PERWEEN Rahman was a fearless social activist who was committed to making a difference in the lives of the vulnerable people of Karachi and even further afield. Much of her work was concentrated in Orangi, a sprawling katchi abadi in Karachi rife with elements involved in land-grabbing and the illegal water tanker business. On the evening of March 13, 2013, she was murdered a short distance away from her office in the area.

A day after her slaying, police authorities prematurely, or for some inexplicable reasons, claimed that alleged TTP leader Qari Bilal, who had been shot dead in an encounter earlier that same day was Ms Rahman’s killer. This was later found to be incorrect, as the progress of the investigation raised serious questions about its professionalism and integrity.

Frustrated with the police investigation, the family of Ms Rahman approached the Supreme Court, which ordered a fresh investigation in April 2014. On May 7, 2016 the police arrested Raheem Swati, an accused in the case who used to live close to Ms Rahman’s office. The Joint Investigation Team unanimously decided that Raheem Swati was the key player in the murder. SSP West Azfar Mahesar held the land and water mafias responsible for the murder. The family still awaits justice.

Efficient and fair investigations are one of the most important functions of the police, for they have an important bearing on the image of the force and people’s faith in the criminal justice system (CJS). The outcome of criminal trials is also heavily dependent on the evidence gathered by investigators.

Efficient and fair investigations are one of the most important functions of the police.

So what is lacking in our investigations? Police investigators are short on training, tools and efficient forensic support to help them do their work along modern lines.

Police also need reasonable support, inter alia, in terms of legislative amendments to make the prosecution process fair and efficient, and adequate budgetary allocation for cost of investigation to the personnel concerned. The Pakistan Bar Council and the SC’s Law and Justice Commission have already given detailed recommendations to the federal government for amendments to the criminal procedure code and the Evidence Act. The law and justice ministry and the parliament need to seriously consider the recommendations. Many would be shocked to discover that the total budget allocated by the provincial governments for investigations works out, on average, to no more than Rs200-400 rupees per case, a pittance indeed.

Capacity and support for police investigations need to be supplemented by effective accountability mechanisms to check corrupt and unfair practices. Improved monitoring of investigations at the supervisory level, efficient inspection systems and strict internal accountability for deviant investigators, coupled with functional external accountability structures such as police complaint authorities, are critical.

People pay the price for poor investigations in the form of low conviction rates, corrupt practices that include extortion from the victims as well as the accused by crooked investigators, and miscarriages of justice in which the innocent sometimes languish in jails for life while the criminals go scot free for want of evidence.

In developed countries, the civil society and the authorities learn from scandals and miscarriages of justice. The Birmingham Six, Guildford Four and Maguire Seven scandals in the UK that involved botched police investigations and led to subsequent legislative amendments and improvements in police investigation procedures and protocols, are a case in point. Unfortunately, despite frequent and repeated miscarriages of justice in Pakistan, we seldom commit ourselves to sustained and intensive engagement in institutional reforms, especially in complex matters such as police investigations.

Political culture and governance priorities also influence professionalism and fairness in investigations. The police in Sindh significantly lack operational space as compared to their counterparts in KP and Punjab. The Sindh Assembly in 2011 ironically reverted to the 19th century governance structure of police by repealing the Police Order 2002, which provided for functional specialisation in investigations, criminal proceedings against corrupt investigators, and transparent transfer of investigation procedures.

Importantly, two political parties have almost exclusively dominated the rural and urban areas of Sindh for many years; their stranglehold over governing institutions crippled the growth of the latter, the police being one of many victims. Take the case of the extended deployment of Rangers in Karachi, which was a response — although an ill-advised one — to policing failures in Sindh. Deployment of paramilitary forces is no sustainable substitute to effective local policing units. Punjab and KP — the latter despite facing immense security challenges — have focused on building the capacity of their police. Consequently, we have witnessed a commendable response by police in KP and Punjab in crime-fighting and counterterrorism.

Within the CJS, the judiciary can lead in addressing strategic planning, coordination and oversight challenges, including the police and prosecution disconnect vis-à-vis investigations.

The Supreme Court took the initiative almost two years back. Provincial Justice Committees (PJCs), headed by the chief justices of the respective high courts, were notified by the SC in 2015 to ensure effective coordination, planning and implementation to improve the quality of justice service delivery. The PJC chairpersons were to submit quarterly performance reports to the SC’s National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee but unfortunately there has hardly been any progress in making such an important institutional and strategic oversight body functional despite the apex court’s clear directions. The honorable SC may take note of the situation.

The criminals who planned and carried out the murder of Ms Rahman must all be brought to justice. Unfortunately, we lack a national strategy to respond to organised crime, such as the drug trade, land-grabbing and human trafficking. Most organised crime networks operate across national and international boundaries. Britain developed a Serious and Organised Crime Strategy followed by the National Crime Agency in 2013, which could offer us some useful insights. We must develop such structures at the national level to fight organised crime, for as they say, ‘your structure is your strategy’.

The writer is a former police officer.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2017