Tuesday, 02 December, 2025
The government has published the gazette for the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025, introducing provisions for the death penalty and life imprisonment for perpetrators of enforced disappearances.
The law also imposes the same penalties on senior law enforcement officers or commanders who order, authorise, or approve such acts. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs released the gazette on Monday.
The ordinance provides for the establishment of Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Tribunals at district and divisional levels, and offences under the law will be non-bailable. It allows authorities to keep the whereabouts of arrested individuals confidential until they are presented before a magistrate “in the interest of state security”.
On 6 November, the Advisory Council gave final approval to the draft ordinance, which also sets a timeline for trials to be completed within 120 working days.
According to the ordinance, any government employee or law enforcement official who arrests, detains, abducts, or otherwise deprives someone of their liberty — and then denies the act, or conceals the person’s location, condition, or fate, thereby depriving them of legal protection — will be guilty of an enforced disappearance. Offenders may face life imprisonment or up to 10 years in prison.
If the enforced disappearance results in death, or if the individual remains missing for five years, the responsible person may face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The law also criminalises the destruction of evidence related to enforced disappearances, as well as the construction or use of secret detention centres, with offenders liable to seven years in prison.
Senior officers and commanders are also held accountable. The ordinance stipulates that if a senior law enforcement officer or team leader orders, authorises, consents to, approves, incites, or participates in an enforced disappearance, they will face the same punishment as the principal offender. Officers may also be liable if subordinates commit such acts due to negligence, failure to maintain discipline, or lack of supervision.
The ordinance allows trials to proceed in the absence of a suspect who is absconding and includes a separate section regulating the use or transfer of property belonging to disappeared persons.
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The government has published the gazette for the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025, introducing provisions for the death penalty and life imprisonment for perpetrators of enforced disappearances.
The law also imposes the same penalties on senior law enforcement officers or commanders who order, authorise, or approve such acts. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs released the gazette on Monday.
The ordinance provides for the establishment of Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Tribunals at district and divisional levels, and offences under the law will be non-bailable. It allows authorities to keep the whereabouts of arrested individuals confidential until they are presented before a magistrate “in the interest of state security”.
On 6 November, the Advisory Council gave final approval to the draft ordinance, which also sets a timeline for trials to be completed within 120 working days.
According to the ordinance, any government employee or law enforcement official who arrests, detains, abducts, or otherwise deprives someone of their liberty — and then denies the act, or conceals the person’s location, condition, or fate, thereby depriving them of legal protection — will be guilty of an enforced disappearance. Offenders may face life imprisonment or up to 10 years in prison.
If the enforced disappearance results in death, or if the individual remains missing for five years, the responsible person may face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The law also criminalises the destruction of evidence related to enforced disappearances, as well as the construction or use of secret detention centres, with offenders liable to seven years in prison.
Senior officers and commanders are also held accountable. The ordinance stipulates that if a senior law enforcement officer or team leader orders, authorises, consents to, approves, incites, or participates in an enforced disappearance, they will face the same punishment as the principal offender. Officers may also be liable if subordinates commit such acts due to negligence, failure to maintain discipline, or lack of supervision.
The ordinance allows trials to proceed in the absence of a suspect who is absconding and includes a separate section regulating the use or transfer of property belonging to disappeared persons.
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