HRCP raises alarm over 'staged encounters' in Punjab

 

• Commission documents 670 CCD-led encounters over in 2025.
• Raids resulted in death of 924 suspects, two police officers: report.
• Mission seeks urgent high-level judicial inquiry into deaths.

LAHORE: A fact-finding report issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has found that the Punjab Crime Control Department (CCD) followed a deliberate pattern of staging police encounters in numerous cases, leading to extrajudicial killings, The News reported.

The commission said the staged encounters fundamentally undermined the rule of law and constitutional protections in the province.

Based on reports in the press, the commission has documented at least 670 CCD-led encounters over the course of eight months in 2025, resulting in the death of 924 suspects, with only two police officers killed during the period. The extreme casualty imbalance — averaging more than two fatal encounters daily — combined with the uniformity of operational patterns across districts, indicates an institutionalised practice rather than isolated incidents of misconduct.

The fact-finding mission has therefore called for an urgent high-level judicial inquiry into these deaths.

The mission found that CCD operations fail to comply with the UN basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials, which require that lethal force be absolutely necessary and proportionate, and that violators be held accountable.

Among other measures, the report calls for an immediate province-wide moratorium on all encounter operations until comprehensive legal safeguards and independent oversight mechanisms are established. 

It recommends that the FIA investigate all encounter-related deaths under NCHR supervision as well as the establishment of an independent civilian police oversight commission and mandatory compensation for families of all individuals killed in encounter operations.

According to the CCD spokesperson, the department is operating strictly in accordance with the law and working across Punjab to maintain law and order. The spokesperson added that these were criminals killed during the operations.