HYDERABAD: May 10, 2012. (By Abbas Kassar) Seminar on torture was held at a local hotel by Individualland an NGO of Islamabad. Mr. Shaukat Ali facilitator briefed the newsmen on methods and ways of reporting torture cases. Subjects on which he delivered lecture included differences between torture and violence, methods of torture including physical and sexual torture, psychological, pharmacological, torture, its political, social and other effects. The main emphasis was to train journalists how to report torture cases, identifying culprits, location and identifying torture survivors. He said where state officer is involved it is called torture including arresting then denying arrest, picking up, forced disappearance and throwing dead bodies of missing persons. Defining torture he said it was state of mental, physical pain, suffering in content or under orders of state for getting information, concession including punishment and intimidating. However he said without getting information is not torture but violence. Quoting example he said murder of Karachi journalist Wali Babar was case of violence as state was not involved in it while that of Saleem Shahzad was case of torture as he was picked up by state agencies. He informed that recently the government has constituted a national commission on human rights and said that it can prove a ray of hope in a present situation of human rights violations, violence and torture. He said media has wide outreach as every report is read by millions of people so it can increase public pressure on state apparatus. He said media is real element that creates awareness among people also. The seminar was widely attended by local journalists related with print and electronic media and photographers.