Due to conflict zones in Balochistan and erstwhile tribal areas, new legislation limiting the right to free trial, opaque detention centres under control of the military and increasing reliance on so called ‘doctrine of exceptionalism’ has blurred focus on the culture of impunity of torture in Pakistan. However, two recent developments should help return our focus on this issue and can serve as a catalyst for criminalising torture and ending the widespread impunity of the crime in the country.
First, a recent Peshawar High Court verdict overturning scores of convictions awarded by military courts on grounds that suggested questionable ways of confessions extracted possibly under torture. Second, a report jointly prepared by the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) and Justice Project of Pakistan (JPP) on systematic torture by police in Faisalabad over a seven-year period covering three different administrations.
Although Pakistan signed the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 2008 and also ratified it in 2010, it has still not made domestic legislation that defines and criminalises torture. Pakistan’s official report to the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2017 of its human rights record, referring to articles of the Constitution and penal laws, claimed that torture had already been eliminated and no one was tortured in the country. Referring to the Extradition Act, the official report claimed fool proof guarantees against handing over suspects to other parties who could subject them to torture.
It escaped the authors of the report that General Pervez Musharraf in his book In the Line of Fire has admitted to handing over hundreds of suspects to the CIA without due process. In his own words, “We handed over 369 to the United States (and) earned bounties totalling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of ‘not doing enough’ in the War on Terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid.” When it provoked loud protests and calls for accountability, this confession was deleted from the subsequent Urdu edition of the memoir.
The latest report titled Police Torture in Faisalabad from 2006-2012 is prepared by the NCHR, exercising powers conferred on it by the Act of Parliament that created it. The Commission diligently pursued a formal complaint filed by Justice Project of Pakistan (JPP) which itself had diligently carried out painstaking research based on interviews, examination of official records and medico-legal reports prepared under court orders. Launched last week in Islamabad, it is an eye opener and a stinging rebuttal of Pakistan’s official claims before various international bodies.
The report documented 1,424 cases of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the police. No official inquiry was launched by any government body into any of the torture cases. The Police Order 2002 mandates police safety commissions and a complaint authority to inquire into torture and prescribes a five-year jail term with fines, but no action had been taken under it, the report says.
The police pressurised torture victims for a compromise. As a result, not one offending police officer has been prosecuted, let alone punished. Of the 19 cases randomly selected, it was found that in all cases a compromise had been reached by the victims with the offending police officers, and not one offender was prosecuted.
A startling revelation was that while the police complied with the order of the NCHR to report on progress made in each case, the military controlled Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) declined to give any update on a case of torture under its watch. This promptly invited a cryptic comment, “the higher the rank and uniform, the greater is the disdain for law and impunity of crime.”
It also transpired that despite Constitutional provisions and having signed the Convention Against Torture, the penal code even does not define torture. The question of a separate penal provision would arise only if torture had been defined. As a result torture is criminalised. A bill criminalising torture was passed unanimously by the Senate on March 2, 2015 and transmitted to the National Assembly the next day. However, it was not passed within the stipulated 90 days. The Senate sent it to the joint session of parliament, where it is still lying in limbo.
What transpires in detention centres of police and other security forces is no secret. But it is impossible to have a peep into these centres. On one pretext or another, security agencies manning these opaque detention centres have not allowed even parliamentary bodies to visit them. How many have actually died in detention centres, no one knows.
Even the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not allow a peep into its detention centres. NCHR Chairman Justice Chowhan stunned everyone when he disclosed that NAB declined him access to its detention centres. “It is a violation of the law,” he said, putting it rather too mildly.
After the death of a professional in NAB custody and the opposition allegations about CCTV cameras in lock ups, the NCHR wanted its team to inspect the detention centres but the NAB did not even bother to reply, he lamented. A frustrated chairman then asked civil society to raise voice against it. The Commission had also sent a report on torture to the United Nations, but the chairman was not allowed to travel, he further disclosed
The internment centers set up by the military in erstwhile tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are black holes where no one is allowed. Attempts made by the parliamentary committee from time to time to visit these centres have met with no success. No one knows what transpires inside these “Guantanamo Bay Prisons” of Pakistan and how confessions are extorted. The doctrine of necessity seems to have been replaced with “doctrine of exceptionalism” in the name of national security.
The culture of impunity against torture is as deep rooted in Pakistan as torture itself is widespread. It must be addressed before the forthcoming GSP plus review. The report highlights how invaluable it is for civil society organisations to join hands with the NCHR are in advancing the human rights agenda. No wonder that rights based NGOs are on the radar of the state.
The human rights minister has repeatedly promised to soon table an anti-torture bill in the parliament. That promise must be fulfilled. More importantly, official reports to international bodies must be a little candid and admit failures in preventing torture and other human rights violations. There is no shame in it. It will make the promises look more credible.
Remember, the world may forgive us of poor performance in implementing laws, but we will never be forgiven for making false claims about torture in the country.
The writer is a former senator
First, a recent Peshawar High Court verdict overturning scores of convictions awarded by military courts on grounds that suggested questionable ways of confessions extracted possibly under torture. Second, a report jointly prepared by the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) and Justice Project of Pakistan (JPP) on systematic torture by police in Faisalabad over a seven-year period covering three different administrations.
Although Pakistan signed the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 2008 and also ratified it in 2010, it has still not made domestic legislation that defines and criminalises torture. Pakistan’s official report to the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2017 of its human rights record, referring to articles of the Constitution and penal laws, claimed that torture had already been eliminated and no one was tortured in the country. Referring to the Extradition Act, the official report claimed fool proof guarantees against handing over suspects to other parties who could subject them to torture.
1,424 cases of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the police were documented. No official inquiry was launched by any government body into any of these cases
It escaped the authors of the report that General Pervez Musharraf in his book In the Line of Fire has admitted to handing over hundreds of suspects to the CIA without due process. In his own words, “We handed over 369 to the United States (and) earned bounties totalling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of ‘not doing enough’ in the War on Terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid.” When it provoked loud protests and calls for accountability, this confession was deleted from the subsequent Urdu edition of the memoir.
The latest report titled Police Torture in Faisalabad from 2006-2012 is prepared by the NCHR, exercising powers conferred on it by the Act of Parliament that created it. The Commission diligently pursued a formal complaint filed by Justice Project of Pakistan (JPP) which itself had diligently carried out painstaking research based on interviews, examination of official records and medico-legal reports prepared under court orders. Launched last week in Islamabad, it is an eye opener and a stinging rebuttal of Pakistan’s official claims before various international bodies.
The report documented 1,424 cases of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the police. No official inquiry was launched by any government body into any of the torture cases. The Police Order 2002 mandates police safety commissions and a complaint authority to inquire into torture and prescribes a five-year jail term with fines, but no action had been taken under it, the report says.
The police pressurised torture victims for a compromise. As a result, not one offending police officer has been prosecuted, let alone punished. Of the 19 cases randomly selected, it was found that in all cases a compromise had been reached by the victims with the offending police officers, and not one offender was prosecuted.
A startling revelation was that while the police complied with the order of the NCHR to report on progress made in each case, the military controlled Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) declined to give any update on a case of torture under its watch. This promptly invited a cryptic comment, “the higher the rank and uniform, the greater is the disdain for law and impunity of crime.”
It also transpired that despite Constitutional provisions and having signed the Convention Against Torture, the penal code even does not define torture. The question of a separate penal provision would arise only if torture had been defined. As a result torture is criminalised. A bill criminalising torture was passed unanimously by the Senate on March 2, 2015 and transmitted to the National Assembly the next day. However, it was not passed within the stipulated 90 days. The Senate sent it to the joint session of parliament, where it is still lying in limbo.
What transpires in detention centres of police and other security forces is no secret. But it is impossible to have a peep into these centres. On one pretext or another, security agencies manning these opaque detention centres have not allowed even parliamentary bodies to visit them. How many have actually died in detention centres, no one knows.
Even the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not allow a peep into its detention centres. NCHR Chairman Justice Chowhan stunned everyone when he disclosed that NAB declined him access to its detention centres. “It is a violation of the law,” he said, putting it rather too mildly.
After the death of a professional in NAB custody and the opposition allegations about CCTV cameras in lock ups, the NCHR wanted its team to inspect the detention centres but the NAB did not even bother to reply, he lamented. A frustrated chairman then asked civil society to raise voice against it. The Commission had also sent a report on torture to the United Nations, but the chairman was not allowed to travel, he further disclosed
The internment centers set up by the military in erstwhile tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are black holes where no one is allowed. Attempts made by the parliamentary committee from time to time to visit these centres have met with no success. No one knows what transpires inside these “Guantanamo Bay Prisons” of Pakistan and how confessions are extorted. The doctrine of necessity seems to have been replaced with “doctrine of exceptionalism” in the name of national security.
The culture of impunity against torture is as deep rooted in Pakistan as torture itself is widespread. It must be addressed before the forthcoming GSP plus review. The report highlights how invaluable it is for civil society organisations to join hands with the NCHR are in advancing the human rights agenda. No wonder that rights based NGOs are on the radar of the state.
The human rights minister has repeatedly promised to soon table an anti-torture bill in the parliament. That promise must be fulfilled. More importantly, official reports to international bodies must be a little candid and admit failures in preventing torture and other human rights violations. There is no shame in it. It will make the promises look more credible.
Remember, the world may forgive us of poor performance in implementing laws, but we will never be forgiven for making false claims about torture in the country.
The writer is a former senator