A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 Assembly (A/67/279; 9 August 2012), the Special Rapporteur finds that even if the emergence of a customary norm that considers the death penalty as per se running afoul of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is still under way, most conditions under which capital punishment is actually applied renders the punishment tantamount to torture. Under many other, less severe conditions, it still amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Both of those serious violations are involved in capital punishment as applied in the Gaza strip. The Special Rapporteur calls on the de facto authorities in the Gaza Strip to undertake a prompt and independent investigation into the alleged torture and execution of Mr. Emad Mahmoud Abu Ghalyoun and Mr. Husein Youssef Mohammad El Khatib, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to provide full redress to the victim’s family. The Special Rapporteur also calls on the de facto authorities in the Gaza Strip to take persistent, determined and effective measures to have all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent, competent domestic authority, as well as whenever there is reasonable ground to believe that such an act has been committed; to hold persons who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate such acts responsible, to have them brought to justice and punished in a manner commensurate with the gravity of the offence, including the officials in charge of the place of detention where the prohibited act is found to have been committed according to paragraph 7b of the Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23. Pakistan (a) JAL 07/05/2013 PAK 3/2013 State Reply: None to date Alleged detention and torture of Mr. Hamid Hussain, and extracted confession through torture of guilt pertaining to blasphemy charges. 118. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the government of Pakistan has not responded to this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council. The communication referred to the alleged detention on blasphemy charges and alleged torture of Mr. Hamid Hussain in Pakistan. After his arrest, Mr. Hussain was allegedly locked up in a police station 20 kilometers away from his house, where he was tortured the entire night and forced to confess that he was involved in publishing a booklet depicting unfavorable “holy personages and companions (Sahaba) of the Holy Prophet.” Mr. Hussain was subsequently kept in police custody for 10 days, in which one night he was reportedly kept in an unknown place and tortured by persons other than the police. It is believed that he was subsequently sent back to the police jail due to his father, a lawyer, pursuing a case against the police. In response, Mr. Hussain was sent to the Karachi Central Prison and kept in a five-by-five feet isolation ward, where he was not allowed to receive any visitors. Members of Mr. Hussain’s family have reportedly accused a Judge of the ATC of allegedly demanding that they pay Rs 1 million to obtain his exoneration from the charges of blasphemy. The Special Rapporteur reminds the government of Pakistan that paragraph 7 (b) of Resolution 8/8 of the Human Rights Council states that “Intimidation and coercion, as described in article 1 of the Convention against Torture, including serious and credible threats, as well as death threats, to the physical integrity of the victim or of a third person, can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or to torture.” In addition, with regard to the confession extracted through torture, article 15 of the CAT and paragraph 7c of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 urge that statements made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government to undertake a prompt and independent investigation of the torture of Mr. Hamid Hussain, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators and to provide full redress to the victim. 87