Mitt poeng var bare det fattige språket til dagens journalister. De får jo ‘sjokk’ annenhver dag blant annet. Igjen, fyren har alle lemmer intakt, og jeg tviler på han får varige mén av dette. Opplevelser er subjektive, men om dette var et ‘helvete’ hva var feks utøya osv da? Jeg er ikke krenket, og jeg synes fyren egentlig gjør en grei jobb. Men jeg stiller spørsmål til hans valg av ord, noe som bør være lov.

Torture techniques inflicted on victims such as Naheem and Rehan include falaka (foot whipping with a rod or cane), the pulling out of fingernails with pliers, the rubbing of hot chillies in eyes, endless beatings with sticks, and an excruciating practice called strapado, where the victim is hung by the wrists from the ceiling until the shoulders dislocate. The abuse is often so severe that police tire in their duties of kicking and beating detainees and are rotated, allowing them to recoup their lost strength. Each policeman comes armed with sticks, broom handles or bamboo canes.

Unfortunately, most instances of torture are not reported. Police abuse appears to be so common in Pakistan that it has been accepted as the norm, even though Pakistan has formally pledged to end these practices by signing the UN Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Save for the occasional news story, many people outside the British Pakistani community show little interest in these issues. Some people with closer connections to Pakistan may feel resigned to the fact that it has been like this for years and is unlikely to change any time soon. However, it does not have to be like this.

The mandate of military courts to try civilian “terrorism” suspects was extended for a further two years. Reports continued that security forces were involved in human rights violations, including torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances. Impunity remained in the absence of independent, impartial mechanisms to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice. While the number of attacks by armed groups fell in 2017, scores of people died in bombings that targeted the security forces, religious minorities and others.