ISLAMABAD: Senator Farhatullah Babar on Tuesday asked the civil society activists and people at large to pressure the political parties to collectively address the issue of enforced disappearances.
Addressing a seminar in Islamabad in connection with ‘International Week of the Disappeared’, he said that the security establishment was often blamed for the issue. “However, it is also a fact that political parties lack the will to criminalise enforced disappearances or regulate state agencies through legislation,” he said.
“The civil society must ask political parties what prevents them from collectively deliberating on enforced disappearances and find a solution. Some years ago only those allegedly involved in anti-state activities used to disappear. Now people are disappearing from KP, Sindh and even Islamabad,” he said.
“There is another disturbing reality: bloggers and social media activists challenging the states’ security narrative have also disappeared from various parts of the country, including Islamabad.
