Amina Masood Janjua

She started her early education at Presentation Convent High School Risalpur (a town and air force base near Mardan) where she studied until tenth grade. After passing her matriculation, she joined Nisar Shaheed College in Risalpur. After two years of study in Nisar Shaheed College, she joined F.G College for Women, Rawalpindi from where she passed her BA exams with English literature, Persian, and Fine arts as majors.[4] As described by her in an interview, she used to draw and paint on everything she could lay her hands on since early childhood. This talent of painting led her to Punjab University from where she graduated with a master's degree in Fine Arts, secured second position, and was awarded a silver medal. After receiving her master's degree, Pakistan's renowned painters Mansoor Rahi[5] and Hajira Mansoor mentored and played a vital role in polishing her painting skills.[6]

As an artist, her favored medium is oil and acrylic paints. Most of her paintings reflect an inclination towards expressionism and romanticism. Portraits and life drawings are amongst her favorite genres to paint. Her work has been exhibited.

She is married to Masood Ahmed Janjua who belongs to a military family. Her father in law, Lieutenant Colonel (R) Raja Ali Muhammad and two elder brothers-in-law have served in the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force. She has two sons and one daughter.

Her husband, Masood Ahmed Janjua, who was a successful businessman and ran multiple businesses, left home to go to Peshawar on 30 July 2005 along with his friend Faisal Faraz. He never returned home nor reached his destination. Initially, his disappearance could not be accounted for, but later, certain evidence convinced her that he had been picked up by an intelligence agency of the country. It was further established through the statement of one Dr. Imran Munir, who remained in the custody of military, court martialled, and later released on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In an official statement given to the government functionaries, Dr. Imran Munir testified that he had seen and met Masood Ahmed Janjua in a secret detention centre.

Amina states that she was devastated by the disappearance of her husband and found herself disoriented for many months while desperately taking random measures to trace her husband. Police was of no help and did not register a case. She started to approach different power figures. She wrote letters to anyone who she thought could help, including Gen Pervez Musharraf, an Army Chief and President of Pakistan, at that time. All her efforts turned out to be futile as no one helped her.

Early in her struggle, she discovered that countless other people are victims of enforced disappearance, and were forced to remain silent for fear of persecution under military rule. She started campaigning among the victims' families, co-founding the activist group named Defence of Human Rights alongside Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Khalid Khawaja. Under its banner, she organized her activities to trace not only her husband but all the others who had disappeared. After disappointment from all quarters, she got out of her home and staged her first road protest on 4 September 2006. She continued this protest on a daily basis for next two months.

After two months of protesting, it was on 9 October 2006 that proceedings of the Suo Motu case of Masood Janjua along with some other missing persons started in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Her campaigning brought results, and by the end of 2006, DHR had registered and submitted one hundred cases of disappearances in the Supreme Court.

On 28 December 2006, in a bid to deliver a letter at GHQ gate, Amina was set on marching along with her kids and other families. However, the authorities subjected them to a brutal crackdown in front of Flashman's hotel, Rawalpindi. Children of Amina Masood Janjua were particularly targeted. Ali, 14, and Muhammad, 15, were beaten mercilessly, and her 9-year-old daughter fainted. Muhammad was carried away forcefully by police.

In 2007, earlier on 9 March and later on 3 November, Gen Perwaiz Musharaf sacked Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry along with rest of the judiciary and put all the judges under house arrest. Pakistan's civil society and lawyers' community in were outraged and started a historical movement for the restoration of judiciary. The movement was popularly known as "Lawyers' Movement". Under Amina's leadership, many missing persons' families stepped out and joined this movement. She participated with full force in every endeavour for the rule of law. At last, the deposed Chief Justice and rest of the judges were restored on 16 March 2009.

Amina, whose only hope had been the judiciary, was heavily disappointed when the missing persons' case could not appear on the Supreme Court's docket for many months. Sad but undaunted, she decided to jolt the Court. She set up a protest camp in a small tent right outside the Supreme Court's gate. She stayed in that tent for 12 days and 12 nights from 2 November 2009 to 13 November 2009.

On 13 November 2009, the Registrar of Supreme Court called Amina Masood Janjua in his office, promised an immediate hearing, and asked her to call off her sit-in. As a result, hearing of cases of missing persons resumed on 23 November 2009.

In 2010, under the Supreme Court's directions, the government formed a commission of inquiry to resolve the missing persons' cases, which was headed by Justice (r) Mansoor Alam. Amina fully cooperated with this commission, worked day and night, submitted cases of forced disappeared persons for investigation, and accompanied every complainant for the proceedings. The commission concluded its finding and issued after a period of months. However, the government neither published the report nor acted upon its recommendations. Instead, it formed another commission of inquiry. Although Amina had learned by now that such commissions were merely tactics to give false hope and gain time, she started to work with this second commission as well. However, this commission acted more in defense of the perpetrators of enforced disappearance rather than to find missing persons.

On 16 March 2011, Amina, along with her daughter and 40 other women, children and old men, was arrested and remained detained overnight by the authorities while the congregation was on its way to present flowers to then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the anniversary of restoration of Judiciary.[7] This was the day Raymond Davis was set free.

Anguished by the time wasted by the commission of inquiry and the Supreme Court's dwindling interest in the missing persons issue, she organized a second day/night protest in front of Parliament House Islamabad on 31 October 2011. She wrapped up this camp the very next day on the appearance of Justice (r) Javaid Iqbal at the scene, who is heading the commission of inquiry. The Judge announced in front of the media that he, in his official capacity, promised to divulge a final solution for the recovery of the missing persons within two weeks time. He did not keep his promise.

Continuing her struggle, she organized a third day/night protest camp in front of Parliament House Islamabad which started on 15 February 2012 and continued for 75 days until 30 April 2012. She, along with families of more than 500 missing persons, stayed on the road side, garnering huge support and attention of the media and civil society.

Almost all the top leadership of important political parties visited the camp and showed solidarity with the cause, including Mian Nawaz Sharif, who was leading the opposition. The government, influenced by pressure, passed two unanimous resolutions, one in the National Assembly and one in the Senate, pledging to take measures to trace all missing persons and stop further incidents of enforced disappearance.

She is continually under death threat via mail and phone from unknown persons. [8] She informed the Supreme Court of this. Consequently, the Court ordered the government to provide her with security.

In 2008, she was invited by Amnesty International for a visit to Europe and the United States of America. She addressed conferences in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Lausanne, Lucerne, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Oslo, and Stockholm. Also, she met with the powerful government officials of many countries during her visits.

In 2008, her US visa was cancelled two hours before she was supposed to travel to the US. The US embassy never disclosed the reasons behind the refusal.

She acts as the sole spokesperson of DHR Pakistan and continuously presents the missing persons issue in Pakistan as well as international media.

Her activities as chairperson of Defence of Human Rights involves coordination with all offices in government circles like PMs secretariat, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice and HR, Supreme Court, Foreign office, FIA, NAB, City Administration, Army, provincial and tribal governments, and more. She organizes campaigns and manages all activities of DHR. Her work includes coordination with international human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Cageprisoners, and others.

In November 2006, she filed her first independent petition in the Supreme Court for 16 missing persons. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry allowed her to plead for the other missing persons as an advocate. Since then, she continually appears in the cases of missing persons in the Supreme Court. Presently, she alone is representing more than 700 cases of enforced disappearance.

Like Supreme Court, she also prepares and submits cases to Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance. Also, she appears in Commission of Inquiry on behalf of complainants.

Her engagement with enforced disappearances and secretly detained persons led her to realize the difficulties faced by persons who are detained in foreign lands. In 2010, she managed to repatriate twenty-two Pakistanis from Thailand who had been facing life imprisonments for minor crimes under royal laws of the country. Her present projects involve repatriation of fifty-two foreign prisoners detained in Pakistani jails to their respective countries and repatriation of more than three hundred Pakistanis who are detained in China.