The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has blown the lid off a disturbing trend in Punjab province, where the Crime Control Department (CCD) stands accused of running a policy of extrajudicial executions disguised as encounters. In a bombshell report dated February 17, the group documented 924 suspect deaths in 670 operations over eight months of 2025—against just two police fatalities.
This lopsided toll, coupled with eerily similar tactics across Punjab’s districts, suggests a deliberate institutional strategy, not random clashes. HRCP is demanding an urgent judicial probe to uncover the truth behind these killings.
Victim families are terrorized into silence. One poignant account describes officers pressuring relatives for quick burials and issuing dire warnings of further targeting if cases are pursued. HRCP brands this as outright criminality and a blatant interference in the pursuit of justice.
For years, encounter killings have sparked outrage in Pakistan. Provincial leaders in Punjab and Sindh tout them as vital tools against hardened criminals and extremists. But human rights advocates, including HRCP, courts, and NGOs, decry the absence of due process and transparency.
Drawing on UN guidelines, HRCP criticizes the CCD for reckless use of deadly force, ignoring rules that limit it to last-resort scenarios with full accountability. The repetitive storytelling in police statements—suspects initiating fire, self-defense responses, and labeling the dead as dangerous felons—betrays a manufactured narrative, the report contends.
True security demands proper policing, not deadly expedients, HRCP insists. Among its key recommendations: suspend all encounter missions immediately, enforce independent investigations, punish the guilty, and overhaul systems to meet global human rights norms.
Failure to act, the commission warns, risks entrenching state-sponsored violence, eroding Pakistan’s legal framework, democratic ethos, and international reputation in perpetuity.