K-P police immune to public complaints
Commission to address such matters has been inactive since 2007
A public safety commission is tasked to take action if a resident files a complaint against a police official. PHOTO: FILE.
PESHAWAR:
Who watches the watchdog when it goes astray? The answer in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is simple: absolutely nobody.
The Public Safety Commission, established to register complaints of citizens against police officers, has been non-functional since the last local government’s ended their term in 2007.
There were meetings between police and government officials during the initial days of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s reign. However, they ultimately amounted to nothing.
In light of the Police Order 2002, the Public Safety Commission (PSC) was established to provide justice to citizens who were denied their rights by the police.
According to the order, the government must establish a District Public Safety and Police Complaints Commission in every district of K-P. It is also meant to have its own budget under a separate head.
Also, anyone who has affiliations with a political party or has held public office up to six months prior to the formation of the commission will not be eligible to become a member.
“Before 2002, citizens had nowhere to turn to,” said Inayatullah Bacha, the former chairman of the Mardan Public Safety Commission.
He added that under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, the public has the right to contact the commission if police officials are not registering FIRs or for any other complaints. He claimed since the commission was set up in 2002, it resolved thousands of complaints against the police in Mardan district alone.
Bacha was chairman of the district for three-and-a-half years.
Currently, the staff appointed for the commission is now serving in district administration offices as far as Mardan is concerned. “The commission remains inactive, nonfunctional and cannot deliver a single point as envisaged in the Police Order 2002,” Bacha added.
The commission in each district has a total of nine members which include three lawmakers, as many district council members and the same number of civilians for whom an advertisement is placed in the press. The aspiring candidates are subsequently interviewed by a district and sessions judge and finally approved by the governor.
The designation of the district chairman of the commission is equal to that of a sessions judge.
Former provincial public safety commission chairperson and current Awami National Party Joint Secretary, Shagufta Malik, said a number of meetings were held to reorganise the commission.
“People are unaware of its benefits,” said Shagufta. She added the public has no platform to register their complaints. She said a lack of facilities and public interest were some of the major hurdles in the path of the commission becoming active again. “The police administration doesn’t want to see complaints from the people,” said Shagufta. “The voice of affected people has been suppressed.”
K-P Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was not available for comments on the status of the commission despite repeated attempts to contact him.
However, PTI Mardan District Councillor Adil Nawaz claimed his party has already finalised candidates for the Public Safety Commission’s chairmanship and the list is with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2015.
Who watches the watchdog when it goes astray? The answer in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is simple: absolutely nobody.
The Public Safety Commission, established to register complaints of citizens against police officers, has been non-functional since the last local government’s ended their term in 2007.
There were meetings between police and government officials during the initial days of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s reign. However, they ultimately amounted to nothing.
In light of the Police Order 2002, the Public Safety Commission (PSC) was established to provide justice to citizens who were denied their rights by the police.
According to the order, the government must establish a District Public Safety and Police Complaints Commission in every district of K-P. It is also meant to have its own budget under a separate head.
Also, anyone who has affiliations with a political party or has held public office up to six months prior to the formation of the commission will not be eligible to become a member.
“Before 2002, citizens had nowhere to turn to,” said Inayatullah Bacha, the former chairman of the Mardan Public Safety Commission.
He added that under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, the public has the right to contact the commission if police officials are not registering FIRs or for any other complaints. He claimed since the commission was set up in 2002, it resolved thousands of complaints against the police in Mardan district alone.
Bacha was chairman of the district for three-and-a-half years.
Currently, the staff appointed for the commission is now serving in district administration offices as far as Mardan is concerned. “The commission remains inactive, nonfunctional and cannot deliver a single point as envisaged in the Police Order 2002,” Bacha added.
The commission in each district has a total of nine members which include three lawmakers, as many district council members and the same number of civilians for whom an advertisement is placed in the press. The aspiring candidates are subsequently interviewed by a district and sessions judge and finally approved by the governor.
The designation of the district chairman of the commission is equal to that of a sessions judge.
Former provincial public safety commission chairperson and current Awami National Party Joint Secretary, Shagufta Malik, said a number of meetings were held to reorganise the commission.
“People are unaware of its benefits,” said Shagufta. She added the public has no platform to register their complaints. She said a lack of facilities and public interest were some of the major hurdles in the path of the commission becoming active again. “The police administration doesn’t want to see complaints from the people,” said Shagufta. “The voice of affected people has been suppressed.”
K-P Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was not available for comments on the status of the commission despite repeated attempts to contact him.
However, PTI Mardan District Councillor Adil Nawaz claimed his party has already finalised candidates for the Public Safety Commission’s chairmanship and the list is with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2015.