AMIDST a flurry of controversial judicial activism has arrived a judgement that ought to be a shining beacon for judicial independence, clarity and a necessary commitment to upholding the fundamental rights of the people as guaranteed by the Constitution. In what is surely a landmark judgement, Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court has laid down a clear and much-needed judicial marker against enforced disappearances and missing persons. The case before Justice Minallah concerned an individual who was abducted from his home in Islamabad in the presence of his family in March 2016. The individual has not yet been recovered, and multiple agencies of the state failed to provide the court with adequate information. In Justice Minallah’s judgement, not only have senior security officials been personally fined for failing to perform their duties, the state has been ordered to pay maintenance to the missing person’s family. Most importantly, henceforth individuals involved in abducting and detaining citizens in unknown locations may be charged under the antiterrorism laws. Perhaps a single judgement is unlikely to immediately and automatically turn the tide against missing persons. But this one could help reframe the debate about missing persons, which has slipped further away from the centre of national discourse even as incidents of people going missing continue, perhaps even increase.

There are undeniably serious security threats that confront Pakistan and its people. But Pakistan’s long fight against terrorism, militancy and extremism is nearly a decade and a half old and will need to be fought for what appears to be at least many more years. Even considering the unacceptable argument that the urgency of the threat necessitated taking quick actions that may have not been in full compliance with the law in peacetime, enough time has elapsed for the state to have put in place the rules and arrangements necessary for lawfully and humanely dealing with militancy suspects. Militants, terrorists and violent extremists are enemies because they want to overthrow the lawful, constitutional and democratic state of Pakistan and impose their tyranny on the people. In fighting that enemy, the state must not abandon the foundational values, principles and laws of the country. Justice Minallah has struck a necessary blow against unchecked state power; it is hoped that others in the superior judiciary and the state apparatus will also help end the scourge of missing persons and enforced disappearances.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2018