Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man was severely tortured in police custody for not paying a bribe in a theft case. The police used acid in order to torture him and his elder brother to force them to pay a bribe. Traces of acid were found on the anus and back of the victim. The brother of the victim remains missing from the police station. The police, after the death of the victim, immediately shifted the body to a civil hospital and denied that he died in the station. The people of his village agitated because the high police officials falsely claimed that the investigation officer had been arrested. However, no case has yet been lodged against the police officials who tortured the young man to death and disappeared his brother.



CASE NARRATIVE:

Two young men, Mohammad Nawaz Lashari, 22, and Aijaz Lashari 25, were making and selling handmade “Reed made curtains” (sarkando ki Chiq) and hardly earning enough money to survive. On March 14, both the brothers were taken into custody on the charges of stealing a camel. They were detained in Sorah Police Station, Tehseel Nara, districts Khairpur Mirs, Sindh province, as revealed in one police First Information Report (FIR) lodged by a landlord. In the FIR the names of the two young men were not mentioned but the names of the suspects were. Two brothers from the Hasbani caste were mentioned while the name of the caste of the two arrested persons was Lashari. The names of the victims were also different from the actual names mentioned in police complaint. After discovering that they had caught the wrong persons, the officials asked the labourers to pay Rs. 50,000 (US Dollars 500) for their release and to persuade them to do so the police beat them.

They were tortured during the entire night of March 14. The next day they were again asked to pay the amount, or at least, Rs. 25,000 (US Dollar 250) which was not possible for them. During the next two days they went through severe torture, during which the police poured acid into the anus of Mohammad Nawaz Lashari who died as a result of this heinous torture in the early hours of March 17. The police shifted his body to the civil hospital (government hospital) of Khairpur Mirs in an attempt to show that he had died there.

The hospital authorities immediately conducted an autopsy and found injuries on his back, neck, face and chest and also the traces of acid on his back and anus and the alimentary canal. The body was handed over to the family and the people of the surrounding villages held a protest demonstration on the streets of Khairpur Mirs district for more than 12 hours. The high police officers of the district promised the demonstrators that the investing officer, Sub Inspector Amin Pathan, had been suspended and arrested. The police refused to mention the whereabouts of the co-accused, Aijaz Lashari. The family members of both the Lasharis are under threat from the police who want a settlement with the bereaved family.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Torture in custody is not considered a criminal offence in Pakistan. It is the policy of the state to perpetuate torture at large to spread fear in the society to control the people. In the country there is no law against torture and torturers are usually protected by the law. Though Pakistan has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) in 2010, since then there was no serious efforts were made to criminalise torture. The purpose of perpetuating torture in the society is to use state power against powerless and poor people and usurp their fundamental rights. Pakistan is a country where the armed forces, including the army, air force and navy and also the state intelligence agencies are running torture cells with impunity. Every police station has its own private torture cell. Besides this, the Pakistan Rangers and Frontier Corps have large numbers of torture cells in almost every big city.

Every year thousands of suspects are tortured physically and mentally. Any person, who has beam taken into custody, whether on criminal or civil charges, is certain to go through torture. Not a single person from the law enforcement agencies has ever been arrested or prosecuted on the charges of torture.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the given addresses calling them to hold an enquiry in to the killing of a young man by police torture through pouring acid in to his anus. Please also urge them to:

– Produce his elder brother Mr. Aijaz Lashari who missing after the death of Mohammad Nawaz Lashari

– Prosecute the police officers for the torture and killing of a young man in the custody

The Government of Pakistan must pay compensation to the grieved family.

The AHRC will write a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for his intervention into this matter.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER