Torture and Negative Consequences for the Society

Prime Minister Imran Khan recently tweeted that his Govt is preparing a bill against the use of torture. he did not mention any details in his statement but that is a welcoming statement. The use of torture by the govt institutions is common practice in Pakistan. In the larger domain, torture is also becoming part of this society. which could be guessed after reviewing or passing through the history of such incidents in our country and because of these incidents we had lost many precious lives. For just reminding here is some most high-profile incidents in the recent past.

 

Unrestricted use of torture against health workers protesting for their basic rights in Quetta and killing Salahudin Ayubi in Rahim yar khan district who was mentally unhealthy and became a victim of torture in the hand of police. other incidents include the death of a professor in police custody. 

 

Further in that direction, Torture becomes part of our daily practice, we use violence, intimidation, and in some extreme cases torture to force others to comply with our aspirations. whether they are children or adults. which created the torture recycling process in our society and lead society toward more violence and extremism.

 

Importance of Such Bill  

 

It would be helpful to some extent if implemented successfully. Currently, there is not an effective and visible law against torture. It will provide legal facilitation to discourage it within the state institutions and at the grass-root level. such legislation is very important given Pakistan's international image and progresses towards a more humanitarian Criminal Justice System.

 

The purposed law has to thoroughly debate in assembly before bringing it to the assembly for assent.

The history of torture tolerance in Pakistani Society

Before recent debate initiated by the Prime Minister Imran khan about the excessive use of torture in society with or without justification was much common and was not considered worthy of giving any dime of notice but now it has been on the radar of public debate, torture is rampantly used in our society by every institution without having any type of restriction.

Torture use is a menace because its impact on people remains in the shape of psychological and physical trauma even after years. The government has to ensure the prevention of torture which make the lives of people unbearable due to physical impairment and psychological abnormalities. The prisoners in prisons are the major victims of torture by the hands of police or law enforcement agencies. The prisoners are very frequently having to bear the use of torture against themselves because the institutional capacity of offender rehabilitation through more modern human-friendly ways is limited and the willingness of previous governments were not up to marks.

Current governments willingness to abolish the use of torture specifically from the prison is remarkable and must be done on time so the terrific way of torture cycle comes to the minimum extent. And the treatment preference should become the first priority of law enforcement agencies of state which are dealing with the prisoner's rehabilitation. The  prohibition of torture would significantly help prisons to avoid making hardcore criminals which lose their fear of punishments after serving their first rigorous terms which in turn have exponentiality increased the recidivism rate or reoffending rate in society.