Extrajudicial penalties: Sindh Rangers asked to explain misuse of power
Emergency meeting of National Assembly to take up the issue tomorrow.
ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly Human Rights Committee on has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to take up the issue of the recent killing of an unarmed boy at the hands of Sindh Rangers personnel in Karachi.
“We are very concerned about the frequent killings of innocent people at the hands of security forces’ personnel,” said the committee chairman Riaz Fatiyana, who has summoned senior officials of Rangers and Sindh police to seek explanation of their “excessive misuse of power”.
“Provision of arms does not give them [security forces’ personnel] licence to kill those they are supposed to protect,” Fatiyana remarked. He vowed to establish a new mechanism to strictly monitor paramilitary and security forces to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
The killing of seven protesters in Abbottabad last year by police, the recent shooting of Chechens in Kharotabad, the mob violence against two brothers in Sialkot in the presence of police, are some of the glaring examples of extra-judicial role of our forces, said Fatiyana.
The series of such incidents, he said, started in May 2010 when seven people protesting in favour of Hazara province were killed by police in Abbottabad.
“Such incidents have brought shame to the forces that have now lost the confidence of the people,” he added. Fatiyana said that a meeting to ponder similar incidents had been scheduled for June 29, but the recent gruesome killing of the teenager forced the committee to call an emergency meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.
The National Assembly Human Rights Committee on has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to take up the issue of the recent killing of an unarmed boy at the hands of Sindh Rangers personnel in Karachi.
“We are very concerned about the frequent killings of innocent people at the hands of security forces’ personnel,” said the committee chairman Riaz Fatiyana, who has summoned senior officials of Rangers and Sindh police to seek explanation of their “excessive misuse of power”.
“Provision of arms does not give them [security forces’ personnel] licence to kill those they are supposed to protect,” Fatiyana remarked. He vowed to establish a new mechanism to strictly monitor paramilitary and security forces to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
The killing of seven protesters in Abbottabad last year by police, the recent shooting of Chechens in Kharotabad, the mob violence against two brothers in Sialkot in the presence of police, are some of the glaring examples of extra-judicial role of our forces, said Fatiyana.
The series of such incidents, he said, started in May 2010 when seven people protesting in favour of Hazara province were killed by police in Abbottabad.
“Such incidents have brought shame to the forces that have now lost the confidence of the people,” he added. Fatiyana said that a meeting to ponder similar incidents had been scheduled for June 29, but the recent gruesome killing of the teenager forced the committee to call an emergency meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.