Islamabad, Sept. 12 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has welcomed the UN team on missing persons, and said the elected government had taken the issue of disappearances very seriously and was making all-out efforts to strengthen the domestic mechanisms to address the humanitarian issue and ensure rule of law in the country.
"An independent judiciary, free media and vibrant civil society are the vanguard of national efforts to address the issue," The News quoted Khar, as telling the team.
She said the government was working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.
The visit of the two-member team of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has caused quite a hype in the country, especially as the number of missing persons rises and the courts are seized with the matter in a manner never witnessed before, demanding answers from the security establishment which has never before been put on the mat.
During its 10-day visit undertaken on the invitation of the government, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will study the measures adopted by Pakistan to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances and issues related to truth, justice and reparation for the victims.
The working group made it clear to Khar that they appreciated the government's commitment for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The group will meet with political leaders, government officials, civil society organisations and human rights activists and collect data about the missing persons.
Officials said the primary mandate of the working group was to promote communication between families of disappeared persons and the concerned governments to ascertain whereabouts of disappeared persons whose cases were referred to the working group.
Pakistan is due to submit its second report to the UN Human Rights Council before the end of December 2012. There is universal periodic review and Pakistan submitted its last report in 2008. (ANI)
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