National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

Torture As A Tool

The trend to use extreme forms of torture as a tool to subdue others is disturbingly growing along with the escalation of insurgency

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Torture is regarded as the number one human rights problem at present. According to a study, every year, 100,000 people in the country are directly or indirectly traumatized by torture – mental or physical.

As per the study conducted by the Center for Victims of Torture (CVICT), every year around 8000 people are arrested - and released from the custody of the security forces. Similar number of people are arrested/released by the Maoists. And over 70 percent of the people taken in custody face one or the other types of torture. Around 16,000 families are affected by the torture, which means around one lakh individuals share the pain.

The trend of using torture has dramatically increased in the past couple of years. According to the CVICT data, during 1991-1996 only around 3000 victims of torture had approached them for service. This number rose astronomically to 17,000 between 1997-2003. “In the initial years, we used to find that 80 percent of the victims had been tortured by the state but now the equation has changed. The Maoists torture contribute to 40 percent and is rising,” said Dr. Bhogendra Sharma, president of CVICT. “Based on the treatment that we provide to the victims, the cases of torture by Maoists is rising along with the rise in the areas they claim to control.”

The CVICT has facilities in three places in the country including Kathmandu where it can provide all kinds of medical as well as psychological treatment and counseling to the victims of torture.

Another disturbing facet of torture is the fact that around 60 percent of the jail inmates are found to have been imprisoned based on their confessions that are extracted through torture. “We have seen that most of the security personnel are under different kinds of pressure to prove their efficiency. And they do so by nabbing even the innocent persons and proving their guilt by using torture,” said Dr. Sharma.

“By doing so, the very purpose for which the state uses torture will be defeated as the criminals will be freely roaming in society even as innocent persons get victimized. And these very victims could suffer from psychosocial imbalances triggering problems by many fold,” said Dr. Bidur Osti, a psychosocial analyst, who has been treating many victims of torture.

In Nepal, various forms of torture like isolation, deprivation, blind-folding, humiliation, threats, threats to relatives, sexual abuse and mental tormenting are employed.

“In the current conflict, both the warring sides have used torture as a tool to show their supremacy and subdue others,” said Dr. Sharma.

Another worrying outcome of torture is the psychosocial consequences. “In many cases, the victims can even get sucked into mental problems like psychosis. And in some other cases, they seek to take revenge,” said Dr. Osti. He cited an example of a case in Rolpa where a mother and her daughter were both fighting as Maoist commanders. “They said they took up the arms after state forces raped them and killed their husband some years ago when they used to live innocent lives.”

As such, the torture, in whatever form, will not have any desirable effect. “Most of the time the torturers use to hide their inabilities to conduct proper investigations,” said Dr. Osti.

Sadly, the victims of torture will not only suffer from short-term physical pain but also a long-term agony, which could be physical as well as mental. The victims who have been repeatedly hit in their heels complain of headaches even years later. “That is because the victim will tend to walk with slight stoop, which will change the center of gravity of his body resulting in his head hanging a little below than normal. This results in headache,” said Dr. Sharma.

That apart the mental trauma – the flashbacks, the fright that refuses to leave, the sights of anything resembling the torturer – continues to haunt them for a long, long time. If such victims are not provided with timely and sustained psychological counseling, they could slide into a life of misery.

Petro Hike Attracts Ire

The hike in the price of petroleum products has attracted stiff ire from political parties and student unions. Even as the committee that recommended the increase in the price of petroleum products has stated that the current level of increase in diesel price did not warrant any subsequent rise in the transport fare, the entrepreneurs have threatened to do so. Bhairab Man Shrestha, vice president of the Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs has said that they would soon increase the transport fare by up to 10 percent. According to the committee, the transport fare did not need to be increased because the current charge had been fixed in the past when the diesel price was even higher than the current level. There is no reason to hike the transport service charges now because they were fixed when the per liter diesel price were at Rs 35.50, the committee stated.

Less than a month after it increased the price of petrol and cooking gas, the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had further hiked the price of diesel, kerosene and the cooking gas based on the recommendation of the committee formed to suggest ways to improve the financial position of the NOC, which was bleeding due to the sustained increase in the international price and stagnant price in the domestic market. The price of diesel and kerosene has been raised to Rs 35 per liter (from Rs 31) and Rs 28 per liter (from Rs 24) respectively. The price of cooking gas has been raised by Rs 25 per cylinder to reach Rs 750. The NOC has stated that even with the latest increase, it would still be losing Rs 450 million per month.

The committee has also suggested periodic hike in the price of the petroleum products so as to make them compatible with their price in the international market by the end of this year. Furthermore, as per the recommendation by the committee on the institutional reforms of the NOC, the corporation has decided to downsize its staff number by 100. It has also decided to bring down its administrative expenses by 10 percent.