- Procedural controls required to prevent extrajudicial killings
A judicial inquiry report on the senseless murder of 22-year-old Osama Satti on a main highway of the Capital concludes that the five Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) personnel responsible were ‘trigger-happy and swayed by their power to use guns without any control’. The same can also be said about officials involved in the Sahiwal incident two years back where four persons were killed and three minor children were orphaned in the process. The Punjab Police’s much-touted specialised patrolling unit, the Dolphin Squad, has been involved in multiple suspicious ‘police encounters’. The deaths of Nabeel Hoodbhoy and Amal Umer in Karachi in separate incidents are examples of fearless use of sanctioned ammunition by police forces across the country. The inquiry report makes some sound suggestions that would at the very least introduce some semblance of procedure and control within the police and anti-terrorism units of the country. In the absence of any standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the police for the use of weapons and rules of engagement, it is no wonder that police officers are so liberal with their use of bullets. Unless such SOPs are formed whereby the drawing and shooting of a weapon has to be satisfactorily justified to a panel of senior officers after the fact, there will be no change in how guns are misused by police.
With regards to ATS officials, the report suggests that its officials should never be allowed to jointly work with the regular force without permission from the superintendent of police and that the recruitment and selection of these special forces officers must be done with the utmost care, preferably by a ‘board comprising high-ranking officers of the police operations and a psychologist that would evaluate the officers for their mental fitness from time to time as well’. This is an important recommendation that would help induct effective, responsible and relatively restrained persons into the ATS. The responsibility to conduct such reforms lies with the respective governments of all provinces and the federal government as well. Unless the police’s SOPs and code of conduct are not updated and implemented, incidents of extrajudicial killings will continue unabated. Inquiries, suspensions and terminations will do little to remove the rot from the inside; meaningful sweeping reforms are required.
