An Oral Statement to the 10th Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization with general consultative status, supported by Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
ASIA: Interactive dialogue with the Special Procedures on torture and forced disappearances
Thank you Mr. President,
The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the Obama administration’s affirmation that the US will not use torture. Leadership on this issue has been sorely lacking in recent years, emboldening torturers and fortifying impunity across the globe.
Professor Nowak, have you received credible assurances from other governments, notably from Asia, committing themselves to halt the use of torture? Torture remains endemic in many Asian nations, including Council-members Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. All States are urged to make clear their positions in this regard, notably those vying for election to this Council.
Furthermore, are you aware of a Bill to criminalize torture currently under preliminary consideration in Bangladesh? We fully support this initiative and urge the new government to remove its reservation under the CAT and ensure the effective implementation of the criminalization of torture.
Concerning disappearances, the ALRC has documented 1039 cases of forced disappearance since 2002 in Pakistan’s Balochistan province alone, with hundreds also thought to have disappeared in the North Western Frontier Province and elsewhere in the country. Cases show that women are being disappeared and used as sex slaves by the military.
For example, in a well-publicised case, a 23-year-old school-teacher from Balochistan was arrested and disappeared in late 2005. She has reportedly since been held incommunicado in an army torture cell in Karachi, where she has been repeatedly raped by military officers and is being used as a sex slave. The army is reportedly using her and other women to induce arrested nationalist activists to sign false confessions. The ALRC has identified 52 army-run torture centres in Pakistan.
We urge the government of Pakistan to immediately: a) order the army to halt disappearances and the use of torture; b) launch effective and independent judicial investigations into all allegations of such practices, and specifically into the allegations of women being used as sex slaves; and, c) ensure that investigators have full access to military detention facilities and to all detainees. The ALRC calls on the Working Group to request a visit to Pakistan as a priority.
Furthermore, the ALRC deplores Sri Lanka’s gross failure to respond to communications from the Working Group. It recalls that 212 disappearance cases were reported to the Working Group during 2008, and are part of its 5,727 outstanding cases concerning the country. Will the Working Group be renewing its request for a visit? Sri Lanka is urged to begin cooperating by ensuring this visit takes place without further delay and by taking credible steps to locate the whereabouts of all disappeared persons. The Council is urged to take strong actions concerning all aspects of the crisis in Sri Lanka.
Finally, the ALRC is concerned by the process and the content of the government of Nepal’s ordinance concerning disappearances, which fails to meet international standards notably by ascribing only 5-year sentences for those found guilty of this crime. The ALRC also condemns the government’s failure to prosecute those responsible for the disappearance and torture to death of 15 year old Maina Sunuwar. Has the Working Group taken up these issues with the government?
Thank you
