ISLAMABAD: The secretary general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday said various forms of torture are practiced by state agencies, such as an increase in the physical remand of a suspect from 14 to 90 days, and extensions sought from the courts after the 90-day remand.

HRCP Secretary General I.A. Rehman was speaking at a consultation on ‘Reviewing State Compliance with the Convention Against Torture’, which Pakistan signed in 2010. The consultation was organised by the HRCP and the World Organisation Against Torture.

Without mentioning a case, Mr Rehman said there is precedent for a court order that a suspect should be kept in jail until death. He added that there is no proper definition of torture in the country.

“Unless the police break the suspect’s bones, here it is not accepted that the police have tortured. Incidents of torture should be document, [and] non-physical forms of torture should also be taken into consideration,” he said.

Speakers at consultation call for end of use of torture by law enforcement agencies

He said police and security agencies’ safe houses were proof of the use of torture in the country. “Although psychological torture should not be allowed, here despite physical torture the conviction rate is very low.”

Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Farhatullah Babar said Pakistan should enact legislation to punish people involved in torture since it has ratified the convention against torture.

“In Senate a private bill against torture was passed in the first week of March 2015, and since then it is pending in the National Assembly. Civil society should stress the National Assembly to adopt the bill,” he said.

“The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has been formed. It is a very strong body with the right to take suo motu [notice] but the government is not willing to give it funding because it is not under the executive,” he added.

“In the 2016-17 budget, a quarter of a billion [rupees] has been allocated for a new body on human rights which will be under the executive. HRCP and other organizations should demand from the government that the funds allocated for new body, should be given to NCHR,” he said.

He also said the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has created “an environment against women and has been allowing torture of women”, saying “we need to consider if the CII should continue or not”.

“Whenever a person is disappeared, it becomes a matter of mental torture for the whole family. Unfortunately, fingers are raised at state agencies whenever the matter of disappearances is discussed,” he said.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator Mohammad Ali Saif said: “In Pakistan, suspects are presented in courts while their wounds are bleeding, but courts ignore them and extend the physical remand instead of sending them for medical-legal examination,” he said.

He added that a number of human rights violations have been reported during military operations.

“Law enforcement agencies tell suspects they have their arrested female relatives to get confessions. There are a number of cases in which mothers, wives and sisters of suspects were brought into police lockup and suspects were informed that they have to confess to the crime in court and until that time, their female relatives will remain in lockup,” he said.

Former Awami National Party senator Afrasiab Khattak said torture has a long history in the region, but that does not mean efforts to end the use of torture should stop.

“Because of the so-called war against terrorism, torture has been institutionalised. Even terrorists should not be killed and laws should be observed during wars. States should not act like terrorists,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2016