A survey released by Berlin-based Transparency International in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu showed bribery has become so endemic that the region is second only to sub-Saharan Africa as the corruption hotspot of the world.
The watchdog surveyed 7,800 people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, finding 40 per cent had paid backhanders over the last 12 months to public servants, with police being the largest recipients.
Two thirds of Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis who dealt with the police last year said they had paid bribes to corrupt officers.
“With bribery such a big part of life for south Asians, you can see why so many people are angry at their governments for not tackling corruption,” said Rukshana Nanayakkara, senior programme coordinator for the watchdog’s south Asia region.
“People are sick of paying bribes to get on with their daily lives, and they are sick of the sleaze and undue influence of public servants.” The survey, entitled “Daily Lives and Corruption: Public Opinion in South Asia” found 62 per cent of south Asians believed corruption had got worse over the past three years, with Indians and Pakistanis the most pessimistic.
More than 80 per cent, however, said they were willing to take action to end corruption.
“Governments beware. People think corruption is on the rise and are willing to take action against it,” said Nanayakkara.
“In 2011, popular protests have sent a strong message to governments. They must respect the voice of their people and encourage citizen engagement.” Some of the largest demonstrations were in India, where millions took to the streets of cities across the country in August in support of an anti-corruption campaign by veteran activist Anna Hazare.
The six countries lag between 86th and 154th in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index of 186 nations, in which the least corrupt countries are ranked highest.
Try telling that to certain elements in the Punjab police.
“When we torture those in our custody they scream and cry with pain, but unless they tell us what we are asking for, we don’t stop,” says a low-ranking police official in the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) of Punjab police in Lahore.
Given his involvement – and apparent relish – in torturing suspects, it is no surprise the official does not want to be identified. He says he has been in the force for 22 years, and has recently been transferred to the superintendent office, where he now does clerical work for the agency.
“I used to hit people using chittar (a coarse leathery torture instrument) on their bottoms,” he says while laughing, adding that criminals deserve to be treated with such contempt. What’s more, he believes the method works: “Without torture, no one speaks.”
The policeman is careful to point out that during such torture – which includes tying the person to a charpoy and hitting his feet, and hanging him upside down – no marks are left on the body of the victim.
When asked what happens if a suspect does not cooperate, the official casually says that other family members are picked up and tortured until the suspect talks.
All of this happens behind the closed doors of the CIA headquarters in Lahore, known as the Kotwali office. Other police sources and regular news reports confirm the existence of a torture cell in the building.
“Usually four to five people interrogate the accused, during which this torture happens, but it is only for particular crimes like robbery, murder and organised crime,” the CIA source says.
Intriguingly, terrorists are ‘cracked’ in other ways: “Since terrorists are brain-washed into believing they are right, the police need to tackle their case through mental torture techniques,” he adds.
While the CIA official openly admits to torture, investigation officers at other police stations go a step further in their justification, saying it happens all around the world.
“In the US they do water-boarding and put people in refrigerated cells without clothes. Our methods are less cruel,” says Zahid, an assistant sub-inspector from the investigation unit at the North Cantt police station in Lahore.
He speaks freely about his sections’ unpleasant methods, even listing the different techniques: “We sleep-deprive the person, over-feed him, make him sit on his knees for hours, and even hit him with a chittar.”
Like the CIA official, Zahid also speaks of the ‘no marks’ policy to conceal torture. “We are very careful,” he says, aware that the government recently set up teams to monitor police performance and complaints.
Meanwhile, a high-ranking police officer, who asked not to be named, says that torture has moved out of police stations and into private properties, as Station House Officers don’t want to get caught. “Most SHOs who are the favourites of seniors torture people in custody without fear, because they know the top bosses cannot say anything to these cops as they do all their dirty work,” the police official added.
Zaman Khan, spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Lahore, says that “the police have a violent-based mindset that has not changed. And it is not just the police but other agencies who have safe houses across Pakistan where torture goes on.” Khan adds his disappointment that parliamentarians have not taken up the issue, leaving the fight to civil society and the media.
