2011 Sindh Rangers shooting incident

The 2011 Sindh Rangers shooting incident was a controversial incident regarding the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Pakistani citizen Sarfaraz Shah by Sindh Rangers.^[1]

Incident

Sarfaraz Shah was shot by members of the Sindh Rangers in Karachi.^[2] The video was made by a local television cameraman, Abdul Salam Somroo, and was aired from the other national television channel (Samaa TV) first, as his own channel refused to air it. Afterwards national and international media aired it. The camera man Abdul Salaam Somroo had to leave Karachi with family as he had threats. He went to take refuge in Islamabad, then had to leave the country for a couple of months. The video shows a young man in a black T-shirt (Sarfaraz Shah) being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes. He was then pushed towards a group of uniformed rangers disembarking from a pick-up truck armed with G3 battle rifle; one of them then rushed towards the individual with his rifle aimed at his neck. The young man, who did not not appear to be armed, pleaded for his life as one of the Rangers pointed a gun at his neck. The Ranger then shot him twice at close range with the rifle then hit him in the thigh and arm. The young man was seen writhing on the ground, screaming in pain, bleeding heavily, and begging for help as the video ends (he is not taken to hospital by rangers). He died of blood loss.

Aftermath

The broadcast of the video caused public outcry and protests. People in Sarfaraz Shah's local area held protests calling for the Rangers to face capital punishment.

The Rangers and park employee alleged that the young man had been caught trying to rob someone. His family denies this. His brother, Salik Shah, said Sarfaraz had been the victim of an extrajudicial killing. "My innocent brother has been killed brutally by the Rangers," he said. "What harm has he inflicted on anybody? His crime was that he was just strolling in the public park because there was no power in the house." A later investigation revealed that a toy gun was recovered from the victim.^[3]

Shortly after the incident, the chief of the Sindh Rangers, Fayaaz Leghari, was fired from his post by the Pakistani Government onorders of the Supreme Court. The chief Inspector General (IG) of Sindh Police who allegedly misconducted the investigation was also fired from his post.^[4]

DG Rangers Ajaz Chaudhry claimed that an inquiry would be underway and those responsible would be brought to justice.^[5]

Shortly after the incident it was not clear who shot the video which went viral and received heavy airtime, which led to some reports suggest that the cameraman has now gone into hiding.^[5] The incident has sparked an outcry with some politicians calling for the Rangers involved to be prosecuted. Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistani researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the killing "provides chilling evidence of the abusive, trigger-happy practices of Pakistan's military, paramilitary and civilian agencies". Iftakhar Ahmad Chouhdary, the chief Justice of Pakistan, has taken action on his behalf and the case of those rangers is transferred to the court of Anti-Terrorism.

It comes as a separate inquiry following a similar controversial incident in the neighbouring Balochistan Province involving the killing of five foreigners by members of the Frontier Corps. Five civilians, including a heavily pregnant woman, were shot dead at close range in the western city of Quetta, despite apparently trying to surrender. Officials initially said that the five family members were armed and were suicide bombers- but this was later found to be untrue in a judicial tribunal inquiry.^[6]

The whole episode was recorded incidentally by the crew of a Sindhi TV channel, Awaz Television Network. They were at the Benazir Shaheed Public Park, Clifton near the American Consulate in Karachi, at around 17:30 pm on that eventful day, recording their program "Walk & Talk". A person stated to be a security guard at the park, brought the unfortunate young man to the Rangers driving a white-coloured vehicle numbered 1543. This vehicle is now in the custody of Karachi Police, Boat Basin area. The Rangers personnel appeared to be 'hyper', and their physical and mental condition could not be ascertained by an independent medical examination, seeing as they were taken in 'protective' custody by their own comrades. They were handed over to the Police after at least 2 days, by which time it was no more possible to examine their state of at the time of the incident.

Trial

Shahid Zafar, the ranger directly responsible for the shooting, was convicted of murder for killing Sarfaraz Shah in the Sindh High Court where he was sentenced to death.^[7][8][9] The Ranger and his lawyer later appealed the verdict in the Supreme Court of Pakistan which upheld the death sentence against the accused upon reviewing the case, while punishments for others involved were adjusted.^[10]

References