People in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, demanded the recovery of missing persons during a protest rally.
The participants also demanded the release of 200 people, who were convicted under military courts, however, their convictions were set aside by the Peshawar High Court in 2020.
The protest rally was staged at Kabal Chowk and a large number of people, including the families of missing persons, participated in it.
People across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been protesting against the resurgence of terrorism in the province following the killings of Shia teachers in Parachinar, and explosions at a counter-terrorism office in Swat that claimed 17 lives.
According to a report released by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED) in July 2022, a total of 8,696 cases of missing persons have been reported. While 6,513 of these cases have been solved, 2,219 are still pending. Among the missing persons, the majority of people are from Baloch and Pashtun ethnicities.
However, human rights activists claim the number is much higher than this.
Earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had expressed concerns over the “state’s widespread use of enforced disappearances” in Balochistan to muzzle dissent.
In its fact-finding report, titled: “Balochistan’s struggle for Hope”, the human rights watchdog had noted that there have been continued reports of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and there was no improvement in the situation since 2019 when the HRCP’s team visited the last.
“The HRCP notes with considerable alarm that Balochistan faces mounting public frustration pertaining to enforced disappearances, economic exclusion, curbs on press freedom, misgovernance and allegations of political manipulation by the establishment”, the report had said.
