Missing in action: District public safety commissions yet to be formed

Officials allege police is not cooperating for fear of being held accountable.

PESHAWAR:

Scores of public complaints remain unresolved since the provincial government assumed charge in May due to non-functional district public safety commissions.

Under the Police Order 2002, the provincial government shall establish a public safety and police complaints commission in every district, including capital city district.

So far, only an introductory meeting – which took place last week – has been held by the Provincial Public Safety and Police Complaints Commission, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Naseem Hayat told The Express Tribune.

“The nomination papers for chairpersons of province-wide district committees have been received and we will complete the election process within a month,” she said. “We will implement the Police Order 2002 and bring reforms to provide relief to people.”



Hayat further said the commission members carried out a threadbare discussion and agreed to hold meetings twice a month to speed up the process of making district committees functional.

MPA Munawar Khan, a member of the provincial public safety commission, said: “The treasury members in the commission asked me to work on the matter, but I had to excuse myself.”

He claimed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police was least interested in extending cooperation to the commission because the ordinance would make the police accountable in many cases.

Khan added various police chiefs in the past have asked the government to abandon the commission because they believe their authority and powers could be questioned if they cooperate in its establishment.

According to Khan, coordinated efforts were essential to provide relief in real terms to the public. However, many cases remain pending because of the lack of seriousness to redress complaints, he alleged.

PTI leader Adil Nawaz, who was nominated as chairperson for the Mardan district committee, said an important safety commission had remained non-functional for too long, causing people immense problems.



Peshawar Public Safety Commission Chairperson Hidayatullah Khan said because of lack of awareness, the ratio of public complaints remained low.

According to Hidayat, 35 cases have been pending since the past three months. He added he had proposed trainings be conducted for the members of the commissions.

The chairperson also lamented they lacked funds and a building. “Our office is currently in the municipal corporation’s office and we have to use their computers and stationery.”

Highlighting the importance of a public safety commission, Hidayat said if a resident submits a complaint against a police official, the commission must take action on it.

Structure of district public safety

The district public safety and police complaints commissions will consist of nine members each, one of whom shall be the chairperson.

The composition of the district public safety and police complaints commission shall be as follows:

(a) One-third members shall be appointed by the government from amongst the members of the provincial assembly and national assembly of the district concerned as ex-officio members, including a woman member.

(b) One-third members, of whom one shall be a woman, shall be appointed as independent members by the government from a list of names recommended by the selection panel.

(c) The remaining one-third members, out of whom one shall be a woman, shall be elected by the zila council from amongst its members on the basis of each member casting only one vote in favour of any contesting candidate through secret ballot.

The chairperson of the district public safety and police complaints commission shall be elected by the members from amongst themselves every three years.

Independent members shall be of impeccable integrity and proven professional competence in such fields as social work, law, administration, education, corporate sector, etc.

Terms of members

The term of office for a member shall be three years unless he resigns at any time before the expiry of his term or ceases to be a MPA or MNA as the case may be.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2013.