Judicial commission submits report: 2011 will be the year of missing persons' recovery: Justice Iqbal

Supreme Court was informed Monday that the judicial commission, formed to probe missing persons' case, has traced the whereabouts of 134 persons so far, but the contents of the report can not be made public, being a classified material.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Javed Iqbal with Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed while hearing the case, had constituted a commission to thoroughly probe into the matter which submitted its report after nine months.
The commission's report revealed that 134 missing persons were traced out of 393. Though the commission did not give the detailed report, it suggested that parliament must legislate to discourage forced disappearances - a cause of great misery for those left behind.
Justice Javed Iqbal, taking notice of the point raised by the commission directed the government to submit a satisfactory response to the commission's report. He also observed that there should be a permanent body as the judicial commission has also recommended a regular monitoring institution, covered by proper legislation, to deal with cases of similar nature.
Justice Iqbal remarked that 2011 would be the year of the recovery of missing persons. The bench also decided to hear at least five cases of missing persons every three consecutive days. The apex court granted time to deputy attorney-general KK Agha to consult the government regarding fixing responsibility on those responsible for whisking away these persons without any logical explanation to their families, who are moving from pillar-to-post for knowing the whereabouts of their kiths and kin.
Agha said that he would require time to consult the Federation on the issue of fixing responsibility on the persons concerned as he had not gone through the report properly due to paucity of time as it was received last night. The commission was formed on the apex Court's directives in March 2010, which was headed by former justice Kamal Mansoor Alam, a former judge of the Supreme Court, former justice Nasira Javed Iqbal, a former judge of the Lahore High Court and former justice Fazl-ur-Rehman, a former judge of the Balochistan High Court, as its members.
The hearing of the case was adjourned till Monday next.