RescueRanger
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A very blunt and to the point article about the present state of affairs.. Excellent work by the writer.
Urban/urbane
Friday, June 25, 2010
Ahmad Rafay Alam
Some recent events force us to consider the state of the police and the safety and security of fellow citizens.
On June 21, Khawaja Aqeel escaped from the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore where he appeared for bail in the murder trial of Lahore underworld king Tipu Truckanwalla. When the ATC judge cancelled his bail plea, Aqeel managed to get away pillion-riding on a motorcycle waiting nearby. The event took place in broad daylight, in the middle of the heavily guarded Anti-Terrorism Court Complex. According to news reports, the police "did not bother to apprehend the accused."
On June 19, an anti-terrorism court acquitted Hijratullah of charges that he had perpetrated the terrorist attack on March 31, 2009, at the police training centre in Manawan, just outside Lahore. That was the day terrorists attacked and more or less held the city of Lahore hostage for a day. The siege at Manawan lasted eight hours. Seven police recruits were killed and 93 injured. Hijratullah was one of the seven terrorists who stormed the training centre. Some may even remember Hijratullah, who was arrested while trying to blow up a helicopter at the back of the complex. Photos of him being captured made front-page headlines.
Despite the fact that police recovered a grenade, a wireless set and an Afghan passport from his person, and despite the fact as many as 22 witnesses gave testimony, the Anti-Terrorism Court was moved to acquit Hijratullah for lack of evidence. For his part, Hijratullah proclaims his innocence and claims he was just a garbage collector on the training centre's premises that day. But this had not stopped the court from being heavily fortified with security personnel (just in case Hijratullah fled).
On the same day, one policeman was killed and three injured when four alleged members of the banned militant organisation Jundullah were "liberated" from police custody in the City Courts in Karachi by armed but unidentified attackers. The four men had been bought under police guard to attend the hearing of their case.
On June 15, Karachi-based architect Samar Ali was returning home from dinner when he found the road to his house blocked off by police. Police had barricaded the road in order to provide VIP protocol to a government minister. Ali protested the barricade and, for his efforts, was arrested and taken to Darakhshan Police Station. He had to spend a night in jail because VIP protocol had blocked his way to his home.
On May 5, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi acquitted Rana Ilyas, Dr Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehseen Ullah Jan. These men were accused of planning the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The court acquitted them because the prosecution had failed to produce any witnesses or evidence to substantiate the allegations against them. Of the 128 witnesses named by the police, only 83 recorded their statements, nine had died, five foreigners had left and the rest simply did not appear in court.
On April 17, a magistrate at the Model Town courts in Lahore acquitted PML-N MPA Shumaila Rana of charges that she had used a stolen credit card to purchase jewellery. Rana's case attracted quite a bit of media attention, as there was CCTV footage of her using the credit card, a recorded phone conversation with the credit card company where she lied about her identity and confirmed the use of the card. The magistrate acquitted Rana because the prosecution failed to prove their allegations.
In June last year, the Lahore High Court granted bail to Hafiz Saeedwho is believed to be behind the 26/11 attacks in Mumbaiafter it said the Punjab and federal governments simply hadn't provided sufficient evidence to keep him in custody.
In April last year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan granted bail to Maulana Abdul Aziz, of Lal Masjid fame. Authorities had filed 27 criminal cases against Aziz in the aftermath of the horrific Operation Silence. The Supreme Court observed that there was no evidence before it that could prevent his release on bail.
The cases I have mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg. It appears that the criminal justice system has either collapsed or is collapsing. The safety and security of its citizens is the first and foremost responsibility of the state and of the elected representatives privileged to form government. What we are seeing is a complete failure to discharge this responsibility.
It appears that, even if you have been caught on video or photographed committing a crime, you can get away with it because the police investigations are totally incompetent. It's true that, in the Shumaila Rana case the media attention would have got to the complainant, but the case was a slam dunk. For the police and the prosecution to be unable to connect the dots and construct a watertight case is sheer incompetence.
Of course, this case also lends itself to the thought that, if watertight cases like the Shumaila Rana case can't be made to stick, what does our criminal justice system do with complicated criminal cases?
However, even if one is convicted by a court of law, it appears the police we pay to provide security can't do even that job when it comes to dealing with convicts. If someone doesn't like their conviction, it appears they can just jump on a motorbike and hightail somewhere. It doesn't matter if the guilty are accused of rape, murder or terrorism, the criminal justice system has doors all over the place they can open and just walk away from.
What is the response of the government? Not one head has rolled. No one in the interior ministry. None of the various provincial law or home ministers. No senior police officers. No one. If you looked at job security in our country's police, you'd think that they were doing a stellar job. Has any new money been allocated in our various budgets to improve the capacity of the police to protect our own? The answer is no.
Meanwhile, VIPs get their security. In Lahore, you can identify a new "security elite" by the public roads blocked off to ostensibly protect them. You can do the same in Islamabad or Karachi or wherever people think their lives are more important than others'. Security has been the reason, Lord Denning once observed, why many of our precious liberties have been taken from us. In Pakistan, security is being used to make fools of us.
The writer is an advocate of the high court and a member of the adjunct faculty at LUMS. He has an interest in urban planning. Email: ralam@nexlinx.net.pk
When it comes to 'security'
Urban/urbane
Friday, June 25, 2010
Ahmad Rafay Alam
Some recent events force us to consider the state of the police and the safety and security of fellow citizens.
On June 21, Khawaja Aqeel escaped from the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore where he appeared for bail in the murder trial of Lahore underworld king Tipu Truckanwalla. When the ATC judge cancelled his bail plea, Aqeel managed to get away pillion-riding on a motorcycle waiting nearby. The event took place in broad daylight, in the middle of the heavily guarded Anti-Terrorism Court Complex. According to news reports, the police "did not bother to apprehend the accused."
On June 19, an anti-terrorism court acquitted Hijratullah of charges that he had perpetrated the terrorist attack on March 31, 2009, at the police training centre in Manawan, just outside Lahore. That was the day terrorists attacked and more or less held the city of Lahore hostage for a day. The siege at Manawan lasted eight hours. Seven police recruits were killed and 93 injured. Hijratullah was one of the seven terrorists who stormed the training centre. Some may even remember Hijratullah, who was arrested while trying to blow up a helicopter at the back of the complex. Photos of him being captured made front-page headlines.
Despite the fact that police recovered a grenade, a wireless set and an Afghan passport from his person, and despite the fact as many as 22 witnesses gave testimony, the Anti-Terrorism Court was moved to acquit Hijratullah for lack of evidence. For his part, Hijratullah proclaims his innocence and claims he was just a garbage collector on the training centre's premises that day. But this had not stopped the court from being heavily fortified with security personnel (just in case Hijratullah fled).
On the same day, one policeman was killed and three injured when four alleged members of the banned militant organisation Jundullah were "liberated" from police custody in the City Courts in Karachi by armed but unidentified attackers. The four men had been bought under police guard to attend the hearing of their case.
On June 15, Karachi-based architect Samar Ali was returning home from dinner when he found the road to his house blocked off by police. Police had barricaded the road in order to provide VIP protocol to a government minister. Ali protested the barricade and, for his efforts, was arrested and taken to Darakhshan Police Station. He had to spend a night in jail because VIP protocol had blocked his way to his home.
On May 5, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi acquitted Rana Ilyas, Dr Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehseen Ullah Jan. These men were accused of planning the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The court acquitted them because the prosecution had failed to produce any witnesses or evidence to substantiate the allegations against them. Of the 128 witnesses named by the police, only 83 recorded their statements, nine had died, five foreigners had left and the rest simply did not appear in court.
On April 17, a magistrate at the Model Town courts in Lahore acquitted PML-N MPA Shumaila Rana of charges that she had used a stolen credit card to purchase jewellery. Rana's case attracted quite a bit of media attention, as there was CCTV footage of her using the credit card, a recorded phone conversation with the credit card company where she lied about her identity and confirmed the use of the card. The magistrate acquitted Rana because the prosecution failed to prove their allegations.
In June last year, the Lahore High Court granted bail to Hafiz Saeedwho is believed to be behind the 26/11 attacks in Mumbaiafter it said the Punjab and federal governments simply hadn't provided sufficient evidence to keep him in custody.
In April last year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan granted bail to Maulana Abdul Aziz, of Lal Masjid fame. Authorities had filed 27 criminal cases against Aziz in the aftermath of the horrific Operation Silence. The Supreme Court observed that there was no evidence before it that could prevent his release on bail.
The cases I have mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg. It appears that the criminal justice system has either collapsed or is collapsing. The safety and security of its citizens is the first and foremost responsibility of the state and of the elected representatives privileged to form government. What we are seeing is a complete failure to discharge this responsibility.
It appears that, even if you have been caught on video or photographed committing a crime, you can get away with it because the police investigations are totally incompetent. It's true that, in the Shumaila Rana case the media attention would have got to the complainant, but the case was a slam dunk. For the police and the prosecution to be unable to connect the dots and construct a watertight case is sheer incompetence.
Of course, this case also lends itself to the thought that, if watertight cases like the Shumaila Rana case can't be made to stick, what does our criminal justice system do with complicated criminal cases?
However, even if one is convicted by a court of law, it appears the police we pay to provide security can't do even that job when it comes to dealing with convicts. If someone doesn't like their conviction, it appears they can just jump on a motorbike and hightail somewhere. It doesn't matter if the guilty are accused of rape, murder or terrorism, the criminal justice system has doors all over the place they can open and just walk away from.
What is the response of the government? Not one head has rolled. No one in the interior ministry. None of the various provincial law or home ministers. No senior police officers. No one. If you looked at job security in our country's police, you'd think that they were doing a stellar job. Has any new money been allocated in our various budgets to improve the capacity of the police to protect our own? The answer is no.
Meanwhile, VIPs get their security. In Lahore, you can identify a new "security elite" by the public roads blocked off to ostensibly protect them. You can do the same in Islamabad or Karachi or wherever people think their lives are more important than others'. Security has been the reason, Lord Denning once observed, why many of our precious liberties have been taken from us. In Pakistan, security is being used to make fools of us.
The writer is an advocate of the high court and a member of the adjunct faculty at LUMS. He has an interest in urban planning. Email: ralam@nexlinx.net.pk
When it comes to 'security'
