It’s a common belief that one cannot fully understand a country until they have visited its prisons. This claim was glaringly demonstrated in October 2022 when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) received a complaint about torture suffered while a prisoner in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, which prompted the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) to launch an investigation.
Numerous allegations of torture and cruel, outrageous, and degrading treatment at the hands of jail officials were discovered by the NCHR investigation. 26 convicts (74%) out of 35 who recorded their comments claimed to have been subjected to various forms of torture and harsh treatment. All of the prisoners (100%) who complained of cash coercion to gain access to the jail’s real amenities.
The former Oversight Committee exercised little to no oversight, and in the last five years, just one prison official—a menial dispenser at the jail—has been fired for breaching human rights. Pakistan does not have any official legislation that made torture illegal at that time.
After intense advocacy by the NCHR and civil society, Pakistan is now in accordance with its international and domestic legal obligations and has enacted the “Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022” as a stand-alone statute against torture.
Any act of physical or psychological abuse carried out by a public official, or at their request, with the intention of forcing a confession or achieving any other particular goal, is considered torture.
