LAHORE: The Anti-Torture Alliance (ATA) held a consultation with the civil society on Friday to discuss the torture legislation in Pakistan, especially with regards to the UN International Convention of Torture that Pakistan signed and ratified in 2010.

It was discussed that the legislation had not been implemented through a specific law. The Anti-Torture Bill has been approved by parliament but was waiting in the Senate.

The civil society expressed concerns over the approved bill, saying the definition of torture was mixed up with violence instead of specifying that torture only took place in custody of law enforcement agencies. The main discussion focused on torture by police in custody, but the civil society also blamed corrupt politicians who pushed police to torture.

Former chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights, Riaz Fatyana, said the worst were Sindh and Punjab police. He reiterated that although the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) was ratified on June 23, 2010, no law had been enacted to date to criminalise torture. Present laws did not extensively cover all situations and definitions and a specific law was needed.

“Use of fear tactics and intimidation by police has become a tradition in our country,” he said.

He said the formation of National Human Rights Commission was a refreshing change. According to the Police Order 2002, public safety commissions should be revived but that had not been done yet. He also suggested that screening was very important for new recruits and appointments, especially counting psychological screening. Also, any law on torture must have compensation for the victim, he added.

Women in Struggle for Empowerment Executive Director Bushra Khalique said torture was deeply ingrained in everyday life of Pakistanis that impeded societal development. While torture affected marginalised communities more, human rights defenders were also a huge target. She said according to a study by the Asian Human Rights Commission, about 80pc of people in police custody were tortured. However 72pc did not report because of fear of repercussions and 44pc were sexually abused in custody. Over 60pc firmly believed police tortured detainees to extract bribes or information and 67pc favoured the need for law against torture.

“The whole problem is that there is no independent forum for complaints other than within the police where their crimes can be investigated with impartiality,” she added.

It was also specified that police appointments must be done by the department’s own authorities and not the chief minister. The more political influence in police postings, appointments and transfers, the worse the system would be.

“Accompanied by corruption and followed by no transparency or accountability, this becomes the root cause of the problem of torture,” said Salman Abid, regional director of Strengthening Participatory Organisation.

He suggested psychologists be stationed within police stations to assess a person entering and exiting, whether it was an accused or a complainant. He said if the institutions were regressing in terms of corruption then police training did not matter because they had to bow down to the system. Unbridled freedom given to the police under the Pakistan Protection Order to shoot at sight was also proving detrimental, he added.

“Giving too much power to one institution is not a positive development, and we can especially see this in a recent incident in Faisalabad where a teenage boy was killed by a policeman only for posing with a toy gun,” said Abid Saqi, former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association.

He highlighted the deeply ingrained colonial mindset and said torture by police then was a logical outcome of this kind of social set-up.

“Ultimately, there is no civil administration that can monitor or question police and keep them in check,” he said. “There is no system of surveillance and police only reply to their hierarchy. On the other hand, police have zero training experience where investigations and handling crowds and protesters is concerned, and they are given powers to shoot at sight. The public cannot deduce the level of provocation of a person holding a gun.”

He said the country’s mentality of ‘majoritarianism’ was also a main reason why a counter narrative needed to be established.

Earlier, Dr Khurram Sohail Raja, head of Forensic Medicine at Punjab Medical College Faisalabad, gave a thorough presentation on victims of torture showing photographs of their sufferings after they left police custody. He said in 2014 alone, 330 detainees had been tortured in Faisalabad district only, while 51 were killed extra-judicially. He shared different methods of torture used by police, especially during investigation, and about detainees’ psychological conditions.

Joseph Francis from Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement said the police system was redundant and politicised and rulers used police to snub their opponents and settle scores.

Waqar Mustafa of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said there was no mention of the word “torture” in the Pakistan Penal Code and law or section in the Criminal Procedure Code. He said the commission had sent a letter to parliament suggesting recommendations for the new bill comprising rehabilitation and compensation for torture victims.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2015

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