- Top court judge describes enforced disappearance cases as the ‘most difficult’ of his judicial career
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Saturday highlighted the persistent challenges courts face in dealing with missing persons and enforced disappearance cases, blaming the state’s “lack of cooperation and political unwillingness for the crisis that has scarred Pakistan for decades.”
The senior judge was speaking at a documentary screening organised by Defence for Human Rights Pakistan, where he described enforced disappearance cases as the “most difficult” of his judicial career.
Justice Minallah said that whenever courts ordered authorities to investigate or produce missing people, the response was almost always the same: “The authorities would come, and they would all say that we don’t know where they are.”
“The judge and the court cannot do anything when you don’t have independent investigators,” he remarked, stressing that the executive branch—the prime minister, cabinet, and provincial governments—bears constitutional responsibility for such cases.
He added, “Every judge of the Supreme Court is personally responsible for every violation of fundamental rights that takes place in Pakistan.”
Recalling one of the most poignant moments of his career, Justice Minallah narrated how the child of missing journalist Mudassar Naaru once appeared before him in court with his grandmother.
“His mother had passed away, and the state had failed to even inform them whether he was alive or dead,” Minallah said. To sensitise the authorities, he ordered that the child and grandmother be taken to the then prime minister, who personally assured them that Naaru’s whereabouts would be discovered.
“But the courts are helpless when the state is not willing to cooperate,” he lamented.
Reflecting on his time as chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (2018–2022), Minallah said his first judgment on enforced disappearances had been “extremely effective” because it sent a clear signal to the executive: “I will not tolerate a single incident of enforced disappearance from within my jurisdiction.”
However, he criticised successive political leaders for failing to act decisively. “Those in government don’t want to be told that this is an issue. When they are in opposition, they behave differently. It is for the political leadership to own this crisis.”
The judge said it was a matter of “shame” that women from Balochistan continued to march on the streets for basic rights. He stressed the need for an independent judiciary and political leaders willing to “speak the truth” about the issue.
Justice Minallah’s remarks come amid a renewed debate on enforced disappearances.
Earlier this week, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan assured the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) that a mechanism for producing detainees in such cases would soon be presented.
Just days earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in a fact-finding mission to Balochistan, warned that enforced disappearances were fuelling public alienation and political instability, while conflict and militarisation continued to erode civic freedoms.
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, 125 new cases were registered in the first half of 2025, bringing the total to 10,592 cases since its inception — of which 1,914 have been disposed of and 6,786 traced, leaving thousands still unresolved.
In December 2024, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court underscored that only parliament had the authority to bring an end to this unlawful and lingering practice, stressing that the judiciary alone could not resolve the crisis.
