Pakistan was one of the many countries that adopted the United Nations Convention on Torture in 1984. And Amnesty International (AI) has accused those very governments around the world, including Pakistan, of betraying their commitments to stamp out torture made when they adopted the convention three decades ago.

As part of its two-year Stop Torture campaign launched earlier this week, it also released a media briefing, Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises, which provides an overview of the use of torture in the world today. Pakistan’s law enforcers and spy agencies are featured in the report.

“In Pakistan, we have documented widespread use of torture by the police and other security forces in many different contexts and regions. Security laws enable state security forces to commit human rights violations like torture with impunity beyond the reach of the law. From Karachi to Balochistan, thousands of men and boys have been arbitrarily detained,” said AI’s Pakistan researcher Mustafa Qadri.

“Many victims and their relatives allege they have been subjected to torture, are held in secret places of detention. Some are never seen alive again and are later recovered dead with their bodies bearing marks of torture. Investigations into such cases are extremely rare and ineffective even when they do take place.”

However, a sad reality is that torture is more or less accepted in Pakistan as a legitimate – and needed – means of interrogation.

In Amnesty International’s “Stop Torture Global Survey: Attitudes to Torture”, 56% of those surveyed think torture is sometimes necessary and acceptable to gain information that may protect the public. This number was one of the highest in Asia, but it was lower in comparison to the survey of a similar sample in China and India, respectively.

Akmal Wasim, the head of litigation and research at the Karachi Legal Aid Office, believes that there is acceptance of torture because there is a misconception prevalent among the people. “People confuse torture with violence. Torture is something that definitely or temporarily for a long period destroys the personality and alters the character of the victim,” he told The Express Tribune. “Unless the grey areas around torture are cleared up, people, legislators and judges cannot understand the horrendous consequences of torture.”

There is a need to bring in the definition of torture in the penal code or the General Clauses Act, 1897, Wasim argued. “We should import the entire text of Article 1 of the Convention on Torture into the prohibition. Only then we can move towards legislation and other ways to stamp out torture.”

However, he does not see a law on torture anytime soon. “The Ministry of Human Rights has prepared its own law on torture, but we have reservations against it.”

Express Tribune

At the launch of Amnesty International’s global campaign, ‘Stop Torture’, on Monday, the human rights organisation said that torture isn’t limited to a few rogue states, but is endemic throughout the region.

Richard Bennett, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, said that Asian countries must stop paying lip service to their commitment to end torture. “Signing up to the international treaties is important but not enough. It must be backed up with concrete action.”

Amnesty said that torture is used by governments against a range of individuals across Asia-Pacific. “It is used to force confessions or to silence activists in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Torture is used to extort money in places such as Myanmar and Nepal, where poor and marginalised people are unable to bribe their way out of being tortured,” said Amnesty.

The vast majority of people in Asia-Pacific, according to Amnesty, believe there should be clear laws against torture, but in China and India almost three quarters of respondents (74%) felt torture was sometimes necessary – the highest numbers in any of the countries polled. In Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea the majority of respondents feared they could be tortured if taken into custody.

“The shocking fact that so many people fear torture – in some countries the majority of those polled – should spur authorities across Asia-Pacific into meaningful action by taking concrete steps to eradicate this horrific human rights violation,” said Richard Bennett.

According to Amnesty, in Pakistan torture is frequently practiced by police, intelligence services and the army, in particular in the conflict-ridden Tribal Areas or Balochistan. Amnesty International has received report of torture used on human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists among others.

Amnesty International called on governments in Asia-Pacific to put in place protective mechanisms to prevent and punish torture – such as impartial medical examinations, prompt access to lawyers and courts, independent checks on places of detention, effective investigations of torture allegations, the prosecution of suspects and proper redress for victims.

Amnesty International’s Pakistan researcher Mustafa Qadri told The News that the Amnesty has documented widespread use of torture by the police and other security forces in many different contexts and regions.

He told: “Security laws enable state security forces to commit human rights violations like torture with impunity beyond the reach of the law. From Karachi and Balochistan province in the south to the tribal areas in the northwest, thousands of men and boys have been arbitrarily detained. Many victims and their relatives allege they have been subjected to torture, are held in secret places of detention. Some are never seen alive again and are later recovered dead with their bodies bearing marks of torture. Investigations into such cases are extremely rare and ineffective even when they do take place.”

He added: “Many journalists in Pakistan, in particular those covering sensitive national security issues or human rights abuses, live with the constant threat of abductions and torture.

“The global survey we commissioned revealed a palpable fear of torture in Pakistan. Almost 60% of Pakistanis reported that they would be afraid of torture if taken into custody, while more than 80% said there needed to be clear rules are needed to fight torture.”

The News