Amnesty urges Pakistan to end enforced disappearances

There was no immediate comment from the government, which has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Amnesty International on Monday urged Pakistani authorities to stop forcibly disappearing suspected militants for years without trial, calling the practice “abhorrent.”

In a report entitled “Living Ghosts," the rights group describes the difficulties faced by the families of the disappeared in obtaining information about their detained relatives. It says that since the beginning of the U.S.-led war on terror, hundreds of Pakistani rights defenders, activists, students and journalists have gone missing.

Among such detainees was Idris Khattak, who disappeared while traveling in the country's northwest in 2019. Weeks later, authorities acknowledged he was in their custody on unspecified treason charges. Mr. Khattak worked for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch before disappearing.