Club, on Monday, August 31, on the occasion of UN’s International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
The protest was organized by the ‘Defence of Human Rights’ (DoHR) to express solidarity with forcibly disappeared persons, their families, and all individuals across the world fighting against the culture of silence, denial, and impunity for perpetrators. They also emphasised that the country lacked an adequate domestic legal framework that criminalizes enforced disappearance in accordance with international standards. Pakistan’s non-alignment with the international legal framework stands in contrast to the global situation;
The United Nations’ 2026 commemorative event urges states to “Put Victims First, Act Now.” The demonstrators said that even after 20 years, the world awaited state commitment to end denial, ensure justice and accountability, and eradicate this heinous crime against its citizens. They said that in Pakistan, this commemorative day should be a moment of self-reflection.
According to the July 2026 monthly progress report of the current official Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), ever since its inception in March 2011, the commission has received a total of over 10,900 cases. Among these, approximately 7,034 persons were traced, while over 1,400 persons remain forcibly disappeared. Of those traced, around 4,951 have returned home, 1,034 are still detained in illegal internment centers, 740 are in prisons, and 309 persons were killed whose bodies were recovered.
The largest number of cases emerged from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (3,822), followed by Balochistan (2,951), Sindh (1,884), Punjab (1,813), Islamabad Capital Territory (422), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (71), and Gilgit-Baltistan (10).
According to DoHR’s August 2026 database fact sheet, 3,168 cases were recorded, in which 1,400 persons are still “missing,” 702 were released, 235 were found in prisons or illegal internment centers, and 97 persons were killed or found dead. This documentation includes several under-reported cases and enforced disappearance cases reported by other organizations.
They said that for years, the families of forcibly disappeared persons have carried the burden that the state refused to bear. They have marched, protested, prepared documents, submitted petitions, fought court cases, gave testimonies, and mourned publicly because institutions failed them privately. Women in particular led this struggle while facing harassment, insecurity, psychological trauma, social isolation, and severe economic hardships.
Instead of receiving truth, justice, and redress, victims and their loved ones are continuously facing delays, denial, coercion, and threats. Participants also strongly condemned recent government statements aimed at trivializing the issue of enforced disappearances and undermining the movements led by the families of missing persons.
Being paid to withdraw cases
Almost all families registered with DoHR stated that COIED contacted them and encouraged them to accept the support package and withdraw their cases. According to DoHR records, at least seven individual cases were closed following the provision of a PKR 5 million (50 lakh) “support package,” while COIED has been reported to have made 22 such offers.
This practice risks turning severe violations of human rights and dignity into a financial transaction instead of delivering truth, justice, and redress. The state’s continued reliance on such a mechanism only deepens mistrust and perpetuates a culture of impunity, they said.
Presenting their demands, the participants said that the State of Pakistan should immediately sign and ratify the ‘International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance’ and recognize that victims’ rights to truth, justice, and redress are not optional.
Other demands included enacting a domestic law based on the UN convetion that defines enforced disappearance as a distinct and autonomous offense, without loopholes that penalize families, deter reporting, or allow state impunity.
They also demanded the dissolution of the existing official commission (COIED) and the establishment of a new, independent, empowered, victim-centric, and representative commission formed through a transparent and inclusive process. This new commission should include families of the forcibly disappeared, rights-based civil society organizations, independent legal experts, and human rights defenders. It should possess powers not only to register and investigate cases of enforced disappearances, but also to identify perpetrators, transfer cases to the judiciary, ensure the protection of witnesses and judges, preserve evidence, and guarantee the provision of redress by the state. Mere cosmetic ‘reforms’ are not enough; the fundamental structure itself must be changed, they said.
The protesters also said that Pakistan had also signed and ratified the ‘UN Convention Against Torture’ (UN CAT) in 2010; in light of this, it must amend and strengthen the ‘Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act 2022’ so that psychological and mental torture, non-custodial atrocities, and extrajudicial killings are explicitly criminalized, and legal accountability for enforced disappearance is established as a separate offense.
It was demanded that all individuals illegally detained in secret custody, illegal internment centers, “safe houses,” etc., must be produced before a court immediately. A prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into every allegation of enforced disappearance; the prosecution of all responsible parties should be carried out in ordinary civil courts; Families, witnesses, and human rights defenders should be given protection from reprisals.
Other demands included provision of complete redress, including truth, rehabilitation, compensation, medical treatment, and restitution of rights; Guarantees of non-repetition, adding that these are not acts of charity; they are legal and moral obligations of the state.
They demanded to end harassment, threats, and retaliatory actions against human rights defenders—including Advocate Imaan Mazari-Hazir, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and numerous others—who are rendering globally recognized and courageous services on the issue of enforced disappearances.
It was also demanded that without delay the progress of an open public court proceeding before the High Courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan (originally initiated in 2007) must be restored to ensure effective access to justice for the families of missing persons.
To align national laws with legally binding international treaties (e.g., UNCAT), the State of Pakistan must immediately review, amend, or repeal repressive laws and amendments such as the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and PECA, which restrict active human rights advocacy, shrink civic space for citizens, facilitate encroachments against human rights defenders, and grant immunity for atrocities against missing persons/victims.