Throughout the world, June 26 is marked as international day in support of torture victims. In Pakistan, the Asian Human Right Commission has played an active role in mobilizing civil society with support from many partner organisations. Several activities have been planned to commemorate the day and raise awareness amongst the masses about the implications of custodial torture.
Mr. Baseer Naweed, a senior researcher at the AHRC was scheduled to travel to Pakistan to attend a seminar on torture in Karachi on this occasion. However, Mr. Naweed’s relatives, friends, and fellow activists in Karachi began receiving calls enquiring about his whereabouts. Individuals claiming to be members of Pakistan’s spy agencies intimated Mr. Naweed not to come to Pakistan.
A seminar will be held tomorrow under the auspice of AHRC, along with its partner organization PILER and HRCP at the Karachi Arts Council. The AHRC has also learnt that the Chief Guest of the seminar, Mr. Raza Rabbani, the Chairman of Senate, who had himself confirmed his participation had to cancel at the last moment for “some unknown” reasons. It is said that some invisible force has stopped him from attending the seminar, as it will harm the Army’s operation against terrorists.
In Punjab Province, many rights based groups are organizing seminars, public meetings, and demonstrations on June 26, against the torture practices being committed by the law enforcement agencies, which are running private torture cells. The spy agencies have also been following the activists, who do not want to be named for security reasons, for organising anti-torture day events in Lahore. The agencies are actively pursuing the activist not to speak against the issue, particularly on torture by the armed forces. The activists are being threatened to stay silent or face dire consequences if they continue with the planned activities. It is becoming increasingly difficult to speak against the heinous crime and to raise one’s voice in support of thousands of innocent victims who suffer from inhuman torture every day at the hands of the law enforcement agencies.
Several seminars and press conferences are planned for 26 June 2015, which are set to be attended by rights activist, lawyers, journalists and people from different walks of life. As the civil society is demanding enactment of anti-torture laws and a permanent curb on the heinous act, the state agencies are having a panic attack. They are resorting to arm-twisting tactics, threatening and intimidating activists.
The Pakistan Army is a holy cow and no media organisation, whether print or electronic, dares to speak ill about it because the Pakistan Army does not tolerate criticism. Pakistan has a long legacy of military dictatorship and even when democracy has been revived it remains under the shadow of a military chief who can intervene whenever he deems fit in the name of national security and stability. The democratic institutions have thus failed to flourish. The legislators too are afraid to commit to an Anti-torture law, though Pakistan has been signatory to the UNCAT since 2010. The Army is exerting immense pressure on civil society not to demand an end to atrocity and barbarity. Many civil society activist and journalists have been killed for supporting those affected by military atrocities; the most recent example being Ms Sabeen Mahmood. The brave lady refused to bow to the whims of the agencies and paid with her life.
Pakistan’s spy agencies have been indulging in torture with impunity, as there exists no mechanism to stop the crime in Pakistan. The AHRC and its partner organization have been actively lobbying parliamentarians for the promulgation and enactment of an anti-torture law since 2010.
The law enforcement agencies, in the face of pressure from the international community, have jumped into action, and now seem bent upon silencing the demand to end torture. The seminars that intend to create awareness amongst the masses about their right are being sabotaged with threats to the participants. The issue of torture is being deliberately suppressed to hide the underbelly of the ongoing military operations in several parts of the country.
The freedom of expression and assembly, as guaranteed under the international conventions and the Constitution of Pakistan, are being denied to the common man in general and members of civil society in particular. Speaking against torture is punished, however the perpetrators of torture are given total protection. In Orwellian societies such as Pakistan the few voices of sanity and conscious that have prevailed are now increasingly being silenced. Perhaps the military and the agencies are unable to grasp the anger that is seething within society; they may muzzle the voices of dissent now, but not for long. The resentment building up within the society against injustice will manifest itself as a destructive force and will ultimately result in chaos and complete anarchy. It is high time the agencies learn a lesson from history that they can’t suppress or hold back the demand for a more egalitarian society for long.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the international community particularly the UN human rights council to take notice of the adamant attitude of the government of Pakistan for holding International Day in support of torture on June 26. It is apprehended that activists and human rights defenders, who are observing this day, particularly in different district levels, may be arrested on charges of terrorism, which is a very saleable slogan in the country for the introduction strong laws and military action.
