Farhatullah Babar seeks NCHR role in probing 2 custodial deaths in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Former senator and President of the Human Rights Cell of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Farhatullah Babar has demanded that the two cases of custodial deaths reported during the last one year should be investigated by the FIA under the supervision of National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) as is required under the anti-torture and anti-custodial death legislation enacted in November last year.

The report of two custodial deaths in Islamabad was confirmed by the police in a meeting of the HRCP on Thursday to review the implementation of the anti-torture law.

One case pertained to the Industrial area Police Station I-9 and other pertained to Ramna Police Station G-11.

In both cases, Farhatullah Babar said investigations were carried out by the police itself instead of the FIA. “The cases were closed after the medical report declared that both victims had died due to a heart attack,” he said.

He said that according to the law, investigations were to be carried out by FIA under the supervision of NCHR and not independently by the police but in both cases, investigations were carried out solely by the police. “This is a violation of the law.”

He said the provision of supervision of the NCHR was made in the law because the victim’s heirs were often reluctant to pursue legal courses due to various forms of pressures.

He also called for financial resources to NCHR to set up institutional mechanisms for supervising FIA investigations in accordance with the law.

Farhatullah Babar said Pakistan signed the Convention against Torture in 2010, which required that it makes national legislation against torture and custodial deaths. He said it took more than 12 years to enact the law, but it is not operational. “Will the state wait for another decade to put into operation the law passed by the parliament, he asked?

He said that the Act was passed on November 4 last year, but until today, no institutional mechanisms have been put in place to operationalise it. “As a first step towards operationalising the two cases of custodial death in the federal capital, therefore these two cases should be investigated afresh in accordance with the law”.