The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was observed on June 26. The day commemorates the signing of the United Nations Charter on June 24, 1946 and the entry into force of the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment the same day in 1987. This convention was adopted and opened for signature and ratification by the General Assembly on Dec 10, 1984.

Pakistan signed the convention on April 17, 2008 and ratified it on June 23, 2010. Despite the passage of five years since the government ratified the CAT so far it has not taken any effective legislative measures to introduce a law for exclusively dealing with torture and to provide for a mechanism to compensate the torture victims and survivors.

An Optional Protocol to CAT was also adopted by the General Assembly on Dec 18, 2002 and it entered into force on June 22, 2006. The Government of Pakistan has so far neither signed nor ratified the optional protocol.

The CAT defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

Furthermore, Article 4 (1) of the convention provides: “Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture.” Sub-article 2 states: Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.” The optional protocol further supplements the CAT.

The Constitution of Pakistan also prohibits torture in custody. Article 14 (2) of the Constitution states: “No person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence.”

Contrary to this constitutional guarantee custodial torture by the law enforcing agencies is now an admissible phenomenon which could not be negated. The situation deteriorated with the rise in militancy and when armed forces were called in aid of civil power in different conflict zones.

Initially, under the Code of Criminal Procedure a suspect could be remanded in custody of police for 15 days. Section 167 of the CrPC permits a magistrate to remand an accused person in custody of police for maximum of 15 days. Similarly, section 21 E of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 empowers the anti-terrorism court to remand a person detained for investigation to custody for maximum 15 days, but in case the investigation officer proves that further evidence may be available the court may remand the suspect for maximum 30 days in custody.

With the enactment of the Protection of Pakistan Act 2014 an accused could be remanded for 60 days. Section 5 (4) states that a special magistrate may remand the accused, from time to time, in such custody as such magistrate thinks fit for a term not exceeding 60 days. However, the magistrate shall not remand an accused person to custody for a period exceeding 15 days at a time.

The Pakistan Penal Code prohibits causing of hurt for extracting confession and this offence is punishable up to 10 years imprisonment. But no law in Pakistan defines torture.

Section 337-K of the PPC states: “Whoever causes hurt for the purpose of extorting from the sufferer or any person interested in the sufferer, any confession or any information which may lead to the detection of any offence or misconduct, or for the purpose of constraining the sufferer, or any person interested in the sufferer, to restore, or to cause the restoration of, any property or valuable security or to satisfy any claim or demand, or to give information which may lead to the restoration of any property, or valuable security shall, in addition to the punishment of qisas, arsh or daman, as the case may be, provided for the kind of hurt caused, be punished, having regard to the nature of the hurt caused, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years as ta’zir.”

Furthermore, the Police Order2002 includes Section 156 (d) stating that whoever, being a police officer, inflicts torture or violence on any person in his custody shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend up to five years and with fine.

Another aspect of the issue which has so far been ignored is the provision of compensation to the victims of torture. Experts believe that while enacting an anti-torture law the government should also include that aspect in it and it should be clearly spelt out as to who would be responsible for paying compensation to victims and survivors of torture.

In a recent study “Pakistan custodial torture, the ramifications and failure of institutions” by the Asian Human Rights Commission it was concluded that police excess and custodial torture were not only common, they were tolerated as a social norm in our society.

The study, conducted by Javeria Younas in major cities of the country, recommends that the promulgation and implementation of an anti-torture law in accordance with the UNCAT must be done urgently and strict rules should be enacted against perpetrators of torture. It also recommends that interrogation rooms in all police stations should have CCTV cameras to record interrogation sessions.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2015

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