AHRC-STM-174- 2008
June 25, 2008
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the
International Day against Torture
PAKISTAN: No prohibition of torture in domestic law
(June 26 is observed every year as the United Nations International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture.)
Pakistan signed the Convention against Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or
degrading treatment of punishment (CAT) on April 17, 2008, along with
ratification of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR). It also signed the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR). But torture in custody in Pakistan is a continuous
phenomenon. It is still being used as the best means by which to obtain
confessional statements. As yet, there has been no serious effort by the
government to make torture a crime in the domestic laws of the country.
In the latest recorded case of torture in custody of state intelligence
agency the victim, Mr. Abdul Wahab Baloch, was arrested on May 28, 2008,
after a demonstration against the tenth anniversary of nuclear experiment.
He went through severe torture during his illegal detention for six days but
the government has not taken any action against the officials of state
agency. Please see the link:
http://www.ahrchk. net/ua/mainfile. php/2008/ 2883/
Torture is prohibited in the constitution through Article 14 (2) that "No
person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting
evidence", but the criminal justice system has nothing to do with torture in
custody. Torture in custody is endemic in Pakistan and people generally do
not report torture because they have again to report to the police, the very
people who tortured them in the first place. Also, the lower judiciary
generally takes sides with the prosecution and that is why people do not
report cases of torture.
Currently there are no independent investigation procedures in Pakistan to
investigate cases of torture. In addition to this, there is an alarming lack
of sensitivity among the legal professionals including the judiciary
regarding the practice of torture in Pakistan. In such circumstances the
damage such practices causes in maintaining the rule of law in the country
goes understated. This lack of insensitivity is equally shared by
prosecution, law enforcement agencies like the police and also the
judiciary, particularly the lower judiciary. Due to this there is a lack of
development in the criminal law jurisprudence in Pakistan. Pakistan has thus
far failed to effectively address the question of torture.
It is in the day-to-day work of the lower judiciary that this
underdevelopment is visible the most. One example is the practice of the
lower court judges of allowing remand custody of the detainees with ease
while it is clear as daylight that anyone detained is a subject of torture
in Pakistan. This practice even fails to make use of the little space
available in the current criminal law of Pakistan, where a judge could
demand a reason from the investigating agency for handing over custody of an
accused to such agencies, than transferring the accused into judicial
custody. Put simply, the practice of torture continues because there is no
prohibition against it the domestic law in Pakistan.
Click here
download the full Report on Torture on the UN International Day in Support
of Torture Victims.
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental
organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong
Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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