UN mission arrives to 'trace' missing persons
10 September, 2012
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) arrived in the country on Sunday on a key mission to look into the issue of missing persons. Enforced disappearances in Pakistan had reached unprecedented levels, the WGEID's annual report on Pakistan said while voicing concern over abductions of civilians in Balochistan and other parts of the country. It was learnt that the five-member high-level delegation headed by Olivier de Frouville would launch a 10-day official mission on enforced disappearances and hold meetings with the federal and provincial government authorities, representatives of civil society, military leadership, intelligence agencies and family members of the missing persons to collect information about enforced disappearances in the country. After collecting information and holding meetings with families of missing persons in Balochistan and other parts of the country, the delegation would also review the measures taken by the government for recovering victims of enforced disappearances. The delegation would submit its final report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. More than 13,000 people have been abducted since the uprising began in August 2005 in Balochistan, according to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons chairman. As the conflict in Balochistan continues, the violence has increased and enforced disappearances have become widespread. Despite the Supreme Court's interference, political activists are increasingly being abducted and several massive attacks have targeted the dissenting voices in the province. End.
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