A dangerous precedent

The incident comes about two months after three suspects, arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of a doctor in the Clifton neighbourhood, were shot dead in crossfire after law-enforcement personnel took them to the city's outskirts to arrest their alleged accomplices.

In July, two policemen from the Awami Colony police station were arrested and charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting and injuring two youths in what was described as a staged encounter near the Double Road Football Ground in Korangi. In April, the Sindh High Court expressed serious concern over the killing of a suspect in a suspicious encounter.

The court warned that allowing police to continue such actions would undermine the very purpose of the courts and erode public confidence in the judicial system. Anyone who talks to Karachi's residents will hear widespread anguish over the deteriorating law and order situation, particularly the persistent problem of street crime and the rising incidence of mobile-phone snatching.

Yet extrajudicial killings cannot be presented as a solution to the city's law and order problems. The state cannot afford to replace due process with the barrel of a gun, regardless of the seriousness of the crime with which a suspect is charged.

Every accused person has the right to a fair trial, and it is for the courts to determine guilt and award punishment on the basis of evidence. The killing of suspects in custody, particularly when police describe their deaths as the result of encounters, raises serious questions about accountability and the credibility of investigations.

It also deprives victims' families of the opportunity to see a case properly tried and a conviction secured through the judicial process. A dead suspect cannot stand trial, challenge the evidence against him or disclose the possible involvement of other accomplices.

The focus, therefore, should be on strengthening the entire criminal justice system rather than relying on encounters as a measure of police effectiveness. The police must conduct professional investigations, preserve evidence, obtain forensic support and prepare cases that can withstand scrutiny in court.

Prosecutors, in turn, must be adequately resourced and closely involved in building cases, while courts must have the capacity to dispose of criminal cases expeditiously. The ultimate measure of effective policing is not the number of suspects killed in encounters but the number of cases in which perpetrators are identified, arrested, prosecuted and convicted on the basis of solid evidence.

A functioning criminal justice system must ensure that those responsible for heinous crimes are punished, but that punishment must follow a judicial process rather than an encounter. Karachi's residents deserve both security and justice. Sacrificing one at the expense of the other is no solution.

If the authorities are serious about restoring public confidence, they must ensure that every allegation of an extrajudicial killing is impartially investigated and that police officers found responsible for unlawful killings are held accountable.

At the same time, greater investment is needed in investigation, prosecution, forensic capacity and witness protection so that suspected criminals can be brought before the courts and convictions secured on the basis of credible evidence. Only then can the state demonstrate that it is capable of combating crime without compromising the rule of law.