CITIZENS of the republic continue to vanish without a trace. This national disgrace was highlighted in the Senate on Thursday when the government came in for sharp criticism over the mysterious ‘disappearance’ of Baloch politicians and activists. The opposition’s concern on this score is understandable given the number of people who have gone missing in Balochistan in the course of the ongoing military operation. The malaise, however, is neither confined to one province nor recent in its origins. It is estimated that due legal process was not followed in the ‘arrests’ of some 800 people allegedly picked up by intelligence or law enforcement agencies between 2001 and 2005. Many such ‘ghost’ prisoners remain untraceable to this day. Dr Aafia Siddiqui, an MIT graduate who was apparently wanted for questioning by the US, has been missing for three years. Attiqur Rehman, a nuclear scientist associated with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, has not been seen since he disappeared on his wedding day two years ago. His father claims that he was picked up from his home in Abbottabad by operatives of “secret agencies”. The case of missing journalist Hayatullah Khan came to a tragic end when his body was found six months after his abduction in North Waziristan. Recent months have seen the disappearance of Dr Safdar Sarki of Jeay Sindh and Sindh Nationalist Forum president Asif Baladi. When pressed for answers, the police and intelligence agencies consistently deny any knowledge of these disappearances. It is clear, however, that officials have been hiding the truth in all such cases. For instance, journalist Mukesh Rupeta and cameraman Sanjay Kumar were produced in court three months after their disappearance in Jacobabad. Throughout their detention, the official line was that their whereabouts were unknown.

This brazen trampling of the fundamental rights of citizens flies in the face of the government’s claims that it is committed to human rights and due process of law. Irrespective of the crime — real or perceived, serious or minor — innocence or guilt can be established only through a legal process involving formal arrest, framing of charges, production in a court of law, access to defence lawyers and, finally, adjudication. In many cases, these norms and principles are respected more in breach than in observance.