PM, his cabinet responsible for recovery of missing persons: Pak court

A Pakistani court on Wednesday ruled that the prime minister and his cabinet were responsible for any missing person in the country as it described the states response towards recovering missing persons as pathetic.Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah made remarks while hearing a petition filed about journalist Mudassar Mehmood Naro who had been missing since August 19, 2018.

A Pakistani court on Wednesday ruled that the prime minister and his cabinet were responsible for any missing person in the country as it described the state's response towards recovering missing persons as “pathetic”.

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah made remarks while hearing a petition filed about journalist Mudassar Mehmood Naro who had been missing since August 19, 2018. The petition was filed by his father Mehmood Ikram.

Chief Justice Minallah said that forcibly making someone go missing was a ''crime against humanity” and the government of the day was responsible for it.

''The prime minister and members of the cabinet are there to serve the people of the country. The state's response towards recovering missing persons is pathetic,'' he remarked.

Later in his written order, Chief Justice Minallah said that in the case of enforced disappearances, ''the buck stops with the federal government i.e. the worthy prime minister and members of the federal cabinet''.

''It is their constitutional duty not only to find the missing person but to discharge the onus of satisfying the loved ones of the missing person that no state actor is involved nor complacent in their trauma and agony,'' he added.

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari and other senior officials were also present in the court.

Justice Minallah told the minister that she had been summoned because the state was not ''visible'' in resolving the issue of missing persons. He also said that the court was informed that the wife of the missing journalist had also passed away.

''You need to satisfy the children and parents of the missing person. The state has a responsibility to take care of the children and listen to the affected family,'' he told the minister.

He ordered that the minister arrange a meeting of the missing journalist’s family with the prime minister and members of the federal cabinet, saying the premier should satisfy the family and take steps for the recovery of the missing person.

He adjourned the hearing for December 14 while ordering the attorney general to appear in person and help to fix the responsibility of the federal government in case Mehmood is not produced before the court or if his whereabouts are not traced.

Naro hailing from Lahore went missing while visiting Pakistan’s picturesque valley of Kaghan.

The issue of missing persons is quite sensitive in Pakistan as human rights groups have been accusing the successive governments for failure to address this vital issue.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)