Police officials still involved in rape, human rights violations: report

ISLAMABAD: Dozens of police officials have been booked on charges of rape and other human rights violations of a serious nature during the last three years as the country is confronting unabated deterioration in the law and order situation.

According to an official report submitted by the National Police Bureau to the ministry of interior, Sindh remained on top with a total of 91 cases – 61 in 2008, 22 in 2009 and 8 till mid 2010 – and involved as many as 78 police officials.

Ironically, 2008 was the worst year with 61 cases of rape and other human rights violations in Sindh involving 44 police officers, but not a single person was sent to jail.

The report says that in 22 cases registered in 2009, 31 police officials were booked but only 11 were sent to jail in the province.

During mid-2010 eight cases were registered involving 3 police officials, of which only one has been sent to jail so far.

The ministry of interior has sent the sketchy report to the National Assembly recently without elaborating the individual details of these cases.

The report also does not give any details about the present status of the police officials who were sent to jail. In most cases, information about the number of years the officials will remain imprisoned or details about the victim are not provided.

Punjab witnesses the worse situation with the number of cases of rape and serious human rights violations at the hands of police rising each year. In 2008, a total of 23 such cases were registered with 42 police officials involved –18 of them sent to jail.

The number of cases increased to 24 in 2009 involving a total of 67 police officials, of which 29 were sent to prison. The number of cases climbed further up and 27 cases of serious human rights violations were registered during the first few months of 2010. A total of 69 police officials were booked under these charges –42 were sent to jail.

Islamabad Capital Police provided a detailed response by elaborating each case and giving its present status. On January 10, 2008 police station Golara Sharif registered a case against three police officials – all three were challenged in court. In 2009, three separate cases were registered against eight police officials in three different police stations.

Balochistan also provides a gloomy picture where cases against police officials booked under charges of rape and other serious human rights violations were either dismissed due to lack of evidence or on the basis of compromise they reached with the affected individuals and families.

AJK police department said they registered only one case involving two officials, both of whom were sent to jail this year.

The home departments of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan informed the National Police Foundation that they had not registered any case of human rights violations against the police during the past three years.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2010.