Islamabad: On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Defence of Human Rights (DHR) stands in solidarity with the enforced disappeared, with their families, and with all those across the world who continue to resist silence, denial, and impunity. Noting that 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), we call upon the State of Pakistan to sign and ratify the Convention urgently, and subsequently enact domestic legislation to implement it.
In Pakistan, for 20 years, families of Enforced Disappeared from across the country have gathered outside the National Press Club in Islamabad to demand justice from the State, refusing to forget their loved ones. 2026 is no different.
We therefore call for URGENT concrete action: The State of Pakistan must immediately sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and recognize that victims' rights to truth, justice, and reparation are not optional.
Pakistan must enact domestic legislation that defines enforced disappearance as an autonomous offence in full conformity with international law, without loopholes that punish families, or deter reporting, or permit State impunity.
We further demand the abolition of the existing State Commission (COIED) and the establishment of a new, autonomous, independent, empowered, victim-centred, representative commission through a transparent inclusive process. This new commission must include the families of the enforced disappeared victims, rights-based civil society organizations, independent legal experts, and human rights defenders. It must have powers not merely to register and investigate enforced disappearance cases, but also identify perpetrators, refer cases for prosecution to the judiciary, ensure the protection of witnesses and judges, preserve evidence, and ensure the provision of reparations by the State. Cosmetic 'reform' is not enough; the structure itself must change.
In view of the State of Pakistan having signed and ratified the International Convention Against Torture (UN CAT) in 2010, it needs to amend and strengthen the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act 2022 to explicitly recognise and criminalise psychological and mental torture, extra-custodial abuses, and extra-judicial killings, as well as establish clear legal accountability for enforced disappearances as a distinct cognizable crime.
We demand: (a) the immediate production in court of all persons held illegally in custody or unlawful detention in internment centres, 'safe houses', etc; (b) impartial, independent investigations into every allegation of enforced disappearance; (c) prosecution of all those responsible in regular civilian courts; (d) protection of witnesses, and human rights defenders from retaliation; (e) full reparations, including restitution, compensation, treatment, rehabilitation; (f) guarantees of non-repetition.