Daily Times

The contents of the inquiry report by a high court tribunal regarding the Kharotabad incident of the killing of five foreigners have been leaked to the media. The tribunal’s report found the police and Frontier Corps (FC) officials responsible for the killing of the unarmed foreigners and named Station House Officer Kharotabad Fazlur Rehman and Assistant Sub-Inspector Raza Khan as the main accused. It recommended strict action against them. It also recommended action against former Capital City Police Officer Dawood Junejo and Lt Colonel Faisal Shehzad of the FC for mishandling the situation. The police had initially stated that five foreigners, including three women, accused of entering Pakistan illegally were Chechen terrorists, carried explosives, and had been killed by the detonation of their own hand grenade. The autopsy report, however, exposed the lies of the police and FC by showing that they were all killed by bullets fired by the security forces. It was also found later that four of them were Russian and one a Tajik national. The police surgeon must be commended for showing extraordinary courage to act impartially in the face of intense pressure and present correct evidence before the tribunal. Of course he had to suffer the unwanted attention of the police for his pains (a severe beating that landed him in hospital). The tribunal report mentions that the five foreigners were trained terrorists, but this is debatable in the absence of any evidence to this effect. The main issue is that the security forces did not follow due process. As the report points out, they could have been arrested and investigated without resorting to firing, as they were unarmed.

Although the Balochistan government had announced it would make the report public, this has not been done so far. Since the findings and recommendations of the report have already appeared in the media, the Balochistan government should formally present the findings to the public to lay the foundation of a culture of accountability of the security forces. Had the incident not been covered extensively by the media, which created pressure on the government to hold an inquiry, it might have passed as another of the countless incidents of the security forces’ brutality. The findings of the report also reflect that the judiciary has been strengthened after its restoration as the tribunal investigated the matter without fear or favour and served the ends of justice by naming those responsible. It is now a test of the provincial government, FC and the police whether or not they implement the recommendations of the tribunal and bring the perpetrators to book according to the law. *