Police encounters in Pakistan point to a pattern of deliberate violence

Human Rights Research Center
4 hours ago
6 min read

February 20, 2026

Abstract: This article examines documentation provided by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) alleging that staged “encounters” have become an institutionalized element of Punjab’s Crime Control Department (CCD). Analysis of at least 670 recorded encounters during the first eight months of 2025 identifies a profound casualty imbalance—resulting in 924 fatalities among suspects compared to only two police deaths—suggesting a systematic policy of extrajudicial execution rather than genuine armed confrontation. The report identifies these actions as flagrant violations of Article 9 of the Constitution and the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022, signifying a deliberate bypass of the judicial process. By situating these events within a decades-long historical pattern of state-sanctioned violence in Punjab and Sindh, the article highlights an entrenched policing culture of impunity that threatens the rule of law. Finally, it outlines urgent recommendations for a province-wide moratorium on encounter operations and the establishment of a high-level judicial commission to ensure legal accountability.

HRRC expresses grave concern over the institutionalized pattern of staged "encounters" by the Crime Control Department (CCD), which resulted in 924 fatalities among suspects compared to only two police deaths during a single eight-month period in 2025. We join the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s calls for an immediate province-wide moratorium on all encounter operations and the establishment of a high-level judicial commission to investigate these extrajudicial executions. Sustainable public safety must not be sought through "lethal shortcuts,” and must ensure the protection of victims' families from intimidation and provide mandatory compensation for the irreversible loss of life.

Pakistan's foremost rights group HRCP has alleged that Punjab's specialised police unit has killed more than 900 people in what it termed 'extrajudicial encounters' [Image credit: Mohsin Raza/Reuters]

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, “police encounters,” – alleged armed confrontations between law enforcement agents and criminal suspects – have become the subject of intense international and domestic scrutiny following a February 2026 report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The report alleges systematic institutionalization of staged "encounters" by the Crime Control Department (CCD), a specialized wing of the Punjab Police established in early 2025.

The commission’s findings suggest a deliberate bypass of the judicial process, characterized by extrajudicial executions that undermine the rule of law and constitutional protections. At least 670 CCD-led encounters were documented during the first eight months of 2025, which resulted in 924 fatalities.

A striking feature of these incidents is the extreme casualty imbalance. While nearly a thousand suspects were killed, only two police officials lost their lives during the same period. This disparity, averaging more than two fatal encounters daily, combined with the uniform narratives given by police to justify the killings across various districts, indicates an orchestrated practice rather than isolated incidents of misconduct. Official reports consistently describe suspects as traveling by motorcycle at night, initiating fire on officers, and subsequently being killed in "self-defence" – often utilizing identical, copy-paste language. In some instances, reports included detailed confessions to crimes committed attributed to wounded suspects that would have had to take place moments before their death.

The HRCP investigation highlights significant violations of both domestic law and international human rights obligations. Specifically, the operations appear to violate the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act of 2022, which mandates that every custodial death be investigated by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under the supervision of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR). However, HCRP found no clear evidence of compliance with this mandatory procedure in the cases reviewed, nor did it find evidence of mandatory magisterial inquiries required under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Furthermore, CCD operations were found to be inconsistent with United Nations Basic Principles regarding the necessity and proportionality of lethal force.

The practice of police encounters as a method of crime control has a long and troubling history in Pakistan. Successive provincial governments, particularly in Punjab and Sindh, have historically defended such actions as necessary to combat organized crime, militancy, and systemic judicial inefficiencies. Documentation of extrajudicial killings by state agents includes incidents during the 1971 Pakistan civil war (also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War), the insurgency in Balochistan province during the 1970s, and operations in Sindh province during the 1980s and 1990s.

In the late 1990s, Punjab province alone recorded over 850 police killings of suspected criminals within a two-year period, a trend that continued through subsequent decades, with over 2,000 such deaths reported nationwide in 2015. Between 1990 and mid-2005, Punjab police figures recorded a total of 2,246 suspects killed in 3,424 encounters. This historical pattern suggests that current practices are a continuation of an entrenched policing culture that favors lethal shortcuts over the slow process of investigation and prosecution.

In response to the current crisis, the HRCP has called for an immediate province-wide moratorium on all encounter operations until independent oversight and legal safeguards are established. The commission further demands the formation of a high-level judicial commission to investigate the deaths and the implementation of mandatory compensation for the families of the deceased, whom HRCP has reported as being pressured to bury the deceased quickly and warned of further harm should they pursue legal action against officers involved in the killings.

Provincial authorities and the CCD spokesperson maintain that the department operates in their best efforts to eliminate serious crime. Meanwhile, rights advocates warn that the normalization of such violence risks permanent damage to Pakistan’s democratic institutions and its standing in the international community.

Glossary

CCD (Crime Control Department): A specialized wing of the Punjab Police established in February 2025 to combat organized crime, terrorism, and high-profile gangs.
Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC): The primary legislation in Pakistan outlining the legal procedures to be followed during criminal investigations and trials.
Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.
Confessions: a formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime.
Confrontations: a hostile or argumentative situation or meeting between opposing parties.
Constitutional protections: fundamental rights, liberties, and principles guaranteed to individuals by a nation’s constitution, serving as supreme law to limit government power and prevent infringement on citizens.
Custodial Death: A death that occurs while an individual is in the legal custody of the police or prison authorities.
Deceased: recently dead.
Deliberate: done consciously and intentionally.
Democratic institutions: the organized systems, bodies, and rules—such as free elections, parliaments, an independent judiciary, and free press—that facilitate governance by the people.
Disparity: a difference in level or treatment, especially one that is seen as unfair.
Due Process: The legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights owed to a person, ensuring fair treatment through the judicial system.
Entrenched: (of an attitude, habit, or belief) firmly established and difficult or unlikely to change; ingrained.
Extrajudicial Execution/Killing: A killing carried out by state agents (such as police or military) without the authorization of a court or legal process.
HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan): A high-profile, non-governmental organization dedicated to monitoring and advocating for human rights within Pakistan.
Implausible: (of an argument or statement) not seeming reasonable or probable; failing to convince.
Impunity: The state of being exempt from punishment or consequences for an action, particularly in cases of state misconduct.
Inconsistent: not compatible or in keeping with.
Independent oversight: the impartial monitoring and evaluation of an organization’s performance, safety, or governance by an entity free from the direct influence, control, or management of the body being reviewed.
Institutionalization: the action of establishing something as a convention or norm in an organization or culture.
Judicial commission: an independent body established to ensure accountability, integrity, and efficiency within the court system.
Legal safeguards: legally binding mechanisms, provisions, or measures within laws, regulations, or treaties designed to protect rights, assets, or interests from damage, harm, abuse, or neglect.
Magisterial Inquiry: A mandatory legal investigation conducted by a judicial magistrate into deaths that occur during police encounters or in custody.
Mandatory: required by law or mandate; compulsory.
Moratorium: A legal authorization or agreement to postpone or temporarily suspend a specific activity or operation.
Normalisation: the process of bringing or returning something to a normal condition or state.
Orchestrated practice: the deliberate, careful, and often meticulous planning and organization of a complex set of actions, behaviors, or events to achieve a specific, desired result.
Police Encounter: A term used in South Asia for armed confrontations between police and suspects; critics often distinguish between "genuine" shootouts and "fake" encounters staged to kill suspects.
Prosecution: the institution and conducting of legal proceedings against someone in respect of a criminal charge.
Rule of Law: The principle that all individuals, including government officials and institutions, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated and equally enforced.
Self-defence: A legal justification for using force; in "encounter" reports, police frequently claim suspects fired first, necessitating lethal retaliation.
State sanctioned violence: the deliberate application of force, coercion, or punitive measures by government entities, authorized agents, or institutions against individuals, groups, or the environment.
Systemic: relating to a system, especially as opposed to a particular part.
Uniform: remaining the same in all cases and at all times; unchanging in form or character.
Violations: an act of breaking a law or rule.

Sources

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Police encounters in Pakistan point to a pattern of deliberate violence

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