NHRC wants Prevention of Torture Bill passed without further delay

The Prevention of Torture Bill must be immediately passed to ensure that extracting information through torture is declared illegal, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Thursday.

Speaking at a conference in Delhi, NHRC Chairperson KG Balakrishnan said the Parliament needs to pass the bill urgently so that the culture of extracting information through torture is made illegal and the guilty are punished by law.

"Torture is a serious problem for India. Basic human rights are violated when torture is inflicted. It is not just physical pain, but mental which traumatises the individual and is an assault on his right to life," he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

The bill, which defines torture as "grievous hurt to any person or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of any person", was passed by the lower house of the Indian Parliament in 2010.

The preamble of the bill states that the purpose of the bill is "to provide punishment for torture inflicted by public servants or any persons inflicting torture with the consent or acquiescence of any public servant, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

Between 2001 and 2010, NHRC reported 14,231 cases of deaths in police and prison custody (1,504 and 12,727, respectively).

According to the information made available to the AHRC, in only 18 cases nationwide were police officers guilty of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment acted against. E

The Working Group on Human Rights (WGHR) in India and the UN which submitted a report for India's UPR says torture is the most widespread in India's conflict areas and leads to physical, mental disability and impotency.

"Common methods of torture in Kashmir and the North-East are placement of iron rod on the legs on which many people sit; placement of burning stove between the legs and administration of electric shocks to genitals. A Commission of the ICRC confirmed the use of torture in Kashmir," WGHR report says.

While India is signatory to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), it is yet to ratify the instrument.

Last month, at a programme to mark the 'International Day in Support of Victims of Torture', Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid, recognized the bill as a step forward in effort against violation of human rights and human dignity.

Speaking on the same, National Commission for Minorities Chairman Wajahat Habibullah favoured changes in the statutes to bring about police reforms.

"We have to work towards police reforms. There is a change in the attitude in the police but the structure is still the same," he said.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has documented many cases from India in the past eight years that collectively show consistent and widespread use of torture to intimidate and extract information or a confession.

" All police stations in the country practice this crude and unscientific method of interrogation and punishment. Most police officers believe that torturing suspects is a legal and morally acceptable means with which to investigate crime," AHRC said in a report last month.
The government of India reportedly does not have data concerning the number of officers who routinely resort to torture and under what circumstances such abuse occurs.