UN Committee Against Torture Raises Questions Over Military Courts In Pakistan

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has raised questions over "enforced disappearances" and "torture of prisoners in detention" in Pakistan.

Reviewing Pakistan's implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Geneva on Tuesday, the CAT appeared squarely blame the existence of military courts for this anomaly.

Alessio Bruni of the CAT, citing a news article from 2016, said that media reports have claimed that a majority of prisoners were tortured in Pakistani prisons and a significant proportion underwent sexual abuse in detention.

Madam Graer, the country rapporteur on CAT for Pakistan, questioned as if there was an independent mechanism for redress in such cases. She asked that is there any number of complaints made by the prisoners to the chief justice of Pakistan in the case of torture.

Raising the issue of powers of military courts to try civilians, Graer and Bruni questioned as to why the trials were conducted in secret and why no monitors were being allowed? The two CAT members noted that there were no written judgements of cases tried in military courts. Mentioning the lynching case of Mashal Khan, Graer asked what has Pakistan done to prevent violence.

This development comes soon after Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was handed a death sentence by a military court in Pakistan over the false charges of spying for India’s Research and Analysis Wing.

With inputs from ANI