On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said the government was moving forward in its commitment to “criminalize enforced disappearances”.

There can never be any place for enforced disappearance in a democracy, she said in a tweet, adding, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior unanimously approved the bill on the issue last week.

The United Nations General Assembly has marked August 30 as International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances to express “its deep concern about the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world, including arrest, detention and abduction… and by the growing number of reports concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared.”

While some social media users responded to the minister’s tweet with appreciation others lashed out at her for closing comments on the tweet for general public.

One user said Mazari's decision to close comments to the tweet was a matter of “national concern”.

Another user asked the minister to name those who are involved in enforced disappearances and make them answerable to the parliamentary panel.

However, some users appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Human Rights.

In his message on the day, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres termed enforced disappearance a method of “repression, terror and to stifle dissent”. He asked countries to “search for the victims and investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators.”