Target killings: Criminals on the loose

Sindh officials confess their helplessness in checking targeted killings, say judiciary allows offenders to walk free.

ISLAMABAD: Top officials of the Sindh government, huddled in closed door parliamentary committee meetings, have blamed the judiciary for playing a part in target killings in Karachi by liberally allowing offenders to walk free on bail. Many of these are hardened criminals and repeat offenders, according to a report prepared by the provincial government for a visiting parliamentary committee.

The officials have said that such criminals almost always end up killing more people, in what is being described as a never ending cycle of terror.

In this, the officials have also questioned the ability of the local police to combat crime and killings given that the force is itself one of the biggest victims of the violence.

It may be recalled that members of the standing committee on interior affairs visited Karachi on October 27 to get a briefing from the Sindh home department on the reasons for the resurgence of target killings in the city.

During closed door briefings to the parliamentarians from Islamabad, the Sindh government disclosed that 603 policemen have been victims of target killings since 2006.

In 2010 alone, so far 33 policemen have lost their lives in targeted attacks, mostly at the hands of different sectarian, political and drug mafias, which are active in the city. This is in addition to a large number of civilians who have died in such attacks.

One parliamentarian who attended the briefing disclosed that the team was told of a rising sense of insecurity within the police department over the liberal manner in which repeat offenders were allowed to be released on bail.

The parliamentarians were told that the Sindh government clearly believes that the liberal attitude of the judges in giving bails to criminals involved in targeted killing was one of the main reason behind an alarming raise in such killings over the past couple of months.

A copy of the documents presented before the parliamentary body probing the reasons for the rise in target killings in Karachi have been made available to The Express Tribune. They offer shocking revelations made by police officials over who they think is responsible.

One quick review of these classified documents of the Sindh home department gives a clear idea about how the police is unable to control the situation. The report talks in detail about inherent weaknesses of the corrupt police system.

The report adds that the police force is also restricted from its work by frequent political intervention as well as a “complete lack of cooperation from the judiciary.”

The 45-page briefing titled “Law and order situation in Karachi” clearly blamed judges, who, according to Sindh home department were not applying due restraint in granting bails to those who were produced before courts on charges of targeted killing.

Sindh government officials told parliamentary committee members that criminal elements under the garb of political workers were mainly responsible for destroying the peace of the city by indulging in turf wars.

Major stakeholders in the city were not effective in the last two years in restraining their wards. Local issues such as land grabbing and encroachment often flare up into politico-ethnic violence, the report added. Proliferation of weapons in Karachi is also one of the major reasons of violence, the department said.

In addition, sectarian conflict was ignited by banned militant organizations in the city, adding to the violence. The report revealed that 98 per cent of target killings in Karachi were committed with small weapons (9mm and TT pistols). The committee members were told that 20 people are arrested daily by the Karachi police for carrying illicit weapons but there was no follow up on them. Also, in a number of cases, licenced weapons were being used in crimes and killings, the report said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2010.