A 90 per cent Pakistani detainees are victims of custodial torture: NGOs

Islamabad - Several non-governmental organisations (NGO) have reported that custodial maltreatment is rampant in Pakistan, with physical and mental torture inflicted upon as many as 90 per cent of detainees.

NGO Human Development Organisation Project Assistant Adeel Ahmad said the report findings are based on torture cases across the country during the last six years.

Only through strict monitoring of detention centres and by setting up a proactive judicial response system involving lawyers and the civil society can put an end to custodial abuse, reports The Express Tribune.

“Torture has disastrous impacts on the lives of the victims. It leaves them traumatised and unable to behave normally in a society,” said Ahmad.

He said the victims of torture are overtaken by feelings of humiliation, become demoralised, and suffer from mental, sleep and appetite disorders.

“Since torture is the cause and effect of poverty, concerted effort on part of all the stakeholders of the society are needed to contain this worsening situation of human rights,” he added.

Ahmad said around 250 to 300 torture victims are being rehabilitated in the Hazara Division annually using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Ahmad said his organisation is actively pursuing the incorporation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) into Pakistan’s penal laws, while efforts are underway to raise awareness among the public about legal rights of detainees.

Rural Development Project (RDP) Executive Director Muhammad Ahsan Khan said although Pakistan ratified UNCAT in June 2010, it is yet to criminalise torture.

As a result of this, he said, law enforcement agencies are working with “full impunity”, subjecting detainees to torture. He urged the society to keep a check on custodial maltreatment within the existing legal mechanism until legislation specific to torture is passed.

Khaliqdad, the chairman of the public safety commission in Haripur, which is located 65 kilometers from Islamabad, vowed that if police personnel are ever found guilty of torturing suspects, they will be dealt with firmly.

He urged the citizens to file complaints against police officials involved in such human rights violations.