Insurgentjg

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Although Pakistan is now an elected member of the new UN Human Rights Council, the practice of torture throughout the country is on the rise.  

The Constitution and the Penal Code prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; however, police regularly tortured, and otherwise abused persons. Police routinely used force to elicit confessions; however, there were fewer reports of torture by police. Some human rights groups stated that this decrease in reports reflects the influence of army monitoring teams, who discourage the use of torture; other observers suggested that the frequency of torture remained unchanged, but the media devoted less attention to the issue.
        
It is common practice in Pakistan for arrested persons to be subjected to physical and mental torture in order for the police to obtain a confession, other information, and extort money. A newspaper reported that there were 80 cases of torture in 2006 police custody in Lahore.

Methods of torture used by the police include beating with fists, legs, wooden sticks or a piece of reinforced leather and burning the victim with cigarettes butts. In fact, police and law enforcement agencies are conditioned to think that it is their duty to torture suspected criminals. This is in contradiction to the Constitution of Pakistan, which clearly prohibits the torture of any person. Police corruption was widespread. Police and prison officials frequently used the threat of abuse to extort money from prisoners and their families. Police accepted money for registering cases on false charges and tortured innocent citizens. Persons paid the police to humiliate their opponents and to avenge their personal grievances. An 18-year-old girl Safia was raped in the Gaddani jail after being severely tortured, and was then burned alive by the jail authorities. Although a tribunal was set up to look into this case, no investigation ever took place and the perpetrators of this horrendous crime remain free to commit further crimes.

Pakistan’s military government is in fact increasing its use of torture and military confinement of civilians. ‘Torture cells’ are generally found in cantonments and other military controlled areas in the country. In Karachi and Quetta these cells are under the control of the Corp Commanders. Only Inter Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence personnel are allowed to visit these cells. Military methods of torture include forcing detainees to dance naked before an audience for several hours, forcing them to do push-ups the entire night, putting rats in their pants or pajamas, forcing them to listen to audio and video cassettes of other torture victims, as well as stitching their lips together.

Civil and human rights groups as well as the media have highlighted such crimes. Although some inquiries into police brutalities lead to the suspension of the accused officers, the officers are swiftly reinstated in their former jobs. The reluctance of Pakistan’s legal system to effectively try perpetrators of human rights abuse makes it almost impossible for victims to obtain justice. The lack of internal and external checks on the actions of law enforcement officials, as well as the lack of disciplinary and legal action allows certain officers to torture and harass the citizens they are meant to protect.    Pakistan is a country where even Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the apex court, is not spared physical and mental torture by the country’s law enforcement agencies.  Mr. Iftekhar Choudhary, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, was abused and tortured twice by law enforcement agencies, once in Islamabad (capital of Pakistan) and once in Karachi (capital of Sindh province). After Chief Justice Mr. Iftekhar Choudhary was summoned to Army House to appear before President General Musharraf, he was held in detention for five hours on March 9, 2007, where he went through severe mental torture, while five Generals were threatening and pressurizing him to resign. Subsequently, President General Musharraf referred his case (Reference) to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on March 13, 2007. The Islamabad police took him into custody as he was appearing before court and he was manhandled. He was slapped; he was snatched by his hair and thrown brutally into a police van before several people.  Torture in custody is very widespread in Pakistan, as it is held that by means of torture the writ of the state/government is sought to be maintained. Reported torture cases increased from the number of 1000 in the year 2005 to a number of 1319 in the year 2006. This figure only involves the cases reported, whereas there is several additional cases that remain unrevealed due to the victims’ fear. During the first half of 2007, the practice of torture in custody was getting worse as several lawyers and journalists were also exposed to severe torture by police and army intelligence agencies Women were often the victims at the hands of their husbands or male relatives. Authorities reported 1,261 honor crimes in the 12 months after June 2003, with the majority in Sindh. The practice was also common in Punjab and among tribes in Baluchistan, NWFP, and FATA. On October 26, the National Assembly adopted legislation that provides for additional penalties for all crimes involving honor and that restricts the right of victims or heirs to pardon perpetrators in exchange for restitution. Sexual harassment was a widespread problem. While the Pakistan Penal Code prohibits harassment, prosecution was rare. Family law provides protections for women in cases of divorce, including requirements for maintenance, and lays out clear guidelines for custody of minor children and their maintenance. In practice, many women were unaware of these legal protections or unable to obtain legal counsel to enforce them. Divorced women were often left with no means of support and were fed up by their families. While prohibited by law, the practice of buying and selling brides continued in rural areas. Women are legally free to marry without family consent, but women who did so were often the victims of honor crimes.

Although, the government of Pakistan is trying hard to make an improvement in the above mentioned ill-treatment methods according to the demands of universal declaration of human rights and Islamic fiqa. We may hope that one day, Pakistan will succeed in making improvement in above tortured methods.

_______________________________________________

This article is based on class discussions and readings by Sana Javaid.