HRW calls for independent investigation in former PM Imran Khan's close aid torture case

By The South Asia Times

New York – Human Rights Watch demanded from Pakistan's Senate to urgently pass a bill that would make torture a criminal offense.

In a statement, issued after the reports of torture on former Prime Minister Imran Khan close aid and his chief of staff Shehbaz Gill, HRW said on August 1, 2022 the National Assembly passed the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, which, if enacted into law, will for the first time criminalize torture

“The first step to ending Pakistan’s endemic torture problem is to criminalize it,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

“Justice and accountability in cases of torture will only be possible if parliament passes the torture bill and the government enforces the law by carrying out transparent and impartial investigations into torture allegations.”

Pakistan’s Constitution prohibits the use of torture “for extracting evidence,” no domestic legislation makes committing torture a criminal offense. 

Pakistan is also a party to core international human rights treaties that prohibit the use of torture and other ill-treatment and mandate parties to the treaty to criminalize the practice.

Human Rights Watch has long documented the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment by the Pakistani police during criminal investigations, it's said in the statement.

"The use of torture in political cases has received recent attention. Shahbaz Gill, a senior official with the opposition party Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI), was arrested in Islamabad on August 9 on charges of sedition and incitement to mutiny.

 Pakistan’s sedition law, based on a colonial-era British provision, is vague and overbroad and has often been used against political opponents.

"Gill’s lawyers and political party colleagues allege that Pakistani security officials beat and otherwise tortured Gill in custody. They also assert that he was denied medical treatment for his asthma condition. Pakistan government officials have denied the allegations. An immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into the allegations should be conducted," Human Rights Watch said.

Pakistan ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2010.

Under articles 2 and 4, Pakistan is obligated to bring domestic law in line with the treaty. The UN Committee against Torture and the Human Rights Committee, in each of their Concluding Observations following Pakistan’s 2017 treaty reviews, urged Pakistan to make torture a criminal offense under Pakistani law.

Pakistan also pledged to criminalize torture as part of its candidacy in June 2020 for the UN Human Rights Council. In February 2020, the European Commission’s GSP+ assessment report for 2018-19, for the program that provides trade preference to eligible countries, said, “Pakistan’s legislation falls short of a law specifically defining torture and fails to explicitly criminalize torture as required under the Convention Against Torture.” said in the statement.

“By passing the torture bill, Pakistan will start a long-overdue process of reform to ensure that future allegations of torture are transparently investigated and that those responsible held accountable,” Sifton said.