London, August 30(ANI): Amnesty International has raised concern over the widespread practice of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, and called for an immediate end to such incidents.
In a briefing, "The Bitterest of Agonies: End enforced disappearances in Pakistan," published on the International Day of the Disappeared, the AI highlighted the plight of hundreds of people who have been arbitrarily detained and held in secret facilities in Pakistan since late 2001, when the country became a key ally in the US-led "war on terror".
The whereabouts of all of these victims remain unknown. People accused of involvement in terrorism and political opponents of the Pakistani government - such as members of Pakistan's Sindhi and Baloch nationalist groups - are among the groups increasingly subjected to enforced disappearance.
"The Pakistan government has made little progress in resolving hundreds of cases of alleged disappearance, while new incidents are being reported around the country," The News quoted Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director, as saying.
"Despite three years of promises to resolve this crisis, hundreds of families are desperate to learn about the fate of their loved ones," Zarifi said.
"It's not just the victims who are directly affected. Their families cannot move on, emotionally, but also legally and practically, until they can concretely discover what has happened to the disappeared," he added.
Amina Masood Janjua has not seen her husband Masood Ahmed Janjua since he was apprehended during a bus journey to Peshawar in July 2005.
"This is the worst thing to happen to anyone. If someone dies, you cry and people console you and after some time you come to terms with it, but if someone disappears, you cannot breathe, it is the bitterest of agonies," Amina told AI. (ANI)
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