Enforced Disappearances and Constitutional Guarantees in Pakistan: A Human Rights Perspective

Abstract

Since 9/11, the legal problem posed by way of enforced disappearances in Pakistan have attracted the scores of legal scholars and authors to critically review the state practice in the light of domestic and international legal discourse. The analysis of Pakistan's international obligations towards security of a person and safeguards to arrest is further complicated as the country being a front-line ally of "war on terror" has indulged in a state of armed conflict and, thus, IHL provisions are also triggered. This study, however, focuses on the law i.e. the Constitutional guarantees, penal code, and the state's responsibilities towards international human rights statutes on which Pakistan is a party such as ICCPR and UDHR in particular. Despite of debates on the type of conflict occurring in a state of war or in times of peace, the majority view holds that the fundamental human rights apply on all times, thus, under this view, Pakistan is obliged to guarantee all the protections against enforced disappearance and human rights in general at all times.

Keywords: Human Rights, Constitution of Pakistan, Law