The most surprising thing about the Supreme Court’s demand that CCTVs be installed at all district courts within 48 hours is that this most basic of security measures hadn’t already been in place for years. Every place, from department stores to hotels, makes use of this technology to either deter would-be criminals or make it easier to identify them after the fact. We already know that judges are vulnerable; one of the reasons there is such an abysmal conviction rate for suspected terrorists is that lawyers and judges are terrified of being targeted by militant groups. This underscores how the duties of the men in robes make them potential targets. We can be certain that the houses of parliament and GHQ and many other government buildings already have CCTV installed. Why then haven’t courts been provided the same facility? This is the kind of lax approach we have taken to security that ends up costing lives. The state seems to have the attitude that since militants are determined to attack us no matter what there is very little we can do about it.
Even if CCTVs had been installed in the Islamabad court it is unlikely the attack would have been thwarted. Where the footage would have been invaluable, though, was in seeing if any of the attackers got away and then being able to identify them and hopefully apprehend them. At a time when everyone is speculating over who is responsible for the attack, being able to interrogate one of the attackers could have settled the question conclusively. Of course, we need to do a lot more than just have CCTV facilities. Prevention of attacks through timely intelligence needs to be made a priority, followed by responding rapidly to any attacks. There are some reports that the police took 45 minutes to arrive at the Islamabad court after the attack, when it should have taken no longer than a few minutes. Recall how militants have been able to breach the GHQ, naval bases, jails and police training academies without any seeming problem. The ease of infiltration can be achieved only if there is inside help or security that is laughably incompetent. Whatever the case may be the frequency of terrorist attacks in the country show that the state has yet to implement an effective defensive security policy.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Pakistan:Watching the courts
The most surprising thing about the Supreme Court’s demand that CCTVs be installed at all district courts within 48 hours is that this most basic of security measures hadn’t already been in place for years. Every place, from department stores to hotels, makes use of this technology to either deter would-be criminals or make it easier to identify them after the fact. We already know that judges are vulnerable; one of the reasons there is such an abysmal conviction rate for suspected terrorists is that lawyers and judges are terrified of being targeted by militant groups. This underscores how the duties of the men in robes make them potential targets. We can be certain that the houses of parliament and GHQ and many other government buildings already have CCTV installed. Why then haven’t courts been provided the same facility? This is the kind of lax approach we have taken to security that ends up costing lives. The state seems to have the attitude that since militants are determined to attack us no matter what there is very little we can do about it.
Even if CCTVs had been installed in the Islamabad court it is unlikely the attack would have been thwarted. Where the footage would have been invaluable, though, was in seeing if any of the attackers got away and then being able to identify them and hopefully apprehend them. At a time when everyone is speculating over who is responsible for the attack, being able to interrogate one of the attackers could have settled the question conclusively. Of course, we need to do a lot more than just have CCTV facilities. Prevention of attacks through timely intelligence needs to be made a priority, followed by responding rapidly to any attacks. There are some reports that the police took 45 minutes to arrive at the Islamabad court after the attack, when it should have taken no longer than a few minutes. Recall how militants have been able to breach the GHQ, naval bases, jails and police training academies without any seeming problem. The ease of infiltration can be achieved only if there is inside help or security that is laughably incompetent. Whatever the case may be the frequency of terrorist attacks in the country show that the state has yet to implement an effective defensive security policy.
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