6
CRIMINAL justice systems are primarily designed to protect victim’s rights but in Pakistan’s case, victims seem to have the least priority. The obsolete system in Pakistan is primarily elite-centric; its bureaucratic workings exacerbate the anguish of the victims.
In our context women, children, IDPs, refugees and minorities are the worst affected victims.
In advanced societies, police treat victims with courtesy, fairness, and due care. Victims’ rights have even been incorporated into constitutions and statutes in many countries. ‘Victim impact statements’ are given due importance in the process of dispensation of justice.
Such statements, which articulate the physical, emotional and financial harm a person may have faced as a victim of crime, play an important role while convicting, releasing on bail or acquitting an accused.
Read: Redress for terror victims
Offenders are punished not only in accordance with the law but also in the light of victims’ statements. In a few countries, prosecutors even take the victims into confidence while making decisions regarding the trial.
Our criminal justice system is insensitive to victims of crime.
Victims have a right to protection from intimidation and threats by the accused. In Pakistan, however, it can take decades for cases to be decided. This compromises the victims’ security. That, along with the low conviction rate — the National Assembly was recently informed that 1.7 million cases were pending in the courts — badly erodes the trust of the victims in the criminal justice system.
The criminal justice system must recognise the victims’ right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay. If submission of the challan within 14 days is binding on the investigator, why can a time limit not be defined for the disposal of a case?
Victims’ right to dignity and privacy is another immediate concern. To ensure this, investigators, prosecutors, judges, lawyers and journalists need to be sensitised.
In Pakistan, the majority of victims are poor and cannot afford to either fight legal battles or survive with the consequences of crime. Due consideration should therefore be given to introduce legal assistance grants for them.
Following public consultation, specific legislation to address victims’ rights must be enacted. Secondly, victims should be educated regarding their rights. We can replicate some best practices. In the UK for example, the victim is given the name of the investigator handling the case. Once a month during the investigation, the latter brings the victim up to date regarding progress on the case. In case of arrest of the accused, the victim is informed within five days.
The Pakistani media must also treat victims of crime with sensitivity rather than exploiting their distress. The echo chamber of multiple news channels and their sensationalist reporting further aggravates the victims’ vulnerability.
As a regulatory body Pemra should tailor a victim-friendly code of ethics and take action against channels that violate it in their rapacious quest for ratings. Repeated footage of bodies draped with white sheets printed with the words ‘Edhi’ or ‘Chhipa’ multiplies anxiety: TV cameras should be denied access to mortuaries and even hospital wards.
Although Article 3(c) and (d) of the Police Order 2002 — which is in force in KP and Punjab — clearly defines the duties of police, which include helping the poor, the disabled, and women and children, its practical application is yet to be seen. Those who prefer to retain the police as an instrument of coercion will never tolerate a friendly and humane force.
In developed societies, policemen are also trained in first aid and rescue missions. Their participation is reassuring for the victims. Even in Pakistan, we have the example of the Motorway Police who trained their officers to extend first aid and engage in rescue efforts, and they have undertaken the task of helping distressed commuters or victims of accidents with enthusiasm.
For a victim in Pakistan, where police, shelter homes, NGOs, hospitals and medico-legal officers’ work in isolation, reporting an offence is not a one-window operation. The National Police Bureau is studying the possibility of the replication of the successful ‘one stop crises centres’ in Malaysia. These take an integrated approach, with victims of domestic violence or rape being jointly assisted by police, NGOs as well as health, welfare and legal personnel.
In Pakistan, first responders on the scene of a crime often fail to make a distinction between the victim and accused: there is marked difference between interview and interrogation. First responders and investigators should be taught that victims may be interviewed but not interrogated. Moreover, in such situations victims can even give odd responses to questions.
To inject a more humane approach into the criminal justice system it is imperative to recognise the importance of new actors like NGOs, media and parliamentarians. Moreover, no ‘victim support strategy’ can be truly successful without due representation of women in the justice system.
The writer is a police officer.
Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2015
On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play
