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Pakistan: Rouged rule of law allows torture to exist
Asian Human Rights Commission Statement - June 23, 2009
AHRC-STM-144-2009
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26.
Torture in custody is a very common phenomenon in Pakistan because of the rouged legal system and impotent rule of law. The laws of the land are silent on the issue of torture by the law enforcement agencies. The Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) has no specific section about torture; it deals only about the word "hurt" and, even, in the definition of 'hurt' the state authorities, who are mainly responsible for exercising torture, are not mentioned in any way.
The criminal procedure code (Cr.PC) also does not mention any clause for punishing perpetrators of torture. The existence of a rogue legal system has meant that serious issues of torture are disregarded. Therefore, law enforcement authorities are given free hand to use torture as the best way to mint the money and obtain confessional statements which favour the police and other law enforcement authorities.
Pakistan signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on April 17, 2008 and pledged before the UN human rights council to stop the menace of torture in Pakistan and rectify its laws according to the CAT. After signing the CAT, it was hoped that at least, authorities in Pakistan would revise its system of interrogation while in custody and make amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code according to the definition of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). However, no serious effort has been made by the government which has replaced the military rule through votes.
During the last year, particularly after signing the CAT, more torture cases were reported than corresponding years, and performed in more cruel ways. In some cases law makers were implicit in their utilization of police for torturing their opponents. In the last year, more than 1,300 people were tortured of which were reported and yet, there are several hundreds of tortured victims that have not been reported according to the NGO, Lawyers for Human Rights.
Pakistani legislators are not concerned with torture. The issue of torture is not discussed by legislators even after receiving so many cases of torture through the media and from human rights organizations. The fact that legislators have evaded the issue of torture and that they have never discussed it in an elected forum shows the indifferent attitude of law makers on this issue.
The police, as a law enforcement agency, are the main sources of torture to ordinary citizens. The lack of police reform mechanisms has perpetuated the cycle of torture in Pakistan. Anyone who is arrested must endure physical and/or mental torture. The investigation officers at each police station are much more eager to get confessional statements through brutal show of force. No police officer has ever been punished on the act of torture, though; they have been suspended or transferred for committing torture if it were proven. The absence of criminilisation of torture in custody in the law provides impunity to the police.
Since the establishment of the new government last year under President Zardari effective investigations of torture have not been implemented in spite of the government's assertion that they will remedy the matter. Article 4.1 of the 1984 UN convention against torture says that every signatory state must ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law yet there is no prohibition against torture in Pakistan's domestic law. Due to the lack of mechanisms put in place to address acts of torture, arbitrary arrests and grave human rights violations continue to be carried out.
The military and state intelligence agencies like, Inter services Intelligence (ISI), the Military intelligence agency (MI), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Pakistan Navy, and the Frontier Constabulary (FC) are prominent agencies among other agencies that are notorious in torturing people in custody. These agencies run their own torture cells in different cities, even in privately hired houses. There are 52 identified torture centres in Pakistan. Those persons arrested are held for prolonged lengths of time without their whereabouts known. The 'safe houses' maintained by the inter services intelligence (ISI) are the main torture centres that operate openly in central places in different cities including Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
There are reports that women were raped in police stations during the process of interrogation in order to get their confessional statements. The report concerning a case of a girl raped in custody by police officers and her sister kept nude in lock up is available here.
Several persons who disappeared after their arrests by plain-clothed men bearing no vehicle registration numbers from different parts of the country, particularly from Balochistan and Sindh provinces, were kept incommunicado for several months in army torture cells and brutally tortured in order to obtain knowledge about their links and involvement in the nationalists movements. Those persons who were released were then thrown out on road sides after testifying before the courts and the media about their torture in army camps later to be abducted again by state intelligence agencies who warned them that their family members would have the same treatment as they had. Details of these cases, case 1 & case 2 are available at the AHRC.
There are also reports about missing women, who were arrested by the law enforcement agencies and held in incommunicado in different army torture cells. According to a list, compiled by one NGO, the Anjuman Ittehad Marri, 179 women are missing from Balochistan province after their arrest. Some male inmates of the army camps have testified to the media that they themselves saw some women who were screaming in the cells, particularly, in the army centre at Karachi city, the capital of Sindh province. The details of this incident are available here.
Outsourcing torture
The "war on terror" has intensified the use of torture in Pakistan. Those suspected of going against the government or allegedly conducting terrorist activities have been arbitrarily detained and tortured. The 'war on terror' has meant that in the name of national security torture has become legalized. Human rights are denied in which coerced confessions become admissible under provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Act. In its efforts to protect Pakistan's national security Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has worked with the United States and the U.K. The ISI has provided assistance to the US and UK for combating their counter-terrorism operations. Cases have been documented in which British intelligence agencies, one of which the MI5 has allegedly colluded with the Pakistani authorities in detaining and torturing British Muslims. Interrogation procedures that have been aided by Pakistan's ISI have been utilized for extracting information. In the case of the ISI torture is taking place by proxy. After acts of abuse in the hands of ISI agents, interrogation is then turned over to MI5 officers. The outsourcing of torture for the United States takes the form of a classified directive that was created after September 11, 2001 authorizing the CIA to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists. The CIA secret detention operation has been aided by foreign governments. This is precisely where Pakistan has been instrumental in providing the US with suspected terrorists and a place to conduct its methods of torture.
Britain is condemned in a highly critical UN report for breaching basic human rights and "trying to conceal illegal acts" in the fight against terrorism. The report is sharply critical of British co-operation in the transfer of detainees to places where they are likely to be tortured as part of the US rendition programmed. It accuses British intelligence officers of interviewing detainees held incommunicado in Pakistan in "so-called safe houses where they were being tortured".
Torture is seen to be vital in order to combat the war on terrorism. As the cases above reveal human rights are suspended in the interests of national security. Torture takes many forms and operates in the farthest regions of the world. Governments aid other governments in supplying the means of torture. Take the case of a woman doctor, Aafia Siddiqui who is thought to have ties with terrorists. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was arrested by Pakistan authorities and held in an Afghanistan prison. She is still being held without any charges brought against her, and remains in a psychological facility in New York where her lawyer and children are denied access.
Conclusion
The Convention against Torture (CAT) prohibits torture, and requires parties to take effective measures to prevent it in any territory under its jurisdiction. This prohibition is absolute and non-derogable. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever" may be invoked to justify torture, including war, threat of war, internal political instability, public emergency, terrorist acts, violent crime, or any form of armed conflict. Torture cannot be justified as a means to protect public safety or prevent emergencies. Neither can it be justified by orders from superior officers or public officials. The prohibition on torture applies to all territories under a party's effective jurisdiction, and protects all people under its effective control, regardless of citizenship or how that control is exercised. Since the Conventions entry into force, this absolute prohibition has become accepted as a principle of customary international law.
As a result of the government of Pakistan signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and also Convention against Torture (CAT) acts of torture while in custody remain solely the responsibility of the Pakistan government. Violations of the ICCPR and the CAT must be placed on the government. Proxy torture in Pakistan a method frequently used to combat the 'war on terror' cannot be made as an excuse to torture while in custody or to allow foreign forces to conduct torture practices.
There is a dire need to make torture a heinous crime in Pakistan law. Until and unless the practice of torture is criminalized through the law there are fewer chances to stop the grave human rights violations that are occurring in Pakistan. Torture will only end as the best tool for confessional statements when it is realized as a crime and therefore the concept of fair trial and justice can be achieved.
About AHRC
The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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