PAKISTAN: The ISI severely torture a soldier for five years on false charges of spying for India
The Asian Human Rights Commission has received a report of the atrocious torture
of a soldier by the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) on the false
charges of working for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), of the Indian
intelligence agencies in Pakistani held Kashmir. He was arrested by the ISI and
then disappeared for five years during which period he was tortured. He lost his
teeth, his spine was fractured, his legs were burnt and he had a large injury
mark on the head. He cannot walk without the help of at least two persons.
The victim was exonerated from all charges by a court martial at the
Kharian cantonment, Punjab province. To-date he has spent more than Rs. 3
Million on his medical treatment but the military and government have refused to
pay his medical bills.
According to the details, Mr. Mohammad Iqbal
Awan, 39, son of Mohammad Yaqoob Awan, a resident of Salakan village, Tehseel
Athmuqam, Neelam district, (post office Baiyan, Azad Kashmir of Pakistan), was
recruited in the army as a Naik, the lowest rank, in February 2, 1990 in the 650
Mujahadeen Battalion. His military serial number was 433683.
At some
point in time the ISI tried to co-opt him to work for a Jihad (holy war) inside
Indian Kashmir but being a professional army man he ignored their offer.
On November 27, 2003 he was arrested by Major Shoukat of the ISI,
stationed at Neelam district, and was accused of working for an Indian
Intelligence agency, the RAW. He was released in December 2008 after he was
exonerated from all charges by the court martial at Kharain district, Punjab
province.
After his arrest he was blind folded and taken away by the
uniformed persons from sub district Leepa, Muzaffarabad district, the capital of
Azad Kashmir, (Pakistani held Kashmir). He remained in the custody of the ISI
for almost five years and was severely tortured to confess that he was working
for India. During the captivity he was kept blind folded all the time and
transferred to many different torture cells. During the six months of his court
martial he was not allowed to meet any body.
According to him, during
the torture, his back bone was fractured and because of this injury he cannot
sit and walk; even using the toilet in the usual position is extremely painful
for him. He now has a surgical steel rod, 18 inches in length attached to his
spinal column which he had to pay for at his own expense. He lost his front
teeth and four other teeth during the torture. His legs were burnt by boiling
water and he has a deep scar on the head. During his incarceration he was
usually held in darkened cells and many times he was kept in stinking toilets.
After his release he was admitted to the central military hospital,
Rawalpindi, Punjab province. He was treated for more than six months and had to
pay the hospital charges. He was forced to take pre-retirement from the service
as he was no longer fit for duty in the army. Subsequently he was given his
pension only but no compensation for his five years of captivity in the torture
cells of the ISI.
During his disappearance his wife, Ms. Khatoon bibi,
contacted many high officials of the Pakistan army and ISI stationed in the
Kashmir to learn his whereabouts but officials of the army denied that he was in
army or ISI custody. She also went to the Rawalpindi head quarters of the
Pakistan Army, in Punjab province, and met with Brigadier Farooq in 2006 to ask
about his whereabouts. The Brigadier told her that if her husband confessed that
he works for India he would be tried in court otherwise it would be difficult
for her to meet him. She has been continuously writing appeals to the president
of Pakistan, the Prime minister, the Chief of Army Staff, Brigade commander of
5AK unit of Pakistan Army stationed at Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, commander of 12
depot of the Army, Corp Commander of Rawalpindi, prime minister of Pakistani
held Kashmir and other high officials of Kashmir during his disappearance and
after his release. To-date she has yet to receive a reply from any one of these
officers.
Mr. Mohammad Iqbal Awan is now handicapped and has no control
over his legs due to the damage to his spine by the severe torture. He is
currently receiving treatment for his spinal cord and legs at the FRI hospital
which treats disabled persons. To attend the hospital he has to spend Rs. 15,
000 for his conveyance from his home to hospital.
The case of Iqbal Awan
exposes the torture committed by the intelligence agencies, particularly by the
ISI which, according to any law or constitution is illegal. However, it is
widely known and reported that the intelligence agencies arrest persons and
torture them in their secret detention centres. It is also generally accepted
that the ISI is very active in Pakistani held Kashmir and virtually acts as the
only law enforcing authority in the area. The AHRC has documented many cases of
abduction, torture and murder committed by the ISI to spread terror in the
valley, please see the following links; AHRC-UAC-172-2009, AHRC-STM-011-2010
The intelligence agencies, particularly the Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI), is accused of training and sending people inside Indian held Kashmir for
Jihad or providing information of militants working inside other parts of
Kashmir. The family members of the disappeared people are also stating that when
people, who worked for intelligence agencies, leave the Jihad and return to
their normal lives they are nabbed by the ISI and shifted to unknown places as
punishment for not working in the interests of national security. There are also
reports that some missing persons, who were sent to collect information from
Indian Kashmir, were also hired for smuggling liquor and other Indian items when
they come back to Pakistani Kashmir after completing their assignments.
There are hundreds of complaints, even, before the higher courts, where
it is alleged that people were abducted by the state intelligence agencies
particularly by the ISI and military intelligence and were kept in different
torture cells for many months on charges of working against Pakistan or
involvement with Indian agencies. It is an established fact that the
intelligence agencies are running their own parallel governments where the real
government and its agencies are not allowed to interfere. Even the jurisdiction
of the courts has little value when it comes to inquiring about the involvement
of any intelligence agencies in the legal affairs of the country.
The
government’s and higher judiciary’s inability to control the state intelligence
agencies particularly, the ISI, to contain itself in to its own professional
duties have given them impunity to run their illegal detention centres and
torture cells. In the cases of disappearances the families of the disappeared
persons generally accuse the state intelligence agencies. This is confirmed by
the disappeared persons themselves when they resurfaced. Many have testified in
court that they were tortured in various torture cells run by the state
intelligence agencies. But the courts have consistently shown their inability to
call the officials of the intelligence agencies.
In a country where the
rule of law is limited upon the ordinary citizens particularly, to poor people
the law enforcement agencies enjoy impunity. Therefore there would be no
question of freedom, liberty, freedom of expression, respect of humanity and
even right to life.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the
government of Pakistan to constitute a high powered judicial commission to probe
the unconstitutional and illegal conduct of state intelligence agencies and
particularly about the involvement of ISI and the running of its torture cells
and illegal detention centres.
The AHRC further urges the government to
prosecute the officers of ISI who kept Mr. Mohammad Iqbal Awan in illegal
detention and tortured him for five years. The torture he suffered has left him
disabled, probably for the rest of his life. The government and the Pakistan
army should compensate him and provide necessary medical treatment.
