The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday, 26 June formally wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, raising grave concern over the widespread use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment — both physical and psychological — in detention facilities across Pakistan. The letter, timed to coincide with the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, warned that the country's legal framework remains structurally inadequate to prevent such abuses.

Gaps in the 2022 Torture Law

Despite the enactment of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act (TCDA) in 2022, the HRCP contended that the law's definition of torture unjustifiably omits 'mental and psychological pain and suffering.' This exclusion, the commission argued, leaves practices such as threats of death or serious harm, intimidation, coercion, humiliation, mock executions, threats against family members, and prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement entirely outside the statute's reach.

The HRCP also flagged a structural conflict of interest embedded in the legislation: the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) — whose senior officers are drawn from the police service itself — holds exclusive investigative jurisdiction over torture allegations, with no adequate safeguards against institutional bias.

Accountability Mechanisms Under Scrutiny

Although the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) is mandated to oversee investigations, the HRCP noted that concerns over the FIA's independence continue to undermine accountability. The supervisory role of the NCHR, it observed, remains ambiguous in practice, leaving victims with limited recourse.

The rights body further warned that the absence of systematic monitoring and reporting has left the true scale of torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities largely unknown — inaccessible both to policymakers and to civil society and international accountability mechanisms.

Key Demands Placed Before the Government

The HRCP placed a series of specific demands before the Pakistani government. It called for amendments to the TCDA to explicitly recognise mental and psychological suffering as a constituent element of torture, and for the establishment of criminal liability and proportionate penalties for acts of psychological torture.

The commission also urged that victims of psychological torture be granted access to effective remedies, rehabilitation, and reparations, in line with Pakistan's obligations under the Convention against Torture. It further demanded that procedural barriers causing undue delays be removed, that the NCHR's oversight powers be clearly defined, and that no institution implicated in torture allegations be permitted to exercise exclusive control over any investigation into those allegations.

Call to Ratify International Protocol

In a significant international dimension, the HRCP urged the Pakistani government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and designate a credible, independent national preventive mechanism for regular monitoring of detention facilities — with findings made public and acted upon.

The letter represents one of the most detailed formal indictments of Pakistan's custodial rights framework in recent years, and places the Sharif administration under renewed pressure to align domestic law with international human rights standards ahead of upcoming UN review cycles.