US blacklists Pak's 'encounter specialist' police officer for human rights violations

The US has blacklisted a retired Pakistani police officer, known as an "encounter specialist", for committing serious human rights violations by staging fake killings in Sindh province.

Accused of extrajudicial killings, Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan served as senior superintendent of police in the Malir District of Karachi in the Sindh province.

Anwar is designated for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Tuesday on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.

"During his tenure as the SSP in Malir, Anwar was reportedly responsible for staging numerous fake police encounters in which police killed individuals," the OFAC said.

The former police officer was also responsible for extortion, land-grabbing, narcotics and murder, it said.

"Anwar staged over 190 police encounters in the Malir District that led to the deaths of over 400 people, many of which were extrajudicial murders, a senior administration official told reporters.

Mehsood, a young man from Waziristan region, was killed on January 13, 2018 in Karachi during a fake encounter allegedly staged by Anwar.

A police inquiry later established the encounter was staged. The extrajudicial killing sparked nationwide outraged with a Pashtoon rights group later using it as a rallying call. Awaiting justice, Mehsood's father passed away recently battling cancer.

"Anwar was also in charge of a network of police and criminal thugs responsible for extortion, land-grabbing, narcotics, and murder, the Trump administration official said.

Rao, Karachi's most controversial police officer, retired in 2018 after completing 37 years in service.

Apart from Anwar, OFAC also designated 17 other individuals located in Myanmar, Libya, Slovakia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan for their roles in serious human rights abuse.

Six entities have also been blacklisted for being owned or controlled by one of the aforementioned individuals.

The United States will not tolerate torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, murder, or brutality against innocent civilians, OFAC Secretary Steven T Mnuchin said.

America is the world leader in combatting human rights abuse and we will hold perpetrators and enablers accountable wherever they operate, Mnuchin said.

Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat said the move is a historic step in safeguarding human rights globally.

"On behalf of the entire team of Voice of Karachi as well as around 40 million residents of urban Sindh, I welcome the US Treasury Department's announcement about the callous butcher Rao Anwar and other individuals involved in abusing human rights globally, Nusrat said.