PPP denounces torture on Dr Asim, broadcast of ‘so-called confession’

The Pakistan People’s Party has strongly condemned the airing of a video purported to be the confessional statement of Dr Asim Hussain, former petroleum minister under the PPP government.

In a footage run by a private TV channel on Wednesday, Dr Asim Hussain is seen sitting on a chair and maligning the party leadership.

“This is a monstrous notoriety and monumental arrogance of the law enforcing agency which held Dr Asim Hussain in custody and is condemned in the strongest terms,” a PPP spokesperson said in a statement issued on Thursday.

He said that the video confirmed the apprehensions that Dr Asim would be brutally tortured to extract from him so-called confessional statements. “In fact the mother of Dr Asim had filed a petition in the SHC (Sindh High Court) fearing the torture of her son for extracting so-called confessional statements from him to paint black the party leadership,” he said, adding ‘her worst fears have come true’.

The spokesperson said that “Dr Asim was first held in custody of the law enforcing agency accusing him of terrorism under anti-terror laws. But when the agency realised that it had no case to prove in a court of law it changed the track and brought corruption charges against him even though there exists separate legal mechanisms for addressing corruption charges”.

“Clearly the Rangers who held Dr Asim in custody is responsible for torturing him and the surfacing of this video,” the spokesperson said, adding, “In allowing itself to go that far the law enforcing agency has exposed itself to the charge that it is acting as veritable arm of the Interior Ministry for political engineering by inflicting torture on political opponents.”

“Those who tortured Dr Asim must never forget that the laws of nature indeed are very stern. The Mill of God grinds slowly yet they grind exceeding small,” the spokesperson stated.

The PPP, he said, condemns this atrocity and calls for accountability of all those responsible for torturing Dr Asim. “The party also calls for early adoption of anti-torture legislation passed unanimously by the Senate in March last year. This legislation is necessary to put to an end to torture in custody and to ensure that such crimes are not committed with impunity in future,” concluded the PPP spokesperson.