ANALYSIS OF TORTURE CASES UNDER POLICE CUSTODY IN PESHAWAR

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: “Torture is an act of intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering which can be either mental, physical or both, to a person for obtaining information or punishing himâ€. Torture is one of the most dreadful violations of a person’s human rights. It is the deliberate self implication of severe pain or suffering by law enforcement personal to obtain information from the suspects under captivation. The victims greatly suffer with irreversible psychological and behavioral issues throughout their life.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine (a) most common sites of torture, nature of injures and their complications and (b) psychological and physical effects of torture on the prisoner’s mental and physical health.
METHODOLOGY: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The study was conducted on 193 prisoners admitted at District Police Hospital Peshawar .These prisoners were the victims of torture under police captivity. Most of the victims were prisoners other were suspected civilians under enquiry. Medico-legal officers collected data over a period of one year that is Jan – Dec 2017. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. The data was collected on a Performa mentioning age, duration of captivity; nature of injuries (simple, grievous), weapon used for physical torture (blunt, sharp) and prisoners were interviewed and examined by the medical officers and co-authors.
RESULTS: On examination of 193 cases of torture admitted due to the nature of injuries. 179 (92.3%) were male. Average age was 27.4±4 years. 101 (51.8%) prisoners were physically tortured. After medical examination torture on the prisoners was confirmed. 92 cases (47.6%) were due to physical assault among prisoners. Out of 92 cases 12(13.04%) prisoners showed injuries due to strenuous physical work, mostly on palm of hands and sole in the form of blisters. These injuries were carefully examined and correlated with history. Torture methods observed in this study were beating with hands on face (35.6%), whipping with rod (61.6%), kicking on buttock and abdomen (16.4%), forceful dragging (16.4%), burning with cigarettes (12.3%), hanging with hand cuffs (13.7%) and whipping on palms and sole (6.9%). 74.0% of the cases were tortured in custody, 12.3% in prisons, 9.6% at street and 4.1% at home. The impact of physical and psychological torture was variable depending upon the duration of captivity and nature of torture. Patients kept for a longer period 42 (42%) have developed post captivity psychosocial stress syndrome. Physical torture has taken, unfortunately, 07 (3%) lives and 24 (12.4%) victims were permanently disabled in this year.
CONCLUSION: A wide range of different types of injuries were observed on various parts of the body. Blunt trauma was most frequent. Violation of Istanbul Protocol for violence against torture under police custody was also clear.
KEY WORDS: Police Torture, Post traumatic Stress Syndrome, Prisoner, Custody