June, 03 2015, 09:45am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Reprieve’s press office: 44 (0) 207 553 8140 / clemency.wells@reprieve.org.uk
LONDON
A torture expert has called for an independent medical assessment of a Pakistani sentenced to death as a child and set for execution next week, who was tortured by police into 'confessing'.
In a statement given to his lawyer, Shafqat Hussain, whose execution date has been set for June 9th, described how police 'burned me with cigarettes', 'pulled out my fingernails' and 'even electrocuted me'. Based on this statement, as well as information from Shafqat's lawyer about the scars she saw on his body, torture expert Dr Frank Arnold has called for Shafqat to have an independent medical assessment, as required under international law.
 We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit organization. We fund our news team by pooling together many small contributions from our readers. No advertising. No selling our readers' information. No reliance on big donations from the 1%. This allows us to maintain the editorial independence that our readers rely on. But this media model only works if enough readers pitch in.  |
In his report, released today by human rights charity Reprieve, Dr Frank Arnold says 'The Istanbul Protocol requires a medical rapporteur to make an overall evaluation of the likelihood that some or all of their clinical findings are due to torture. Mr. Hussain's descriptions and those of Ms. Haq [Shafqat's lawyer] are in accordance with torture by suspension, handcuffing, and electrocution.' The Istanbul Protocol is a set of UN guidelines governing international standards on the investigation and assessment of individuals who allege torture.
Shafqat Hussain was convicted of kidnap and murder and sentenced to death in 2004. His conviction was based on the 'confession' extracted by police following days of the torture he described to his lawyer. Evidence collected by Shafqat's legal team shows that he was under 18 at the time of his arrest. On Monday the government issued an execution warrant for Shafqat, despite the execution of juveniles being illegal under both Pakistani and international law.
In order to suggest that Shafqat was not a juvenile at the time of his conviction, and carry out his execution, the government's Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) led inquiry into his age relied almost exclusively on the trial record in making its assessment of Shafqat's age. This is despite a significant number of inconsistencies and errors in Government statements regarding the case, which have yet to be resolved - including an admission by the Interior Minister himself that the jail's doctor and jail authorities contradicted one another on Shafqat's age - and the existence of school records (currently in the possession of the Government) which showed him to have been under 18 at the time of his arrest.
The only inquiry undertaken into Shafqat's age has been by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) - an organisation which the Interior Minister said earlier this month requires a "clean-up operation...to weed out corrupt elements." A Pakistani court described the FIA inquiry as 'prima facie illegal'.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Shafqat submitted a mercy petition to the President of Pakistan, asking him to commute Shafqat's sentence on the basis of doubts as to the safety of his conviction.
Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve's death penalty team said: "The Pakistani government's relentless attempt to execute Shafqat Hussain refuses to be bound by basic standards of justice or humanity. Quite aside from all the evidence showing Shafqat was just a child when he was arrested, his conviction was based solely on a 'confession' extracted following horrific police torture. International and Pakistani standards are clear that torture must be independently assessed and investigated, yet the government is continuing to turn a blind eye to this and cover-up the myriad problems surrounding Shafqat's case. They must halt his execution at once so and allow some light to be shone into the darkest corners of Pakistan's criminal justice system."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
LATEST NEWS
Ahead of Treaty Negotiations, Hundreds March to 'End the Plastic Era'
"Delegates must act like our lives depend on it—because they do," Daniela Duran Gonzales, senior legal campaigner with the Center for International Environmental Law, said in a statement. "Our climate goals, the protection of human health, the enjoyment of human rights, and the rights of future generations all rest on whether the future plastics treaty will control and reduce polymers to successfully end the plastic pollution crisis."
"Short-sighted business interests must be out of the room because the only way to achieve equitable livelihoods is when we have a healthy planet."
The official meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to craft a "international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment," will run from April 23 to 29 in the Canadian capital.
Break Free From Plastic called the negotiations a "make or break" moment for the treaty, which is supposed to be completed in late 2024 in Busan, South Korean. However, civil society groups have expressed concern that oil-producing countries and the plastics industry will water down the agreement and steer it toward waste management and recycling, which has been revealed to be a false solution to plastic pollution knowingly promoted by the industry for decades.
The last round of negotiations concluded in late 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, with little progress made after 143 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists attended.
Salisa Traipipitsiriwat of Thailand, who is the senior campaigner and Southeast Asia plastics project manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation, said ahead of Sunday's march that it was "crucial for world leaders to step up and put the people and planet at the forefront."
"Short-sighted business interests must be out of the room because the only way to achieve equitable livelihoods is when we have a healthy planet," Traipipitsiriwat added.
On Sunday, marchers gathered for a press conference at 10:30 am ET before marching at around 11:30 am from Parliament Hill to the Shaw Center, were negotiations will begin on Tuesday. Crowds began to disperse around 1:30 pm. Participants carried large banners with messages including, "End the plastic era," "End multigenerational toxic exposure," and pointing out that 99% of plastics came from fossil fuels. The gathering featured live music and art, including a giant tap pouring out plastics and a "Plastisaurus rex" with the message "Make single-use plastic extinct."
(Photo: Break Free From Plastics)
"Now's the time to be bold and push for a treaty that cuts plastic production and holds polluters accountable," Julie Teel Simmonds, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a pre-march statement. "I'm inspired to be joining so many advocates in Ottawa, standing up against the enormous harm the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries are causing to people's health and the planet. I hope to see countries showing ambition this week, and I urge them to remember what's at stake for future generations."
Civil society groups have compiled several demands for an ambitious and effective treaty. These are:
- Centering human rights, especially those of Indigenous communities, young people, and workers most impacted by plastic pollution;
- Protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples throughout the treaty process;
- Dealing with plastics across their entire lifecyle;
- Reducing production as a "nonnegotiable" part of the treaty;
- Eliminating toxic chemicals and additives from plastics;
- Bolstering reuse systems for plastics that are non-toxic;
- Prioritizing first prevention, then reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal when managing plastic waste;
- Ending "waste colonialism" by strengthening regulations for trading plastics;
- Guaranteeing a "just transition" for people employed across the plastics lifecycle;
- Including "non-party" provisions in the treaty;
- Establishing a mechanism to fund countries so they can fully implement the treaty; and
- Enshrining conflict-of-interest policies as a protection against plastics industry lobbying.
The coalition emphasized the need to tackle the problem of plastic from cradle to grave.
"Plastic doesn't just become pollution when it's thrown away," said Jessica Roff, the U.S. and Canada plastics and petrochemicals program manager for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. "Plastic is pollution, from the moment the fossil fuels are extracted from the ground to the eternity of waste it spawns."
Chrie Wilke, global advocacy manager for the Waterkeeper Alliance, said "Clearly the crux of the plastic pollution crisis is too much plastic being produced. There is no way to recycle our way out of this. We must face the fact that plastic and petrochemicals, at current production levels, endanger waterways, communities, and fisheries across the globe. Cutting production and implementing non-plastic alternatives and reuse systems is essential."
(Photo: Ben Powless/Survival Media Agency)
Activists also emphasized the environmental justice implications of plastic pollution, and how some communities and groups are more burdened than others, both from the dangers of the production process and from waste disposal.
"Children and youth like me suffer the most and are recognized as a vulnerable group," said Aeshnina 'Nina' Azzahra, the founder of River Warrior Indonesia. "My playground and my future are at risk. We all want our environment to be plastic-free, but please don't put your burden on the other side of the world—this is NOT fair. As adults who come to Ottawa to negotiate the plastic treaty, you must protect our rights to live in a healthy and safe environment."
Jo Banner, co-founder and co-directer of The Descendants Project, said:"Frontline community members, such as myself, are participating in these treaty negotiations with heavy hearts as our communities back home are struggling with sickness and disease caused by the upstream production of plastic."
"Although our hearts are heavy, they are full with passion urging negotiators to aim for an ambitious treaty that caps plastic production," Banner added. "Areas such as my hometown, located in the heart of Louisiana's Cancer Alley, need a strong treaty now. There is no more time to waste."
Most Popular