Brazen impunity

THAT many security officials in Pakistan — civilian as well as military — use torture and other extralegal methods to ‘punish’ suspects is no secret. But some instances are so brazen that not only do they make a complete mockery of the law, they also demonstrate the alarming extent of the scourge.

The recent ‘kidnapping’ of a medico-legal officer in Karachi is just one such incident. Dr Shahzad Butt, an MLO at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, told a news conference on Sunday that he was picked up by men in plain clothes, taken away in a police van, tortured, and forced to delete data related to the autopsies of suspects killed in police ‘encounters’ from his laptop and phone.

Know more: JPMC doctor forced to delete encounter autopsy reports after being ‘kidnapped’

Though the city police chief has denied his men were involved in the incident, a senior government doctor has said that earlier on, there was an argument between Dr Butt and police officials when the latter pressured him to change an autopsy report and the MLO refused to oblige.

This ugly incident is a clear example of the law-enforcers’ high-handedness. It is welcome that the MLO has gone public with his ordeal and we hope the case is investigated and those responsible for this outrage are punished.

Conventional wisdom suggests that MLOs in Karachi are usually under pressure to doctor reports as per the wishes of the law-enforcement authorities.

The difference in this case is that the MLO refused to comply and, on being subjected to alleged abuse, made his ordeal publicly known.

In fact, such impunity on part of the security forces is not limited to Sindh alone. Whether it is the intractable problem of missing persons in Balochistan, the killings of suspected militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or bogus police ‘encounters’ in Punjab, security forces across the country are known to use extrajudicial methods to dispense ‘justice’.

The list of victims includes religiously inspired militants, as well as nationalists and political activists. This state of affairs continues even while the highest court of the land has censured these abhorrent practices.

There’s no doubt that there is much that is wrong with our criminal justice system, but employing extralegal methods is hardly the way to fix it.

In Karachi’s context, encounters have been tried as an antidote to violent crime and militancy particularly since the 1990s. That such tactics have failed to pacify the city is abundantly clear.

Not only are such methods illegal, they are ineffective. The use of encounters and torture needs to end, while those who raise a voice against such brutality employed by the law-enforcers must be protected by the law, not victimised.

If such methods are not phased out, there will be serious doubts about the legal and ethical underpinnings of the Karachi operation.

The trend must be discouraged and efforts put in to install a strong criminal justice system, supported by scientific investigation methods and effective prosecution services.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2015