Essay No. 02 TORTURE
Across the globe, the act of prohibiting torture is considered an outright standard. In this case, discussing the “Convention Against Torture 1984 (CAT) of the United Nations” is highly significant. However, this convention has been subjected to criticism as it fails to fully achieve its intended purpose. Since the convention has failed to achieve the objectives that were kept in view while making this convention therefore it has been the target of criticism from various scholars and thinkers. The inadequacy of this convention has become worse due to the crimes taking place across nations such as human trafficking for slavery and sexual exploitation. Additionally, extrajudicial killings resulting from atrocities by dominant and authoritative groups also contribute to this insufficiency. Moreover, a number of questions arise when the organizations and bodies operating in different nations prefer to stay silent on such issues, similar to the situation with the “encroached Kashmir territory”.
“Convention Against Torture’s” efforts are undoubtedly significant, but unfortunately they lack the capacity to deal with the contemporary issues efficiently. Various rights have been awarded as a virtue of this convention e.g. “the right to complain, liberty, and oversight of detention criteria”. Currently, there are 165 states which are party to this convention.
It is to be noted that the concept of torture hasn’t been explicitly explained yet, it is said that it refers towards cruelty and inhumane behavior towards peoples. In the light of “Section 2340 of the American Statute on Torture”, torture means "severe mental pain or suffering." Similarly, a similar approach was taken by “Convention Against Torture (CAT)” while explaining torture in its first article. According to a publication by the “Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)”, torture means "an act of severe ill-treatment." Historically, in order to get rid rid of torture there had been various attempts e.g. the “Peace of Westphalia in 1648” and the establishment of the “League of Nations in 1920” for promoting peace among states. Although CAT has passed a long time ago yet there exists various limitations in its implementation, including “nepotism and reluctance to enforce penalties”. The “CAT’s second article is particularly important as it stipulates that no emergency circumstances, whether national or international, can justify the use of torture.
While closely examining the provisions of the “Convention Against Torture (CAT)”, the first article defines torture as "severe pain and suffering," whether inflicted by “public or authoritative bodies”. However, for an action to be considered as torture, all the standards and eligibility criteria has been outlined in the article must be established, which may be considered a
weakness of Article 1. Additionally, it has been prohibited by the “Article 3” to do the extradition of peoples to the same places where torture is anticipated. In light of “Article 4”, the states are required to treat torture like a crime and upon its occurance severe sanctions should be imposed. Similarly, the article 6 mandates the nations to exercise their jurisdiction over any act that happens within their territory and involves torture. Article 6 complements Article 5 by endorsing investigations and fair trials. These fundamental provisions are aimed at the key issues and concerns. However, questions have been arising when concerned with the enforcement. In light of Article 15, it is highly prohibited to use any statement that has happened due to torture, furthermore, those evidences which are a result of torture are also not acceptable in the courts. Article 17 calls for the formation of a committee to investigate torture allegations, with committee members requiring expertise in human rights issues. To ensure that it is implemented at the lower level, the Article 22 permits the victims of torture to present their concerns to the committee.
The incident that brought about growth in the ideology of torture was the world trade center incident. Following this incident, torture was accepted as an act causing harsh infringement of human rights. After this scenario, the terrorism was taken as event that is instigated by the state and is not just a matter of two opposing groups. From the inception of that era, states have worked day and night for the eradication of terrorism, and it has been criminalized in the laws of states. There are grave sanctions in place for causing acts of terror. The matter is not resolved here, several issues emerge when it is needed to explain who a terrorist is or not, some people who are working whole heartedly for the freedom are sometimes mistook as terrorists. A very recent instance of this misunderstanding is the imposition of life imprisonment of Yasin Malik as he is a Muslim, who fights for the independence of Kashmir, rights of Kashmir’s public are trampled everyday by Indian armed forces by killing and several other brutal acts. Now, this has triggered protests around the globe too.
Drawing connection from the 9/11 incident, a “war on terror” succeeding this was started by the president of America, George W. Bush. Americans had started a war which they themselves were not aware of. The war transcended the borders of humanity, unlawful detentions took place, and several innocent people lost their lives. This gave birth to civil disobedience in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The individuals on Guantanamo Bay have been treated in most inhumane way ever seen. Critics have labelled it as incited by the state itself. Individuals are being tortured and there is zero medical help is being provided to the people. Following the case of Hamdan v Rumsfeld, it was allowed to take applications of victims in Guantanamo Bay. Government tried to restrain this right, and more breach of human rights was anticipated at that time. This is a clear-cut breach of article 3 of the convention.
The Pinochet case is of relevance at this point. It reveals the fact that perpetrators from any part of the world can be brought into question. This is termed as “universal jurisdiction”. The Lord Steyn of United Kingdom was also of the view that international provisions should have precedence over national law. Specially, when there is a scenario of human right breach. Such circumstances need to be dealt with carefulness. By virtue of the reports published by ISC, it can be inferred that there’s an allegation regarding UK having collaborated with USA in infringement of human rights during the war on terror. The role of UK government can be criticized based on the fact that the reports of Iraq Historic Allegations Team, around 3000 natives have blamed UK’s government regarding breach of their fundamental rights and cruel management, but everything was in vain, there was no follow-up.
condemned this act of Chinese government. The detention camps as per the reports of Sky news are based in Xinjiang. The inhumane treatment is carried out by Chinese government, and several have been reported dead too. No facilitation is provided to them and are restricted from accessing everyday necessities too. There even have been videos circulating on the social media regarding the ill-treatment as well.
If we shift to another example of this scenario which is not even protested against, and international community is completely silent is of the occupied Kashmir. The security forces of Indian government have opened their gun's bullets towards the Kashmiri people. More than one hundred thousand people have been killed in Kashmir till the date. Abduction is at its peak and torture is done blatantly. Muslims are barred from entering mosques and even mourning at the funerals. People disappear without anyone having clue of where they have been prisoned or are being tortured. Women are raped by Indian security officials. The encounters carried out by Indian forces are triggered by themselves and have no basis of reality. This is no less than torture. This is a loss of humanity that everyone needs to speak for.
At present, the issue of Ukraine is another chance to international community to speak up against the torture and barbarous treatment of Ukraine’s people by Russia. Around ninety percent of buildings are destructed. The UN reports have suggested that more than 4000 people have tasted death and same number of people are severely injured. The Russian soldiers on the surface of Ukraine are making examples of abomination. At present, it has been more than 3 months since Russia has commenced this war crimes. The report of war crimes in Ukraine is more than thousand as per the reports given out by BBC.