“deaths of suspects in police
shoot-outs are an acceptable part of routine life today”.
Let us put it directly: extra-judicial killing is a crime; it is a
murder and a cognisable offence under the law of the land. However, the
response of society and the state to extra-judicial killings is different to an
ordinary murder or crime. The societal response to staged encounters, substantially
dictated by fear of crime, roughly borders on a general indifference to or the
stated or unspoken approval of such police tactics, with occasional
condemnation by some civil society members and media persons.
In official circles, it still largely remains the elephant in the room.
The proponents of due process condemn extra-judicial killings for legal,
moral and social reasons. It is a murder pure and simple; the police officers
are supposed to arrest criminals and produce them before the court; they should
not betray the trust of the state; violence begets violence and leads to the
brutalisation of society, and hence is counterproductive.
Advocates of staged encounters maintain that ‘extraordinary times
warrant extraordinary measures’. They give examples of the security environment
in the country as well as of ruthless criminals and terrorists, involved in
hundreds of killings, bailed for lack of evidence. They argue that
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Malik Ishaq remained in prison for 12 years and Asif Chotoo
for seven, and although it was public knowledge that they were involved in
brutal killings of hundreds of people they were bailed out in the courts.
Often lacking willing witnesses of serious, violent crimes, and working
under the double burden of poor investigation skills and limited support, the
police investigators’ capacity for effective prosecution of ruthless criminals
and terrorists remains limited. The disconnect within the criminal justice
system (CJS) where its various critical components such as police, prosecutors,
lawyers and judges are struggling to have a functional relationship further
complicates the prosecution of dangerous criminals.
Within the police, the house is divided on the issue of staged
encounters. There are police officers who strictly oppose extra-judicial
killings; there are others who support it directly or indirectly. The latter
category can be broadly divided into three sub-categories: a) greedy/rogue
elements who support the killings for personal gains such as more power,
authority and material gains in service (at times they become more potent than
their IGs due to their political connections); b) ‘moral righteousness’ — the
killings are justified on the basis of their own interpretation of ‘crime
control responsibility’, ‘religious edicts’ and ‘morality’; c) passive
obedience to authority — Stanley Milgram’s experiment on obedience to authority
reasonably explains the ordeal of this category.
How do we respond to the problem of staged encounters? Punish police
officers for the crime? Absolutely! Would that be enough though?
In a society like ours where the gap between the powerful and the weak
is large, people are habitually reluctant to lodge complaints against the
police; it is difficult to produce or sustain witnesses/evidence against the
police and quite exacting to pursue the case all the way as they lack the
requisite means in a system where the odds are already stacked against the
weak. Labelling extra-judicial killing as a crime is also not a firm stance in
our society, as popular opinion is divided over the nature and extent of
criminal liability in such cases.
Formal controls over the police to check deviant and unlawful tactics
are in the hands of the political executive and judiciary and, under Police
Order, 2002, need to be supported by police complaint authorities (yet to be
constituted). Informal controls include those developed through individual
experiences and conditioning in families, schools, socialisation and
communities. Controls, both formal and informal, remain weak. Although in a
number of cases judicial inquiries into police encounters have resulted in the
prosecution of police officers, so far no clear message has been sent to
deviant police officers regarding staged encounters.
Indeed, the police are the public face of this problem. However, police
alone cannot be blamed for the problem of extra-judicial killings. All the
relevant actors need to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the problem.
The approach needs to be corrective rather than penalising. Training of
investigators, a functional and professional relationship between police and
prosecutors, and a leading role for the judiciary would significantly help
reduce the use of illegitimate and violent tactics by police to control crime.
The provincial justice committee established by the Law and Justice
Commission of Pakistan in each province is a useful forum at the provincial
level to deliberate and find solutions to such serious problems. The Lahore
High Court chief justice recently expressed his resolve to make this important
forum functional. His visit to the Central Police Office of Punjab on Jan 20,
and meeting with the police leadership along with his fellow honourable judges,
is a positive development.
In addition to emphasising the need for building a CJS data warehouse,
the chief justice also decided to appoint focal persons in order to improve
coordination within the CJS. Moreover, he has offered training to police
investigators at the Punjab Judicial Academy. Police must avail themselves of
this opportunity to improve the capacity of investigators and to deepen their
understanding of judicial needs vis-à-vis investigations.
In the words of Kofi Annan, “leadership arises not from your position
but from your actions”. CJS leaders need to exercise such leadership to improve
efficiency and fairness in the system and, importantly, to do justice to their
own respective roles. Fearful minds throw reason, justice and mercy to the
wind. A dysfunctional CJS accentuates fear of crime and lends support to
high-handed policing tactics. A functional CJS would help reduce fear of crime,
and check deviant and brutal practices such as extra-judicial killings.
The writer is a former police officer.
Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2017
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