Pakistan police 'involved in extrajudicial killings'
September 26, 2016
Police are responsible for custodial torture and other serious human rights violations, a new report by Human Rights Watch has said. The report comes amid growing allegations of rights abuses by Pakistan's army.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Hassan
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Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Hassan
The document released on Monday detailed problems faced by the police in reprimanding criminals and human rights violations by law enforcers in Pakistan. "Public surveys and reports of government accountability and redress institutions show that the police are one of the most widely feared, complained against, and least trusted government institutions in Pakistan," the report said.
There were several reported cases of police killing criminal suspects outside the legal system, torturing detainees for confession and harassing and demanding money from individuals wanting to file criminal cases.
Fake encounters and torture
Several officers spoke to Human Rights Watch, admitting that the force undertook fake "encounter killings," in which police staged an armed exchange to kill suspects. These operations were often launched because of pressure from a local landowner or other influential people.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, over 2,000 people were killed in 2015 in armed encounters with the police. Most of these incidents took place in the province of Punjab. HRW quoted a police officer as saying that an "encounter killing is a way of ensuring that a known criminal does not escape justice because of lack of evidence and witnesses."
HRW also discovered that custodial beatings with batons and strips of leather, sexual violence, and forcing criminals to witness torture were commonly used by police. Suspects were tortured "to obtain confessions or other information, to coerce bribes or because of pressure from local politicians or landowners."
Image: DW/A. Ghani Kakar
Poor, women at a disadvantage
Members of downtrodden sections of Pakistani society also raised concerns with HRW about not being able to file a report with the police because of its "financial cost," which referred to bribe-taking or the fear of harassment or threat.
Female victims of sexual assault found it particularly difficult to report the crime committed against them because of "misogynist and biased attitude" of state institutions, the report said. In many cases, women who were sexually attacked were often blamed for bringing it upon themselves.
Problems faced by the police
Police said that maintaining law and order was an arduous task in the country, considering threats posed by armed extremist groups, local drug wars and land-grabbing. Insufficient infrastructure, lack of financial resources and interference from external sources contributed to the force's performance.
"Elite elements within Pakistani society - be they politicians, landowners or members of civil and military bureaucracy - exercised outsized and improper control over law enforcement," the report's authors wrote. Appointments to important positions were also made on the basis of "political" links.
The report demanded that the government introduce effective systems to ensure police accountability and redress people's grievances. The government also needed to remove laws that increased the police's tendency towards impunity.
The latest allegations come as Pakistan's military is accused of massive rights violations in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where many people have gone missing amid a government crackdown on insurgents.
mg/ (dpa, AFP)
Pakistan: A decade of deadly terrorist attacks
Radical groups have killed thousands of people since Pakistan joined the United States and its allies in a war against terror in 2001. Here is a look at some of the major terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the last decade.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Khan
2007 - Twin blasts rock Karachi on former PM’s return
Two bomb blasts struck former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s motorcade on October 18, 2007 in the southern port city of Karachi. Bhutto was returning to Pakistan after almost eight years. The attack left 139 people dead. Bhutto, the first democratically elected female head of an Islamic country, died in an attack two months later, on December 27 in the northern city of Rawalpindi.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Khawer
2008 - Wah bombing
The Wah bombing was a double suicide attack on the Pakistan Ordinance Factories (POF) in Wah on August 21, 2008. At least 64 people died in the attack, which remains to date the deadliest on a military site in Pakistan's history. A spokesman from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Khan
2008 - Insurgents target luxury hotel in the capital
At least 60 people died and over 200 were injured when a truck filled with explosives detonated in front of the Marriot Hotel on September 20, 2008, in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Five foreign nationals were among the casualties, while another 15 were injured.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Matthys
2009 - Peshawar bombing
A car bomb was detonated in Mina Bazar (a market for women and children) in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The bomb killed 125 people and injured more than 200 others. The Pakistani government put the blame on the Taliban, but both Taliban and al-Qaida denied involvement in the attack.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A Majeed
2009 - Market in Lahore targeted
The December 2009 Lahore attacks were a series of two bomb blasts and a shooting which occurred in a crowded market in the country’s second largest city of Lahore on December 7. At least 66 people were killed. Most of the victims were women.
Image: DW/T.Shahzad
2010 - Suicide bomber targets volleyball match
A suicide car bomb killed 101 people at a village volleyball game in the northwestern district of Bannu.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Azam
2010 - Lahore Massacre
The May 2010 Lahore attacks also referred to as the Lahore Massacre occurred on May 28, 2010, during Friday prayers. 82 people were killed in simultaneous attacks against two mosques of the Ahmadi minority. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Image: Getty Images/N. Ijaz
2010 – Bomber targets market in tribal area
A suicide bomber killed 105 people in a busy market in the northwestern tribal district of Mohmand. The suicide bombing occurred on July 9 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The target of the attack was believed to be a meeting of tribal elders. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Majeed
2011 - Police training center in Charsadda attacked
A double bombing occurred on May 13, 2011, in Shabqadar Fort in the Charsadda District of northwestern Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Two suicide bombers killed at least 98 people outside the police training center. At least 140 people were injured. The explosions occurred while cadets were getting into buses for a ten day leave after their training course.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/H. Ahmed
2013 - Peshawar church bombing
On September 22, 2013, a twin suicide attack took place at All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was the deadliest attack on the Christian minority in the country, killing 82 people. The TTP-linked Islamist group, Jundalah, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Khan
2014 - Peshawar school massacre
On December 16, 2014, seven gunmen affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants opened fire on school staff and children, killing 154 people, including 132 school children. This was the deadliest terrorist attack ever to occur in the country.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/A Majeed
2015 – Gunmen target bus in Karachi
Eight gunmen attacked a bus on May 13, 2015, in Safoora Goth, in Karachi, Pakistan. The shooting left at least 46 people dead. All of the victims were from the Ismaili Shia Muslim minority. Banned militant group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the shooting. Also, pamphlets supporting the Islamic State terrorist group, with whom Jundallah claims allegiance, were found at the crime scene.
Image: STR/AFP/Getty Images
2016 – Lahore park bombing
On March 27, 2016, at least 75 people were killed in a suicide bombing that hit one of the largest parks in Lahore. The attack targeted Christians who were celebrating Easter. Fourteen of the dead were identified as Christians, while the rest were Muslims. The majority of victims were women and children. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a group affiliated with the TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Ali
2016 – Quetta hospital bombing
On August 8, 2016, terrorists targeted the Government Hospital of Quetta in Pakistan with a suicide bombing and shooting that resulted in the death of over 70 People. The fatalities were mainly lawyers who had assembled at the hospital where the body of fellow attorney, Bilal Anwar Kasi, president of the Balochistan Bar Association, was brought after he was shot dead by an unknown gunman.
