Every year, people around the world observe the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims (generally referred to as the Anti-Torture Day) to reassert that torture must be eliminated. In Pakistan, too, people observe the day in support of torture victims and hold widespread discussions about criminalising torture. Pakistan has ratified the UN-CAT and the ICCPR in 2010 but, since then, the government and powerful quarters, including the armed forces, police and Muslim fundamentalists, have opposed making a law against torture and ill-treatment. The government has also put forward reservations about making the law, declaring that it would be against the Shariah (Islamic teachings), when, in fact, Shariah actually opposes torture in custody.
In Pakistan, torture, in the real meaning of the definition given by the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), has become endemic and is very much widespread. Torture is thought of as the best way to control crime. Every police station has at least one private torture cell. This is so that police cannot be blamed for torture occurring in their stations. The same happens with the armed forces, particularly the army, which is running torture cells in cantonment areas. The air force and Navy are running cells, including some in their headquarters.
The Pakistan army is running 52 torture cells, including many in the cantonment areas; the Pakistan Air Force has good numbers of torture cells in their bases, including one in their headquarters in Islamabad; and the Pakistan Navy is also running torture cells in Islamabad and Karachi, including at Mehran Base, Karachi.
Throughout the country, there are around 1300 police stations and every day at least one person undergoes physical torture in every police station, in addition to the many cases of mental torture. It would be unimaginable for a person who is arrested to be spared physical or mental torture. Therefore, at least 1300 persons are subjected to tortured and ill treatment every day in Pakistan.
This is the situation and it exposes how torture is endemic in Pakistan. If we add the people who are tortured in the torture cells of the armed forces, this figure will much higher than the registered cases of torture that are generally reported in the media.
Torture is also very commonly used for extortion, to demand bribes. Torture and extortion are well connected. Torture is not only used to get information; the purpose is generally extortion. People pay the bribe even if they are tortured, to lessen the degree of torture. After taking accused persons into custody, the police do not formally arrest him/her for several days. They then ask for a bribe to file a case under a bailable offence; if the bribe is not paid, then the person is arrested under a heinous crime, as punishment for not bribing the police.
To eradicate torture, there is a strong need for basic reforms in the policing system. In Pakistan, no institution has ever thought about developing or reforming the present policing system into a civilian policing system. For the military, and even for the politicians, changing the character of the policing system means losing control of their criminal activities.
The implementation of law in Pakistan wholly depends on the police and the responsibility of the police has been to implement the rule of law by force. The judiciary is trying to play its role but it is still dependent on the police to implement the rule of law.
The essence of the criminal justice system in the country is torture and ill-treatment, which, for the government, is the perfect system; for them, there is no need to develop the system as it yields the required results quickly. The reason is that it is mostly poor people who are tortured and, most of the time, powerful persons (and middle class people) can force the police (or pay them), to torture suspects of theft. A general consensus exists that, without torture, no one confesses to crime.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Parliament and the government to bring a law stating that torture is a crime. The menace of torture has increased the intolerance and violence in society. The government must immediately make basic reforms and develop a criminal justice system with modern methods, including forensics. A witness protection law must be made and implemented. The government must also close down all private torture cells run by each and every police station. They must also close down all torture cells run by the armed forces. Rehabilitation centers must be established for torture victims. The way the lower judiciary deals with torture also needs to be overhauled. Prosecutors must be trained to be able to deal with torture cases.
To build a society free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the subject of torture must be included in the school curriculum, so that children learn its bad effects on society. A strong effort from the government must be made to immunize the society from torture so that students grow up understanding that a society that permits endemic torture does not respect the inherent dignity of human beings.
