Table of Contents
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introductionp. 1 2. Political developments since early 1992p. 1 3. Amnesty International's work on torture, deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances" in Pakistan since 1991p. 3 4. Methods of torture employed in Pakistanp. 4 4.1 Rape in custodyp.10 5. Deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances"p.13 6. Reasons for the use of torture in Pakistanp.19 7. The prohibition of arbitrary arrest, torture, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances" in Pakistan's national law and in international lawp.20 8. Amnesty International's recommendations regarding safeguards against torture, extrajudicial killings and "disappearances" in Pakistanp.23 Appendix A: Cases of torture, death in custody and extrajudicial execution in Pakistan in 1992 and 1993p.29 1. Illegal detention and torture of Ghulam Mustafa Soomro p.29 2. Illegal detention and torture of Inderjit Lohanap.31 3. Death of Bebal Khatoon Shirazip.32 4. Death of Nazir Masih p.33 5. Illegal detention and torture of labourers and their families in rural private jailsp.34 6. A political party, the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), as perpetrator and victim of human rights violationsp.37 7. Illegal detention, torture and extrajudicial execution of Niaz Hussain Amnesty International December 1993AI Index: ASA 33/05/93 Pakistan: Torture and deaths in custody Pathan p.43 8. Illegal detention, torture and death in custody or extrajudicial execution of Mujib Aijaz Jatoip.46 9. Extrajudicial executions of nine men at Tando Bahawalp.47 10. Reported torture and extrajudicial executions of seven young men at Shah Bandarp.49 11. Illegal detention, torture and death in custody or extrajudicial execution of Yusuf Jakhrani p.52 12. Illegal detention, torture and extrajudicial killing or death in custody of groups of villagersp.57 Appendix B: Table of some instances of deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions reported in the media in Pakistan in 1992 and 1993p.59 AI Index: ASA 33/05/93Amnesty International December 1993 Pakistan: Torture and deaths in custody £PAKISTAN @Torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions 1. Introduction An article published in November 1992 in "The Herald", a political magazine in Pakistan states: "Torture has long been a lethal weapon in the arsenal of the country's rulers. While successive governments have ruthlessly cracked down on opponents through the use of third degree methods, the country's police force has institutionalized torture as its primary method of crime detection." Information obtained by Amnesty International in 1992 and 1993 confirms this statement: Torture, including rape, in the custody of the police, the paramilitary and the military is endemic, widespread, and systematic in Pakistan. Frequently it results in deaths in custody, which sometimes are covered up by staged "encounters". Extrajudicial executions, the deliberate and unlawful killings by, or with the approval of, the authorities, are also reported from Pakistan. There also are some cases of "disappearance" of prisoners in custody. This paper describes instances of torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions reported to Amnesty International during 1992 and the first half of 1993. It is based on testimonies obtained from victims, victims' families, human rights lawyers and reports in the media in Pakistan. It shows in detail the different methods of torture employed by police and other law enforcement agencies and seeks to answer the question why torture is so widespread in Pakistan before then making wide ranging recommendations to end this inhuman practice. The paper presents in detail 12 specific cases of torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions and describes the difficulties victims and victims' families face in attempting to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice. The paper also lists some 40 instances of deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions reported in the national media during the 18-month period under scrutiny. 2. Political developments since early 1992 At the national level the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in office since November 1990, faced several crises during 1992 and the first half of 1993. The All Parties Conference (APC), launched by the President of the Pakistan Democratic Party, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, organized numerous mass rallies demanding the dismissal of the Sharif government and fresh elections. Similarly the Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA), led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) under Benazir Bhutto, pursued a Amnesty International December 1993AI Index: ASA 33/05/93 Pakistan: Torture and deaths in custody campaign of unseating the government which, Benazir Bhutto claimed, had won the elections in October 1990 by vote-rigging; PDA rallies and demonstrations were dealt with severely by the authorities with thousands of party members detained during several waves of arrest. After months of political uncertainties connected with an internal power struggle, President Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif resigned in July 1993 and federal and provincial governments and assemblies were dismissed. Interim federal and provincial governments were appointed and general elections for the national and provincial assemblies took place in October 1993. The PPP formed the federal government and the provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab, while the Pakistan Muslim League under Nawaz Sharif formed the governments in the North West Frontier Province and in Baluchistan. Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan on 19 October. In order to combat a wave of criminal and political violence in Sindh, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 28 May 1992 ordered the army and the paramilitary Mehran Force to restore law and order in the province in an operation which was to take six months but which has been periodically extended and still goes on at the time of writing this report. The federal government said it had ordered the military operation at the request of the provincial government of Sindh. To illustrate the rise in the crime rate the federal government said that in 1991 police had killed 307 "bandits" in Sindh, compared to 169 in 1990. Army spokesman Major-General Jamshed Malik said on 15 June 1992 that in the first two weeks of the operation the army had killed 33 "bandits" in gun battles, and arrested more than 600 people. According to reports in the Pakistani press, the army was using armoured vehicles to root out "bandits" in the interior of Sindh and in some cases set fire to dense woods in which "bandits" were suspected to be hiding. An ordinance promulgated by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on 19 June 1992 granted legal immunity from criminal prosecution to army personnel for any action undertaken "in good faith" during the law and order operation. Ordinances remain in force for 120 days. If parliament does not vote on the ordinance within this time, making it part of the permanent law, the ordinance lapses unless promulgated again. The ordinance extending the powers of the army and granting legal immunity has been repromulgated every four months and, after its most recent repromulgation in mid-July 1993, remains currently in force. Several opposition groups said at the outset of the military campaign that they feared it would be used by politicians and other groups to intimidate, detain or eliminate political or personal opponents. Military sources were reported to have said that they were given lists of persons wanted in connection with terrorist activities. "There are a number of MNAs [members of National Assembly] and MPAs [members of Provincial Assembly] belonging to Sindh on these lists, and they would be picked up immediately after the operation begins", military sources were quoted as saying in the Pakistani media. Activists of several parties went into hiding following these announcements. The PPP warned that a military operation without an economic and social package would prove disastrous; the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) rejected the operation from the start, arguing that it was aimed at crushing the organization. Interior Minister Chowdhury Shujaat Hussain on 8 October 1992 informed the National Assembly that 129 dacoits or "bandits" had been killed and 335 arrested since the beginning of the miliary operation in Sindh. The real figures of alleged "bandits" killed and arrested are probably much higher, as in the first month of the army operation alone some 100 people were officially declared to have been killed and 464 arrested. AI Index: ASA 33/05/93Amnesty International December 1993 Pakistan: Torture and deaths in custody Human rights violations, including illegal and unacknowledged detention, torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions were reportedly committed in Sindh by the police, the military and paramilitary forces. For instance during the first phase of the army operation focusing on rural Sindh, nine villagers were on 5 June 1992 extrajudicially executed in Tando Bahawal by the army in a fake encounter and within a week, several persons, including Ghulam Mohuiddin Pathan, a landlord accused in the Tando Bahawal incident, Yusuf Jakhrani, leader of the small opposition National Democratic Party in Kandkhot, Jacobabad district, and Ali Haider Shah, a landlord in Dadu died in army custody. In its second phase, from mid-June 1992, when the army operation focused on urban centres in Sindh, family members and friends of MQM activists who had gone into hiding were