Islamabad, July 22, 2020: At the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman led the debate on her ‘The Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Bill 2020.’ The Bill was discussed in detail and the Committee recommended some amendments and assured that after their incorporation; the Bill will be passed in the next meeting.
She said, “The federal government should have proposed the amendments to the bill in the first hearing in February and it is July now.”
“No person shall be subjected to torture for the sake of extracting evidence. Sadly, this inhumane practice is rampant and flourishing with impunity in Pakistan’s law enforcement culture”, Senator Rehman added.
The amendments were approved by the committee and the Bill is expected to be passed by the Standing Committee in it’s next meeting.
She said, “Torturers must never be allowed to get away with their crimes, and systems that enable torture should be transformed”.
“Even though Article 14 (2) of the Constitution of Pakistan clearly says that “no person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence”, custodial torture is rampant in our law enforcement culture”, Senator Rehman added.
Senator Sherry Reham concluded by stressing upon the importance of passing this bill which provides for the prevention and protection of Pakistani citizens and all other persons for the time being in Pakistan from all acts of torture, custodial death and custodial sexual violence.
