Following is the article presented by Dr. Nasik Elahi in the Thinkers Forum USA Meeting held on April 27th, 2012. Mr. Zafar Khizer who also has done research on this matter will send his article on this subject.
The Law and Order Crisis in Pakistan
By
Nasik Elahi
Law and order is the essential core of civil society best served by a functioning police force and court system. In Pakistan, there is a critical failure of this vital function. And it is having a profound negative impact on democratic progress, economic and social development and the war on terrorism.
The situation in Pakistan is unique in many ways. Law enforcement has always played a secondary role to national security directed by the army and over the years important principles inherent in civil and criminal law have been subjugated by the security apparatus. There is an urgent need to redress the balance and enhance the effectiveness and performance of the police and the court system.
The nature of the dysfunctional criminal justice system can be summarized as follows:
- Organizational disconnect: command and control is handled by federal PSP officers at the top, provincial police civil servants in the middle ranks and a thana culture, of police stations which often function as autonomous centers of torture and disorder seldom answerable to the hierarchy; the three dominions lack coherence , interactivity and discipline.
- The landlocked court system: despite the activism of the supreme and high courts, the lower court system is a dysfunctional institution where cases languish for years through manipulations and lack of accountability.
- Political interference and corruption: police agencies are highly influenced by their political and regional masters. Choice assignments come at a cost, allegiance and money change hand; the paybacks are increased corruption.
- Poor professionalism: a typical policeman in Pakistan is ill-paid, ill-trained and lacks any professional standing. Nearly 50% of the standing force pulls guard duty for VIPs and their extensive circles of families and friends.
The Struggle to reform
Pakistan inherited the old British colonial penal system which was designed for control of police function by the imperial authority and not render services to the masses. The legacy has remained despite attempts to change over the years. Nearly a billion dollars have been spent by both domestic and international efforts over the past decade. This includes the nearly $250 million by the USG INCLE and Aid to Justice, $450 million loan for Justice Reforms by the Asian Development Bank, the host of training and grants in aid by various countries and budgetary allocations by the various branches of government.
Police Reform was formulated in the 2002 Police Reform Act, modeled after the Japanese system, but many of the critical features of the law were watered down by the Musharraf regime under political pressure. Provincial governments have instituted police reform packages of their own but they are just as moribund as the federal efforts.
The Challenge
The law and order situation is dire and needs some powerful remedial steps. There is a momentum of sorts building up for change both inside and outside the country. The efforts were best summarized by the study of Professor Hassan Abbas in his special report titled Reforming Pakistan’s Law Enforcement Infrastructure, Is it too Flawed to Fix? for the US Institute of Peace in February 2011. His recommendations for reform include setting up an agency structure along the lines of US Department of Homeland Security and a more equitable merit based system and capacity building in crucial services such as forensics.
Regrettably, reorganizations and reforms will only go so far in the densely opaque criminal justice system existing in Pakistan. The existing bureaucratic powers that be are highly adept at blunting efforts of meaningful change; reforms are either not enforced or selectively ignored. The Punjab government has transplanted a mature forensic service program; it looks great on paper but has no traction in real life because the essential first steps of evidentiary integrity are missing. To break that cycle the effort at reform has to function in the spotlight of public accountability to meet the desired goals of professionalism, outreach and interagency cooperation.
Crime Watch Pakistan (CWP)
Crime Watch Pakistan is a proposed program to meet the challenge. CWP is an independent, non-profit, interactive public-private partnership that serves as a bridge between the public, relevant agencies of government viz., law enforcement and court system and social services provided by legal services, NGOs, charitable and human rights organizations. The goal is to help provide, improve, harmonize and evaluate the levels of service to the citizenry on a sustained basis. The program gains traction by adapting the best practices of public service recognized around the world into a framework to the unique needs and realities in Pakistan.
The goal of CWP is to establish a nationwide network of community based walk-in centers that provide victims of crime proper guidance to obtain help. CWP is linked to various agencies through interactive computer and telephonic links. CWP provides a screening process to handle the complaints, forward them to the appropriate agencies and follow up each referral until its adjudication. CWP maintains complete logs of acitivity and the data is openly shared with all relevant parties and stakeholders to aid them in their reviews of policies and performance. The information is also available on an open public CWP website for both public and official comment. CWP centers also provide public information, education and outreach to local communities, schools and colleges. The CWP TIPS/Reward Program fosters better and more reliable information exchange for use in civil, criminal and counter-terrorism investigations.
CWP is envisaged as a phased development plan. Phase I is a pilot programs of 4 to 6 centers in select parts of the country. Phase II is an expansion of the working modules and protocols to expand the network to both rural and urban areas. Phase III seeks to create a national grid of self-sustaining centers. The program needs a budget of $25 million for a five year period for full implementation.
Nasik Elahi, M.Sc., M.S., Ph.D.
Senior Forensic Advisor, NEForensics
Senior Forensic Advisor, USDOJ/ICITAP, US Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan
Adjunct Prof. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY; Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ
Voting Member, ASTM E-30 Forensic Science Committee
Vice Chair/Member, NY Crime Laboratory Advisory Committee (NYCLAC)
Member ASCLD, American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
Director, Forensic Laboratory, Yonkers PD
Director Quality and Regulatory Compliance, NYC Health Department Laboratories Mr
The writer is very highly professional person and carrying a vast experience in law enforcement agencies.No one will disagree to his expert analysis.He had served also in Pakistan and must have reviewed closely the on ground realities there.
Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have the dilemma being fair and impartial prosicution of the case of any nature.The system of their recruitment,training and posting &transfers are in the hands of the political leadership whoever is in power. They serve the political elite instead of their professional obligations.I don’t have access to the official data but upon my long time observervation,I can say that about 3/4 Public Prosecutors are on their jobs because of their affiliations to different political groups,if you don’t have backing of the political elite of the area you have no right to be head of the police force of that area.
Our pilot plan would be to remove the all strings around the police and other related agencies knitted by our political leaders as you know that the fair investigation and prosicution put them behind bars.
And the judiciary,which always blames the prosecuting wing for not investigating the case and putting a weak case in the court and the criminals get free with the help of the prosecutors,cann’t escape itself because the judicial officer at any level knows why the prosecutor is not doing his job. So we need to overhaul the judicial system,since the higher judiciary is active these days,it should take drastic steps to strengthen its lower courts and make sure proper dispensing of justice to the ordinary people of Pakistan.These two key branches of the justice department have to take lead role in the efforts to stablise law & order situation in the country.
i asked this question at the meeting and am still looking for a satisfactory answer to it and the Q is: how did this country (usa)change the “wild west” to what it is now?(some may say it is still the wild west) i have looked for answers on the internet too and that info. is not available. i am sure there are books about that issue and maybe we should look into that. i am sure it involves having a few good and brave men – and women, some of whom gave their lives in the process, to achieve that. certainly some of those lessons can be applied in pakistan, if not to the whole country all at once, then to a small town. then evaluate its efficacy and see if it can be applied to a larger city and so on.
It is much easier to set up a new system than to reform an established one. The wild west was tamed over a period of some fifty years by establishing local penal codes and organized police and judiciary. Pakistan inherited an entrenched bureaucratic system developed by the colonial raj which, ironically, has served the post colonial rulers as well. In recent years reformists have rewritten many of the old rules. The challenge now is to implement those reforms which only get lip service from the powers that be.
Dr. Nasik has intelligently analyzed the law and order situation in Pakistan. Pakistan’s each and every problem leads towards the Feudalists. From lack of education to corruption, lawlessness to failure of democratic system, the feudal “wadayras” are the major hurdle.
I think the the Wild West got changed by Few Good Men – honest leaders, who framed the Democratic Secular Constitution and then implemented with many sacrifices on the way. Unfortunately Pakistan, after its creation, has failed on all accounts. It is dogged by Islamic extremists and has greedy and dishonest leaders. I think the more applicable solution will to study some of the Muslim countries which are able to practice Islam as well as are progressing, like Indonesia , Malaysia and Turkey.
If we look upon the scenerio of fuedalism and tribalism an ideological Talibanization was successful in controlling the tribal lords in Afghanistan. But Taliban’s problem was that they lacked modern education and their leadership was focused upon a system practiced in 7th century. I am not in favor of implementing any Islamic system, but what I mean is that only a solid ideology can topple the feudalists. It all started from French Revolution, Russian Revolution and then American Revolution that feudalism lost its grip. Thus the answer to Dr. Shoeb’s question is that he should search the topic of ‘American Revolution.’ Abraham Lincon made a final blow to feudalism in America by freeing the slaves. In Pakistan the ‘haris’ and in India the lower cast ‘shudars’ are still slaves of the feudal lords. The most successful example is that of Chairman Mao who wipped out all the feudal lords. Imran Khan has the potential but he is moving without an ideology. Some feudal lords and many of their younger generation are sneeking into his party. His position will be same as of Quaid-e-Azam who lamented that he has “khotay sikay” in his party.
Mirza
Br.Shoab,
This wild west took centuries to be recognized as civilized west.It is an evolutionary process and we have to go through it.It is not scientific analogy that we can just place into our society and every thing will turn arround.This society where we are living is still having problems not that of ours,but the ethnic racial issue is emerging problem,we don”t see it but it is there,we have corruption here but not visible,besides other unlimited issues.But I still would say that they has established institutions and follow the rule of law apparently,and placed a civil society,where over all the masses feel secure and protected.In Pakistan,if the democratic process,so called, continues and the people speak out for their legitimate rights,hopefully,one day we will lay foundation for better society as Quiad envisaged.
Law and order crises in Pakistan are the result of negative politics along with illiterate people of Pakistan. Basically, people are unaware of their rights and responsibilities. The current model favoured political leadership and there is urgent need to reform Pakistan policing system and the judiciary in terms of legitimacy, structure, function and accountability. The first and most important step will be to produce more criminological experts, sent them countries where policing models are much stronger. How many criminological departments has been established in Pakistan for higher education? Secondly, there is no clear law against criminal police officers in terms of their anti social behaviour, unlawful mental and physical punishment to victims and their other wrong doings. This is the vital element so why the Thana culture is successful. Finally, we can not beat law and order crises until we develop a new independent policing model which should be community oriented, problem orients and intelligence led. The Wild West has now been changed to more advanced west to beat the crimes and other criminological activities. Many gaps exists is Pakistan policing system so go ahead to educate people in all respects