ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International has said in a report that torture is rife across the Asia-Pacific region, with China and North Korea among worst-affected countries.

The report, Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises, was released on Tuesday. It provides an overview of the use of torture in the world today. The report says that torture is used to force confessions or to silence activists in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

It is used to extort money in places such as Myanmar and Nepal, where poor and marginalised people are unable to bribe their way out of being tortured.

Amnesty has launched a two-year global campaign titled ‘Stop Torture’. It says that in a number of Asia-Pacific countries the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is routine — and accepted by many as a legitimate response to high levels of crime.

The vast majority of people in Asia-Pacific believe that there should be clear laws against torture, but in China and India almost three quarters of respondents (74 per cent) felt torture was sometimes necessary — the highest numbers in any of the countries polled.

In Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea the majority of respondents feared they could be tortured if taken into custody.

The report says that torture in Pakistan is frequently practiced by police, intelligence services and the army, particularly in conflict-ridden tribal areas and Balochistan. Amnesty has received reports of torture used on human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists among others.

In 2014, 30 years after the UN adopted the 1984 Convention Against Torture — which commits all governments to combating the abuse — Amnesty observed that in at least 23 Asia-Pacific countries torture or ill-treatment is still rife. Given the secretive nature of the abuse, the true number is likely to be higher.

“Torture is a fact of life in countries across Asia. The problem isn’t limited to a few rogue states, but is endemic throughout the region,” said Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director Richard Bennett.

“Asian countries must stop paying lip service to their commitment to end torture. Signing up to the international treaties is important but not enough. It must be backed up with concrete action.”

Very few countries in Asia-Pacific, however, had put in place effective mechanisms to prevent the use of torture and others were failing to implement the mechanisms properly, he said.

“The shocking fact that so many people fear torture — in some countries the majority of those polled — should spur authorities across Asia-Pacific into meaningful action by taking concrete steps to eradicate this horrific human rights violation,” said Richard Bennett Measures such as the criminalisation of torture in national legislation, opening detention centres to independent monitors, and video recording interrogations have all led to a decrease in the use of torture in those countries taking their commitments under the Convention Against Torture seriously.

Amnesty has called upon governments in Asia-Pacific to put in place protective mechanisms to prevent and punish torture, such as impartial medical examinations, prompt access to lawyers and courts, independent checks on places of detention, effective investigations of torture allegations, the prosecution of suspects and proper redress for victims.