Pakistan: Police corruption and procedures to file a complaint against the police, including authorities responsible for receiving complaints; instances of successful complaint cases; police record keeping procedures (2019–December 2022)
1. Police Corruption
Sources indicate that police in Pakistan are perceived as "corrupt" (TI Pakistan 2021-12-08, 15; Professor 2022-01-24). According to a national survey on corruption by Transparency International Pakistan (TI Pakistan) [1], 41.4 percent of respondents surveyed considered policing to be the "most corrupt" sector in Pakistan (2021-12-08, 24). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a professor of sociology at the State University of New York Oneonta, who has conducted research on policing in Pakistan and specializes in comparative criminal justice, indicated that this is the "worst" time in Pakistan's history with regards to police corruption and noted that the situation has deteriorated over the last three and a half years (Professor 2022-01-24). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
According to an article by Rahmad Hussain et al. on factors contributing to police corruption in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa published in the [peer-reviewed (JBT n.d.)] Journal of Business and Tourism (JBT), corruption has resulted in public "mistrust" of the police, and a perception that citizens have to pay bribes to receive police services (Hussain, et al. 2020, 234).
The corruption takes a number of different forms, including
- collection of bribes by police (US 2022-04-12, 12, 45; Professor 2022-01-24; Jamshed 2018-03-30, 2);
- collection of money by police from "organized criminals" (Jamshed 2018-03-30, 2);
- "extrajudicial" killings by police (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2022, 13; Khan 2020-10-05) or "extrajudicial killings" by government security forces (US 2022-04-12, 20) or "custodial killings" by police (Professor 2022-01-24);
- police-perpetrated "torture" (Professor 2022-01-24; Khan 2020-10-05), "brutality" and "extrajudicial confinement" (Professor 2022-01-24).
Sources indicate that police sometimes accept bribes from accused individuals who wish to avoid charges, "threaten" victims to drop charges, particularly where the suspected perpetrator is an "influential" individual (US 2022-04-12, 45; Professor 2022-01-24), and "arbitrarily" detain individuals to "extort bribes" for their release (US 2022-04-12, 12). Sources note that police fail to register criminal cases (Pakistan 2019-01-14, 43) or have to be bribed to register First Information Reports (FIRs) (Professor 2022-01-24).
Sources indicate that police in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, have been accused of "custodial killings" (Professor 2022-01-24) or "deaths in custody" (HRCP 2021, 11). The Professor defined custodial killing as involving an individual who is killed in police custody, but whose death is "blamed on an outside encounter," such as resisting arrest (2022-01-24). An April 2022 article in Dawn, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, indicates that "'proactive policing'" practices adopted in response to worsening street crime in Karachi have led to an increase in police "'encounters'" and in the injury and death of suspects (2022-04-13). Citing "[o]fficial data" without specifying the source of the information, the article reports that from 1 January to 8 April 2022 there were 254 "alleged encounters" between police and "robbers" in the city, in which 2,345 suspects were arrested, "as many as" 27 were killed and 294 others were hurt (Dawn 2022-04-13). The same article quotes the city's police chief as stating that for Karachi police this "'proactive'" approach involves knocking on the doors of "'repeat criminals'" and using CCTV footage to identify criminals and "'pre-empt them'" from committing crimes (Dawn 2022-13-04). Information on the incidence of custodial killings was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
According to sources, the following factors contribute to police corruption:
- poor working conditions (Professor 2022-01-24),
- low salaries (Professor 2022-01-24; Khan 2020-10-05),
- lack of accountability (Professor 2022-01-24), and
- political influence (Khan 2020-10-05).
The Professor stated that the devaluation of Pakistan's currency, increasing inflation, and a perception of "taxes without services" has also compelled many police officers who were not already corrupt to engage in corrupt practices (2022-01-24). According to TI Pakistan's national corruption survey, 85.9 percent of Pakistanis surveyed indicated that their income levels have been "squeezed" and have "decreased" during the last three years (2021-12-08, 6). The same survey showed that 92.9 percent of respondents considered inflation and price increases to be highest under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration led by Imran Khan when compared with the two prior administrations (TI Pakistan 2021-12-08, 6).
Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index (BTI) 2022, which "assesses the transformation toward democracy and a market economy as well as the quality of governance in 137 countries" and covers the period from February 2019 to January 2021, indicates that "attempts have been made [by legislators] to criminalize the use of torture by police and security forces" (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2022, 2, 13). Media sources indicate that the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Bill, 2022 was approved by the President of Pakistan and became a law in November 2022 (Dawn 2022-11-02; Pakistan Observer 20221102).
Section 3 of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022 provides the following:
3. Inadmissibility of statement extracted through torture.— (1) Any statement, information or confession obtained by a public official as a result of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be inadmissible evidence in any proceedings against the person making it.
(2) A public official who knowingly uses such information under sub-section (1) shall be liable for imprisonment which may not exceed one year or with fine which may not exceed hundred thousand rupees [C$603] of [sic] both.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (2), any information or confession obtained as a result of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be admitted as evidence against a person accused of committing the offence of torture. These provision [sic] shall be in addition to the provisions of section 37 and 38 of the Qanoon-e-Shahdat, Order 1984 (P.O. No. X of 1984). (Pakistan 2022)
2. Police Complaints Mechanisms
According to a 2019 submission by Pakistan written in response to a report by the UN Committee Against Torture, the Ministry of Human Rights has established Helpline 1099 to provide support services to address human rights violations and complaints against police (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 20). The Ministry of Human Rights notes that the "effectiveness" of the helpline "largely depends" on coordination with the police, judiciary, law colleges, law firms, bar associations and other human rights organizations (Pakistan [2021-06]).
2.1 National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
Sources report that the NAB is the official anti-corruption organization in Pakistan (Pakistan n.d.a; EU 2020-02-10, 28; US 2022-04-12, 42) and is charged with eliminating corruption through "awareness, prevention and enforcement" (Pakistan n.d.a). According to the NAB's website, the organization's headquarters are in Islamabad and there are seven regional offices throughout the country (Pakistan n.d.a).
According to a report by the European Commission, there is a "special helpline" in place at the NAB for individuals to file complaints, and the NAB had initiated 4,185 complaint investigations as of December 2018 (EU 2020-02-10, 28). The annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent human rights organization in Pakistan (HRCP 2020, 250), indicates that the NAB received "over 51,000" complaints in 2019, and there were 1,275 "corruption references" before the courts (HRCP 2019, 7).
Sources indicate that "the majority" of complaint investigations at the NAB concern opposition leaders (EU 2020-02-10, 28; Professor 2022-01-24) and the organization has been accused by the opposition of focusing their investigations on opposition parties and moving "slow[ly]" on corruption cases against government officials (EU 2020-02-10, 28). The Professor stated that the NAB has been "highly politicized" and no longer exercises jurisdiction over individual police corruption cases (2022-01-24). Media sources report that in August 2022 the Senate voted to pass the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022, which prevents the NAB from investigating corruption cases involving less than 500 million Pakistan rupees (PKR) [C$3 million] (The Nation 2022-08-05; Pakistan Observer 2022-08-05). The Professor also stated that political influence and the "symbiotic relationship" which exists between politicians and police have limited the effectiveness of the anti-corruption efforts of the NAB (2022-01-24). Other sources note that politicians exercise influence over the police through the transfer and posting of police officers (Khan 2020-10-06; The News International 20190124) and that such influence is "widespread" (Khan 2020-10-06) or has reached "an alarming scale" (The News International 2019-01-24).
2.2 Public Safety Commissions
According to sources, public safety commissions were established under the Police Order, 2002 to regulate the police (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 5; Khan 2020-10-05), and protect against discrimination or bias in the performance of duty (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 5). According to the 2019 Pakistan submission to the UN, the national and provincial public safety commissions are doing a "commendable job of being independent watch dogs and keeping a close eye on any abuse of power or any complaints of torture [or] misbehavior" (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 5). However, the HRCP annual report covering the events of 2019 notes that public safety commissions are "either non-existent or ineffective" (2020, 23). An opinion article by Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a former Secretary of the Home and Tribal Affairs Department [of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2015-02-04)] and retired Inspector General of the [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] Police, published in the Pakistan newspaper the Express Tribune, notes that the Capital City District Public Safety Commission, Federal Police Complaints Authority, National Safety Commission, Provincial Police Complaints Authority, and Provincial Public Safety Commission "could not be made functional" (Shah 2022-10-26).
Sources note that the Sindh Public Safety and Complaints Commission, formed in 2019, has not met since 2020 (The Express Tribune 2022-05-16; The News on Sunday 2021-10-17) and the commission is further described as "'essentially dysfunctional'" (The News on Sunday 2021-10-17) or "inactiv[e]" (The Express Tribune 2022-05-16).
Sources indicate that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial safety commissions set up under Police Order, 2002 are "dysfunctional" (UN 2019-03, 9) or "non-functional" (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa n.d.). According to a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), except in Mardan district, no commissions have been set up under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act, 2017 (UN 2019-03, 10). A 2021 Express Tribune article similarly notes that a public safety commission has not been established in the province (2021-05-01).
Information on public safety commissions in Punjab and Balochistan could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
2.3 National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR)
According to the Pakistan Ministry of Human Rights, the NCHR is an "independen[t]" State body that is "directly accountable" to Parliament and has powers to investigate and redress human rights violations either on a "suo-moto" [2] basis or by "petition" (Pakistan n.d.b, italics in original). The Guardian indicates that the NCHR can conduct independent investigations into human rights abuses (2021-03-30). Pakistan's 2019 submission to the UN indicates that the NCHR is a "quasi-judicial forum" that can deal with complaints of torture and other cruel treatment and punishment (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 18). The same report states that the NCHR has worked on cases involving matters such as "custodial torture" and "extra-judicial killings," and had received 1,529 complaints of police torture, including 59 suo motu notices, since its establishment in 2015 and has provided redress in 29 petitions (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 18). Media sources, however, report that the Pakistani government has been accused of "sabotaging" the NCHR by failing to fill positions which expired in 2019, including for the post of head of the NCHR (The Guardian 2021-03-30; DW 2021-04-07). The same sources indicate that the Islamabad High Court ordered the government to fill the chairperson position (The Guardian 2021-03-30) or to post advertisements for a new chairperson and members (DW 2021-04-07). The HRCP annual report covering the events of 2021 notes that a new NCHR chairperson was appointed after "a gap of several years" (HRCP 2022, 1).
A joint report by the HRCP and the International Federation for Human Rights (Fédération internationale pour les droits humains, FIDH) states that the "biggest hurdle" the NCHR faces in carrying out its mandate is "functional and budgetary autonomy" (2022-07-14, para. 76). The same source cites a former NCHR chairperson, interviewed by HRCP, as stating that the NCHR budget was controlled by the government and the commission had to "struggle for autonomy"; the chairperson further noted that the NCHR's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports were "suppressed" and other reports were "downplayed" (HRCP & FIDH 2022-07-14, para. 76). According to a 2022 report by Amnesty International, the NCHR "continues to suffer from major financial and resource constraints" (2022-07-13, 9). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
2.4 Internal Police Department Complaints Mechanisms
A guide for citizens on FIRs, produced by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives Pakistan (CPDI Pakistan), an NGO devoted to promoting democratic institutions and human rights, indicates that if the police refuse to register an FIR, the individual can submit a complaint to the District Police Officer, the Capital City Police Officer or "other higher officers," including the Deputy Inspector General of Police or the Provincial Police Officer, who may order the registration of an FIR if they are "satisfied" with the complaint (CPDI Pakistan n.d., 3, 4). The CPDI Pakistan guide adds that it is also possible to file a complaint with the District Public Safety and Police Complaints Authority, or a private complaint before a court (CPDI Pakistan n.d., 3). A report by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, a federal government body headed by Pakistan's Chief Justice (The Express Tribune 2020-11-23), indicates that 164 "officials" in Punjab were punished in 2017 for delays in registering FIRs, with "only 3" receiving a reduction in rank while "most" faced "minor punishments," including "censure or forfeiture of service" (Pakistan 2019-01-14, 47).
According to the Punjab Police website, they have launched a police complaint centre through which individuals can electronically register a complaint against a police officer online, by email or SMS, or through a voice call using a "short code" (Punjab [2020]). The website also indicates that the complaint centre will receive complaints related to the non-registration of FIRs, the registration of "false" FIRs, "[f]aulty" investigations, illegal detentions, arrests of "innocent persons," "[s]lackness" in duty, or demands for "illegal gratification" (Punjab [2020]). The same source states that the "[a]ll" complaints will be sent to "senior ranking officers" who will follow up with the complainants by phone and will submit final reports "within stipulated timelines"; the case will not be closed until "redres[s]" has been provided or the complaint has been proven "false" (Punjab [2020]).
The Balochistan Police website indicates that they have established a complaint centre where citizens can file complaints online, by email or SMS, or through a voice call using a short code (Balochistan n.d.). The Balochistan Police's complaint centre will receive complaints about the non-registration of FIRs, the registration of "false" FIRs, "[f]aulty" investigations, illegal detentions, arrests of "innocent persons," "[s]lackness" in duty, or demands for "illegal gratification" (Balochistan n.d.).
According to the Sindh Police website, they have established a complaint management system where individuals can register a police complaint through the online portal, a helpline, or by SMS (Sindh n.d.).
According to the Peshawar Police website, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police launched the Police Access Service, where citizens across the province can send their complaints by SMS, toll-free helpline, fax, email, or by visiting the Police Access Center in the Central Police Office (Peshawar n.d.).
The website of the Islamabad Police indicates that citizens can access an automated "e-police desk" to register complaints; these complaints are "instantly" transmitted to the office of Deputy Inspector General of Operations and the relevant police station (Islamabad n.d.).
Further information on these police complaint centres, including the effectiveness of the complaint process, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
2.5 Instances of Successful Complaint Cases
Information on instances of successful complaint cases brought against police was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. According to the Punjab Police's website, there were a total of 319,031 complaints received between 1 January 2016 and 15 September 2020, and that 309,719 complaints have been "closed" or "disposed" (Punjab [2020]).
Without providing further details, the HRCP annual report covering the events of 2020 indicates that in Punjab there have been periodic reports of police officers being "hauled up" for wrongdoings, and that 65,467 cases had been registered against police [in 2020] for a variety of transgressions, including those related to deaths in custody, for which 152 police officers were "receiving penalties" (HRCP 2021, 19, 26).
Pakistan's 2019 submission to the UN states the following:
- In Punjab, 233 Constables, 88 Head Constables, 205 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs), 189 Sub-Inspectors, 64 Inspectors, and 7 Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) were punished for various violations, including "[t]orture, death in custody, misuse of official power, misbehavior and illegal confinements" in 2017;
- In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4,605 Constables, 667 Head constables, 507 ASIs, 423 Sub-Inspectors, 65 Inspectors, and 19 DSPs faced punishment for various violations between 2013 and 2015;
- In Sindh, 18 Constables, 3 Head constables, 2 ASIs, 3 Sub-Inspectors, and 1 Inspector of Police were "punished for different violations including torture, illegal custody/confinement and misbehavior" between 2016 and 2017;
- In Balochistan, 818 "major" punishments were handed down to police officials of various ranks for their "negligence from duty, torture, absence from duty and criminal cases" between 2015 and 2016. (Pakistan 2019-06-12, para. 4)
3. Record Keeping Procedures for Police
Regarding the diaries of individual police officers, the Code of Criminal Procedure provides the following:
172. Diary of proceedings in investigation: (1) Every police-officer making an investigation under this Chapter shall day by day enter his proceedings in the investigation in a diary setting forth the time at which the information reached him [sic] the time at which he began and closed his investigation, the place or places visited by him, and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation.
(2) Any Criminal Court may send for the police-diaries of a case under inquiry or trial in such Court, and may use such diaries, not as evidence in the case, but to aid it in such inquiry or trial. Neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for such diaries, nor shall he or they be entitled to see them merely because they are referred to by the Court; but, if they are used by the police-officer who made them, to refresh his memory, or if the Court uses them for the purpose of contradicting such police-officer, the provisions of the Evidence Act, 1872, Section 161 or Section 145, as the case may be, shall apply. (Pakistan 1898)
In a 2021 decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Court indicated that section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure "expressly prohibit[s]" the use of police diaries as evidence in a criminal case but found that police diaries can be used by courts to "resolve obscurities" and provide a "better understanding of the evidence brought on the record of the case by the prosecution" (Pakistan 2021-01-21, 4).
According to the Guidelines for Scrutiny of Police Reports published by the Public Prosecution Department of Punjab and issued under the Punjab Criminal Prosecution Service (Constitution, Functions and Powers) Act, 2006,
documents pertaining to an investigation are placed in two files called the police file and judicial file. The two files contain a number of documents depending on the type of the report and the circumstances of the case. Both files generally contain the same type of documents except notably police case diaries, which are placed only in the police file. (Punjab [2013], 1, 4)
The same source also states that
[a] case diary consists of sheets; each of which is numbered, dated and stamped with the police station stamp. As soon as each diary is completed[,] its number and date is recorded at the police station and one copy is sent to higher police officials to ensure that no changes are mad[e]. Details of the stolen or recovered property, or documentary evidence, a concise summary of statements of the suspect, victim and the eyewitnesses, proceedings regarding search and other similar investigative techniques are required to be made part of the diary. Use of the diaries is limited to specific purposes. These purposes include use by court to contradict police officer(s) where they give evidence and use by police officer(s) for refreshing their memory, since they relate to events in the past. (Punjab [2013], 9–10)
According to the Handbook on Criminal Investigations in Pakistan, published by the National Police Bureau and the Ministry of Interior in 2021, police stations in Pakistan also keep a roznamcha, which is a "daily diary register" [or "daily log" (Professor 2022-01-24)] that records information relating to both cognizable and non-cognizable offences [3] (Pakistan 2021, 10). The same source notes that an arrest must be recorded in the "case diary" of the investigating officer and in the daily diary of the police station (Pakistan 2021, 200).
Regarding the daily diary at each police station, Police Order, 2002 provides the following:
167. Maintenance of Daily Diary at a police station. – (1) A register of Daily Diary shall be maintained at every police station in such form as shall, from time to time, be prescribed and to record therein the names of all complainants, persons arrested, the offences charged against them, the weapons or property that shall have been taken from their possession or otherwise, and the names of the witnesses who shall have been examined.
(2) The District and Sessions Judge of the district may call for and inspect such Diary. (Pakistan 2002)
Further information on the uses of either type of police diary could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
The Professor indicated that, while it is illegal to prepare "off the record" police reports, the practice exists and police have detained suspects for days before registering the arrest in the daily diary or bringing the person before a magistrate (2022-01-24). A Lahore High Court decision describes a case of a man who was detained in the Safdarabad police station lock-up in the Sheikhupura district; there was no entry in the station's daily diary regarding the arrest and the man was not mentioned in the FIR under which police "claim[ed]" to have arrested him (Punjab 2021-04-13, para. 1, 22). The Express Tribune notes that another Lahore High Court decision ordered all police stations in Punjab to reinstate the handwritten daily diary, which had been eliminated when the police switched to computer records (2020-10-16). The same source further quotes the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court as stating that computer records were used to hide "'faults and illegal acts'" and that the police were able to "'tamper with the [computer] record more easily than the manual system'" (The Express Tribune 2020-10-16). Information on electronic police records could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Notes
[1] Transparency International is an NGO working in over 100 countries to "stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity" (Transparency International n.d.). TI Pakistan's national survey on corruption is based on answers from 1,600 respondents from "diverse socio-economic classes" representative of the countries' four provinces (TI Pakistan 2021-12-08, 12). The survey indicates that the "police organization" in Pakistan include the following:
Provincial & City Police, Civil & Armed Forces Police, Frontier Corps, Pakistan Rangers, Pakistan Coast Guards, Northern Areas Scouts, Frontier Constabulary, Capital Territory Police, Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-Narcotics Force, Intelligence Bureau National Highways and Motorways Police, Pakistan Railways Police, National Police Bureau, National Public Safety Commission, [and the] National Police Management Board. (TI Pakistan 2021-12-08, 8)
[2] An article by Yasser Kureshi, a postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity College, University of Oxford, who has authored a book on judicial powers in Pakistan, explains that in suo moto cases, the judicial body initiates the proceeding, without the involvement of a petitioner (2022-06-23).
[3] According to the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives Pakistan (CPDI Pakistan), a cognizable offence is "one in which the police may arrest a person without warrant. They are authorized to start [an] investigation into a cognizable case on their own and do not require any orders from the court to do so" (n.d., 2). A non-cognizable offence is "an offence in which a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant; the police cannot investigate such an offence without the court's permission" (CPDI Pakistan n.d., 2). The Professor explained that "cognizable offences" are similar to felonies in the US and include crimes such as terrorism (Professor 2022-05-02).
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Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Assistant professor of defence studies at a university in Pakistan; assistant professor with the law department at a university in Pakistan; doctoral student of criminology at a university in Pakistan; Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; Justice Project Pakistan; professor of criminal justice at a UK university; Transparency International.
Internet sites, including: Al Jazeera; Asylum Research Centre; Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Austrian Red Cross – ecoi.net; Daily Times; The Diplomat; EU – EU Agency for Asylum; Factiva; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; International Commission of Jurists; International Crisis Group; Organisation suisse d'aide aux réfugiés; Pakistan – Senate; Samaa TV; UK – Home Office; UN – Refworld, UNHCR.