Missing persons (Pakistan)
Encyclopedia
Missing persons is the term used in Pakistan to refer to the ostensibly hundreds or thousands of people in Pakistan
who have been forcefully disappeared
. Reports of forced abductions by the Pakistani state first began arising in 2001, in the aftermath of the United States invasion of Afghanistan
and the commencement of the US-led War on Terror
. Many of the missing persons are activists associated with the secular Baloch nationalist and Sindhi nationalist movements that seek autonomy or secession from Pakistan.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
who have been forcefully disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
. Reports of forced abductions by the Pakistani state first began arising in 2001, in the aftermath of the United States invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and the commencement of the US-led War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. Many of the missing persons are activists associated with the secular Baloch nationalist and Sindhi nationalist movements that seek autonomy or secession from Pakistan.
People who have at any point gone missing
- Munir MengalMunir MengalMuni Mengal is the head of Baloch Voice TV, a Balochi language television channel. On 4 April 2006, 3 months before the channel was due to launch, he went missing when he arrived at Karachi Airport from Bahrain. It later became clear that he had been abducted by Pakistani security agencies...
- Allah Nazar BalochAllah Nazar Baloch- Early Life :Dr. Allah Nazar the son of Nabi Bukhsh Baloch, was born on 2nd October 1968 in a remote area of Awaran ,called Mehi , Mashkay and in 1979, he sought admission in his home town Mehi,Mshkay, Awaran,after graduation from high school in 1986, he went to Kech Turbat...
- Ghulam Mohammed BalochGhulam Mohammed BalochGhulam Mohammed Baloch was a Baloch nationalist politician. At the time of his death, he was serving as the president of the Baloch National Movement, as well as the General Secretary of the newly formed Baloch National Front. He had earlier served as a chairman of the Baloch Students Organization...
(found dead in 2009, see also Turbat killingsTurbat killingsThe Turbat killings refers to the murder of three prominent Baloch nationalist political leaders in April 2009, allegedly at the hands of Pakistani spy agencies, including the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence...
) - Safdar SarkiSafdar SarkiDr. Safdar Sarki, a Pakistani-American physician and American citizen, is a former chair of the World Sindhi Congress and Secretary General of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, an activist in the Sindhi nationalist movement, and a former detainee of the Pakistani government. As one of the many...
- Saud MemonSaud MemonSaud Memon was a Pakistani businessman from Karachi dealing in yarn and textiles. Memon was said to own the shed where American journalist Daniel Pearl was killed. Memon was wanted by law-enforcement agencies in the Pearl case for supposedly providing the place where Pearl was beheaded and...
- Masood Janjua
- Hafiz Abdul BasitHafiz Abdul BasitHafiz Abdul Basit is a citizen of Pakistan who is believed to have been detained on suspicion of involvement to assassinate Pakistan's leader President Pervez Musharraf....
See also
- Forced disappearanceForced disappearanceIn international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
- Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka
- Human rights in PakistanHuman rights in PakistanPakistan’s human rights record has dramatically improved since the reforms that took place after the tenure of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. The situation of human rights in Pakistan is a complex one, as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a...
- Balochistan conflictBalochistan conflictThe Balochistan conflict is an ongoing conflict between Baloch nationalists and the Government of Pakistan over Balochistan, the country's largest province...