KARACHI: “There can never be any justification for the use of torture, which is an act that intentionally inflicts physical and psychological harm and is being practised in Pakistan with impunity,” said Karamat Ali, representing the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (Piler), at the Arts Council on Friday, observing the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Human rights advocates had gathered to stand in solidarity with all victims of torture, regardless of caste, creed, nationality or political and religious affiliations. The seminar was organised by Piler, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Their representatives stood together to condemn the use of torture as a means of eliciting information, taking revenge, punishing or even expressing the superiority of an ideology by the state and other institutions.

Mr Ali questioned the lack of legislation in the country with regards to torture. “Why has a bill not been drafted and passed in the assembly?” he questioned. “We must have a law in place that does not allow torture to be used against any person, even if it is in the name of national security.”

Hassan Athar of the AHRC spoke about the many instances where Pakistan disregarded and violated the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UN CAT) that it ratified in 2010. The use of torture also went against the country’s Constitution, he said, however, lack of accountability had given individuals and institutions, including the government, intelligence agencies and political parties, the space to carry out such heinous acts against one another.

‘We must have a law in place that does not allow torture to be used against any person, even if it is in the name of national security’

“We need to mobilise against and protest the use of torture, especially custodial torture prevalent in jails all over the country,” he added.

A comprehensive law against torture was the demand put forward by the speakers, as without it they said the judicial system was ‘primitive’ and ‘criminal’. The collaboration of the rights groups would use peaceful, legal action to put pressure on the government to pass and implement an anti-torture bill, they said.

Asad Iqbal Butt of the HRCP spoke of the enforced disappearances in the country, especially in Balochistan and Karachi. “From the disappearances of political workers in Karachi, to the missing persons in Balochistan, we have witnessed a spike in torture victims and we must raise our voice to show that this is unlawful, in any part of the world.”

Commenting on the lack of legislation, he was of the opinion that the delay was primarily because lawmakers did not consider this issue important enough. “When it comes to matters concerning civilians and their basic rights, bills benefiting them take years to pass in the assembly.”

Retired Justice Majida Rizvi spoke about the necessity to adopt and implement an anti-torture bill that even if weak, would be of solace to torture victims and their families. She went into detail about how honour killings should also be considered torture, citing that the act degraded a person, scarring them physically and psychologically.

“The justice system is rotten and corrupt and allows torture to become an acceptable form of eliciting information,” said Khurshid Abbasi of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. He recounted tales when working as a journalist he witnessed victims of police brutality and the apathy shown by those responsible.

MQM lawmaker Salman Mujahid shared his party’s grievances regarding the extrajudicial killings of its workers. “Since the start of the operation in Karachi in September 2013, more than 90 MQM workers have been missing and more than 40 killed with apparent signs of torture. There is no one we can hold accountable for this and even the judiciary has let us down.”

Deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza recounted her experience of being arrested in 1990, insisting that such arrests and the resulting custodial torture usually was motivated by political reasons.

Published in Dawn June 27th, 2015

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