A Joint Civil Society Fact-Finding Mission Report

A Joint Civil Society Fact-Finding Mission Report

Background

The Elite Punjab Police on 19 January 2019 killed four people, three of the same family and the driver, in, what they initially called, an ‘intelligence-based operation’, sending shock waves across the country. The news flashed on television screens and videos of the incident as well as a video of one of the surviving children, who were witness to the episode, went viral on social media.

Khalil, a resident of Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, his wife Nabeela, their 13-year-old daughter Areeba, and their family friend Zeeshan were killed during the firing on their car near the Okara toll plaza on the National Highway while they were heading to Burewala to attend a family wedding function. Three minor children (one boy and two daughters) in the car survived.

Government officials initially declared that they were kidnappers taking away children in the car which was shot at. They described the shooting as a daring attempt by law enforcers to rescue a group of kidnapped children from their captors. Later, officials of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said those killed in the shooting were terrorists belonging to a proscribed militant organisation, Daesh. They said these terrorists used families as human shields and travelled with women and children to avoid police checks. It was then replaced by another explanation that they had to retaliate when they came under fire from those in the car. Another twist in the story was a statement by the CTD officials that explosives and arms were seized from the vehicle. The video in which Khalil’s son narrated the horrifying firing incident refuted all explanations given by CTD officials.

Varying versions put forward at different stages following the incident cast doubts over the CTD explanation. To ascertain facts, civil society jointly dispatched a fact-finding team to Sahiwal on 22 January 2019 and the same team visited the victims’ families and interviewed neighbours in Lahore on 23 January 2019.

The fact-finding team consisted of representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Dastak Charitable Trust, lawyer Saroop Ijaz and South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK).

 

The Fact-Finding:

The team started off its fact-finding mission on Tuesday, 22 January 2018 from the place of incident, near Sahiwal city. The Sub-inspector and ASI of the Yousafwala police station and other staff members denied any involvement of the local police in the incident or the operation. They also confirmed they had spotted two police vehicles around the location of the incident since the morning. They said they had not been alerted as this was a routine matter and CTD or other federal or provincial authorities undertake operations whenever needed. They said they were totally unaware of any planning of an operation/encounter until passers-by informed them of an incident at a distance of 15km from the Yousafwala police station. They categorically said the operation was conducted by CTD in collaboration with ‘other’ intelligence agencies without their knowledge. They further said that one CTD team had been following the car from Lahore but they somehow lost contact with the vehicle and alerted the Sahiwal CTD to intercept the car once it entered Sahiwal district limits. The fact-finding team saw a few pieces of shattered window glass at the scene of the incident as the other evidence had already been collected and taken away by the police. None of the broken glass found was tinted. The local police reached the scene about 30 minutes after the occurrence. By then, the CTD had removed the dead bodies and the children from the scene. Only the ill-fated car was still there. Police found empty shells of 45 SMG and 6mm bullets on the ground. According to eyewitnesses, several shells had already been collected by the children of the neighbourhood. The team was told that two FIRs had been registered by the day of the fact-finding mission (22 January 2019). The first one was registered in Lahore with the CTD (Case No: 2) on 19 January 2019, the day of the occurrence. The second FIR was registered at the Yousafwala police station Sahiwal (Case No: 33) on 20 January 2019. A copy of the Yousafwala FIR was obtained.

Eyewitness Accounts

Four eyewitnesses of the incident interviewed by the team strongly refuted the CTD’s version that there was any resistance from the car. They categorically stated that no weapon was recovered from the vehicle after the alleged shoot-out. They confirmed that there was no firing from the car nor any retaliation from Zeeshan or any other passenger of the car. They also stated that there was no firing on the police cabins by any motorcyclist. The CTD officials forcefully stopped the car after crashing into the vehicle. Elite Force officials opened fire on the car from behind, puncturing its right-hand tyres. The car went out of control and stopped after hitting the metal road divider. The Elite Force fired multiple shots from behind. The Elite

Force exited their vehicle and talked to Khalil, took out the children through the car windows, and then started firing again from three sides. They opened fire on the car from very close range and there was no crossfire whatsoever from the car. They left the place with the three young children, leaving the bodies lying in the bullet-riddled car. They then left the children in nearby bushes (around one and half kilometres from the place of the incident). The children were later taken by local residents to a petrol pump close-by. The CTD officials returned to the crime scene, collected the bodies from the ill-fated car, and shifted the three injured children to some unknown place. Meanwhile, people had gathered around the car, making videos with their mobile phones which were uploaded on the internet. Eyewitnesses confirmed that while checking the car from the inside they did not witness any signs of weapons, firearms, or terrorism-related material.

Meeting the Joint Investigation Team

The team also met with the head of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the provincial government to investigate the incident. The JIT head, Additional IG Police Syed Ijaz Shah, could not provide any information on the progress of the investigation, saying that it was too early to say anything. The team has been asked to submit its report within 30 days. He confirmed that the ISI, IB, MI and the police were jointly investigating the incident and other agencies might be included if and when required during the course of the investigation.

Yousafwala Police Station

The team visited the Yousafwala police station where the vehicle was reportedly parked. The team obtained a copy of the FIR registered with them and thoroughly inspected, and took pictures of, the car. But the police could not show the team any material recovered from the car. All the windowpanes and windscreen were white and not tinted as reported in the media or as claimed by the police concerned. The team observed at least 35 bullet holes of different sizes in the car on all sides including the roof. The team also found some belongings of the family still in the car. The SHO repeated the same story that local police were totally unaware about the incident/encounter until it took place.

DC Office, Sahiwal

Deputy Commissioner Zaman Wattoo and DPO Mohammad Ali Zia said that the Sahiwal administration and Sahiwal police were not aware of the operation/encounter before it happened. The DPO said that the CTD is not obliged to inform local police before their operations. They cited that in the recent past there had been CT operations in this area. There was nothing unusual about that. Police vehicles parked or patrolling on these roads was a routine matter. They operated independently as CTD has an independent overlapping jurisdiction. Replying to a question as to who gave the order to open fire, he said the CTD leadership on the spot can give the order according to the situation. The role of the local police was limited to managing the post-operation law and order situation. “We secured the Civil Hospital and managed the public who had gathered to launch a protest on G.T. Road,” the Deputy Commissioner said. “Sometimes the CTD takes us into their confidence, sometimes not. This time we were totally in the dark.”

CTD Office, Sahiwal

The CTD office Sahiwal refused to talk to the fact-finding team. The fact-finding team sent several messages into the office and also spoke to their staff who came out to enquire about the purpose of the mission’s visit to their office. The group’s leader also sent his visiting card through a staff member, requesting a meeting with any responsible office available on the premises, but was told there was no availability whatsoever of any responsible officer.

Relatives of the Deceased

The fact-finding team visited the homes of Khalil and Zeeshan on the following day (23 January 2019). Khalil’s brother Jamil said that several family members were travelling in four vehicles from Lahore to their native village near Burewala to attend a wedding party. He said he was travelling in another vehicle and lost contact with the deceased as their mobile phones were off. Khalil’s father confirmed that he spoke to him while they were crossing the Okara bypass and were approaching the Okara toll plaza. But they later lost contact with Khalil as, despite several attempts, the phone was powered off. He then contacted the 15 Rescue Service but it had no information, even though news was flashed on the internet and TV which apparently showed the children as survivors of a police shootout near the Sahiwal toll plaza. Their elder brother Jalil arrived at the DHQ Hospital, Sahiwal at around 2:00pm but it took him six hours to release the bodies of the four deceased. He met with the unattended children who were found in a tiny, dark room. Hospital security tried to prevent him from meeting the Chief Minister, but Jalil managed to meet with the minister who, according to Jalil, had come there for media coverage. The CM did not offer any condolences and instead announced compensation of two crores (PKR 20m) to Khalil’s family. Jalil refused to accept any compensation and demanded justice for his family. He said the CM should have ordered the immediate registration of an FIR and the handing over or at least showing of the bodies. He alleged that the post-mortem was conducted without their consent, indicating that an FIR had already been registered somewhere. When the family went to register an FIR, the DPO Sahiwal refused to do so and advised them to get a cross-FIR registered in Lahore. They decided to block the main highway from both sides with the support of local people. Only then was an FIR registered, 17 hours after the incident. He stated that varied conflicting versions coming from different departments made the operation appear dubious.

Khalil’s brother Jamil maintained that the surviving children were totally abandoned by the state. Contrary to media claims, no government department had contacted them thus far. The little girl whose hand was injured by the shattered glass was taken to the General Hospital, Lahore on 23 January 2019 where the staff refused to change her bandage. No governmental or non-governmental organisation has so far contacted the children for counselling or trauma treatment.

Khalil’s father, uncle, and brother confirmed that they had known Zeeshan and his family for the past 30 years or so. Zeeshan was like a family member. He was supposed to attend the wedding with Khalil’s family.

Some random views were collected from the vicinity. All the people interviewed in the neighbourhood said they were ordinary decent people and they had never noticed any suspicious or unusual activity.

The team visited Zeeshan’s home and met with his brother and brother-in-law who categorically refuted Zeeshan’s involvement in any political or religious activity. His brother, who works in the Dolphin Force, stated that security clearance for his whole family was done at the time of his appointment almost two years earlier but nothing of this sort was ever mentioned to him. He asked why, if Zeeshan’s car was suspicious, they did not intercept it there as the car used to be parked on the street ever since it was purchased in May 2018.

According  to  the  initial  post-mortem  report,  Zeeshan  sustained  10  bullets,  13-year-old Areeba received six bullets, her mother Nabeela Bibi was hit by four bullets, and her father Mohammad Khalil sustained 13 bullets as a result of the firing by CTD personnel. One child named Umair received a bullet in his right leg, while Muneeba injured her hand when the glass of the car shattered.

DHQ Hospital, Sahiwal

On visiting the DHQ Hospital, Sahiwal the team was given an eyewitness account of when and how the children were brought to the hospital. One of the hospital staff members recalled the incident and shared that four uniformed Elite commandos with covered faces hurriedly dropped the three surviving children at the hospital emergency at about 12:30pm on 19 January. They left the children unattended and, on their way out, informed the hospital staff that these children had been recovered from kidnappers in a police shootout. The eldest child injured in the incident, Umair Khalil, suffered a gunshot wound to the top of his right leg, while Muneeba, one of the two surviving girls, had suffered lacerations on her hand from broken glass. All three children appeared nervous and in a state of shock. Despite being hurt, both the young girls were completely quiet. At 1:20pm, two officials of Special Branch arrived at the hospital. They declared the incident a matter of terrorism and national security and prevented anyone from meeting or making videos of the children. At 3:10pm, both officials left the hospital but no one from the children’s family had yet arrived at the hospital. Khalil’s relatives reached the hospital at about 4:30pm. The children were shifted to Lahore General Hospital at around 11pm after the visit of the Punjab Chief Minister, who gave instructions for the children to be moved to a better medical facility.

Nobody at the hospital shared any information regarding the release of the bodies of the four people killed in the incident. An interview of one of the persons who had led the protest for the release of the bodies on the day of the incident revealed that the bodies were released by the security agencies and received at the hospital nearly six hours after the encounter.

Observations and Findings

1. The fact-finding team did not find any evidence of resistance or retaliation from the passengers of the ill-fated car. All the facts collected through interviews of eyewitnesses, checks of the car, and by consulting hospital staff, showed that no such signs of firing from the occupants of the car (including Zeeshan, Khalil or others) were found. Therefore, we can conclude that the police shooting without any warning was totally uncalled for and confirms intelligence failure and a blunder on the part of the police party who undertook the operation.
2. The team also did not find any evidence or opinion about Khalil and his family’s involvement in any extremist activity nor any connection or link whatsoever with any terrorist network. All the opinions collected from the families, and the vicinity where Khalil was residing, confirmed his innocence. Similar opinions were also received about Zeeshan. As no official version of the CTD was received up to the filing of this report, the team is unable to provide any concrete evidence of Zeeshan’s involvement. The team therefore leaves the final judgement about Zeeshan’s alleged involvement in any extremist network to the investigation of the official JIT.

• The team also failed to understand how the entire surveillance system failed to detect that, on the day of the operation, the passengers in the ill-fated car were actually young children and innocent women. We believe that had this fact been known to the police who conducted the operation the painful results could have been avoided. This certainly demands a thorough screening of the CTD operations and the systems that such operations are based on. The team also noted some serious flaws in the conduct of, and information leading to, such a bloody operation resulting in the loss of innocent lives.

1. The team was also surprised that such operations are conducted without the information and knowledge of the police in the district where such operations are conducted. If that protocol were followed, the team believed such ill-fated incidents could be avoided.
2. The Team also documented serious human rights violations before and after the incident. The manner in which CTD police conducted the operation, mishandling of the children after the shootout, denying the families access to the dead bodies for a long period of time, refusing to register an FIR in Sahiwal, and the non-cooperation up to the time of filing this report, all speak volumes of the insensitivity of the authorities involved and government functionaries.
3. The team also noted with great concern that the authorities did not take any pre-emptive measures. If Zeeshan was suspected of involvement in a terrorist network and the fact was already known to the authorities concerned, other options could have been taken and the incident could have been avoided. In the event, the operation was carried out in daylight at a crowded place on a national highway, traumatising several passers-by and, eventually, the whole nation watching footage of the brutal incident.

• The team did not find any facts or information which justify the excessive use of force to eliminate the alleged target and the extent of collateral damage.
• The team noted that the post-operation response was arbitrary, negligent, and defied the basic principles of criminal investigation:

1. No measures were taken to preserve the crime scene and prevent unauthorised handling of evidence.
2. The bodies of those killed in the operation and the vehicle carrying them were left unattended for a considerable period of time after the shootout.
3. The vehicle involved in the incident, claimed to be the primary link to the terrorists, was parked in the open at the Yousafwala police station, unprotected and exposed to meddling and contamination.
4. From information collected from Khalil’s family, it was found that the state has taken no tangible steps for the mental and physical well-being of the surviving children. As both witnesses and victims of violence, the children have not been provided crisis and trauma counselling, nor have any measures been taken for their protection from unwarranted media interrogation and intrusive public questioning.

Conclusion

This incident of extrajudicial killings is an unfortunate example of the cold-blooded murder of ordinary Pakistani citizens without any credible justification whatsoever provided by the police.

The case is symptomatic of a wider problem pertaining to our security forces, who continually appear to lack the appropriate knowledge and exposure to application of rigorous investigation and coordination mechanisms when working on cases such as the current one. Nonetheless, the lack of such knowledge can still not be an excuse to wreak havoc on the lives of ordinary citizens and must be condemned vehemently.

In this regard, a stringent review of the standard operating procedures of the counter terrorism department, as well as the systems in place to cover the full process from intelligence monitoring to actual counter-terrorism operations, needs to be undertaken. A vehement demand for parliamentary scrutiny of these systems will serve as a deterrent for the future.

The Pakistani state has an obligation to ensure that the human rights of all of its citizens are protected under all circumstances. This duty extends to state institutions, including the police forces. The blatant disregard for human life and dignity that has been displayed by the police in this case is unacceptable and the perpetrators must be severely punished in order that such an incident never occurs again.

The state must also ensure that adequate reparations are made for the physical and mental well-being of the minors involved in this incident.

 

 

Category: Fact-Finding Reports