The enquiry into the murder of four traders at Khalid Bin Waleed road, PECHS of Karachi-Sindh province has revealed ‘criminal negligence’ on the part of the police officers. The murder happened on the intervening night of 30 and 31 December 2008, which the police had thus far claimed as an incident of ‘encounter killing’.
The enquiry, conducted by the Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Mr. Niaz Ahmed Khoso, concludes that “there was no mala fide intent on part of the police party”. The report however states that the police exceeded the power of self defense permitted in the law.
The murder had provoked a wave of protests in different cities of Balochistan province, which forced the provincial government to demand the enquiry. The Pukhtoon Khaw Awami Mili Party (PKAM), a coalition partner in the government, had threatened to disassociate from the government if the enquiry was not held and actions taken against the police officers by the Sindh government. The incident had happened within the jurisdiction of the Sindh provincial government.
It appears that the enquiry report is an attempt to hide the facts and is a cover-up of the atrocities committed by the Sindh police. The police officers in Sindh province, like their counterparts in other provinces, enjoy impunity because of the support they receive from provincial heads. The Sindh police in particular are infamous for ‘encounter killings’ in Pakistan and are also notorious for engaging in abduction of ordinary persons.
It was earlier reported that in the incident that led to the murder of the four traders, the officers involved had fired several shots at close range at the traders resulting in their death. It was also reported that the police officers on the other hand were not injured in the incident, though the police had claimed that they were acting in self defense.
According to the medico-legal report prepared at the Jinnah Postgraduate Hospital, three of the four victims were hit with four projectiles each, while the fourth victim was hit three times. The officers attached to the Anti Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) responsible for the incident had claimed that the deceased, whose car they had intercepted, opened fire at the police officers resulting in the shootout. This claim of self defense appears to have been accepted in the enquiry report. The report however has ignored a vital fact that except for two officers, the other ACLC officers who were members of the police party were in plain clothes when they allegedly intercepted the vehicle.
The enquiry report has recommended that a case of criminal negligence, instead of a charge of murder, to be registered against the police officers involved in the incident. The recommendation and the dilution of charges will only result in providing impunity to the police officers. The question however remains whether the police are allowed to use fatal force and that whether such use of unwarranted force is justified. The enquiry report has apparently failed to consider whether there is any evidence to substantiate the excuse of self defense by the police officers.
The act of self defense is a general exception to the charge of murder. However, such defense is always treated by a court of law with considerable caution. The legal theory is that one who pleads a general exception to a criminal charge must prove it. When the defense of self protection is taken up by police officers, who are at duty to protect and preserve people’s life, such defense must be treated with even more caution. The fact that the enquiry was conducted by police officers against their colleagues cuts the root of impartiality. Additionally the police enquiry does not show any traces of proof or even an attempt by the accused police officers, to substantiate their defense. This factor, among several others, casts doubts about the entire process of enquiry.
Article 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan explicitly guarantees the right to life and liberty. Pakistan is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Under Article 6 of the ICCPR, every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. The Covenant further casts the responsibility upon the state to ensure that this right is guaranteed.
Just a day after the killing of the four traders in the fake encounter, the police killed yet another person, Mr. Habib Ullah Niazi. Nazi was having tea at a roadside teashop. The police claimed that a pistol and five bottles of alcohol were recovered from the victim. After the incident, an enquiry committee was constituted. But no action was taken against the police officers thus far.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Government of Pakistan to register cases against the police officers involved in both incidents on charges of murder. The government must also ensure that an impartial and open investigation is conducted in both cases. The witnesses willing to depose before such an investigating agency must be assured protection from possible threats from the accused police officers.
If the investigation proves that in both cases the police officers involved are to be charged for murder, the senior police officers who have thus far covered up these two cases must face disciplinary actions. The relatives of the deceased persons must be paid interim compensation pending the investigation in these two cases.
It is through such positive and affirmative actions that the government of Pakistan can prove that Pakistan is no more under a dictatorship, but is a democracy.
