In a 1 January 1999 article in Jane's Intelligence Review on the security situation in Pakistan, analyst Anthony Davis provides the following information on the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi:

For day-to-day peace-keeping and counter-insurgency, the government has come to rely heavily in Karachi on the paramilitary Rangers. A force of around 25,000 lightly armed troops commanded by officers seconded from the army, the Rangers' primary duty is border security: the Pakistani equivalent of India's Border Security Force (BSF). Today they have over 7,000 men deployed in the city.

Other media reports indicate that the primary purpose of the Rangers in Karachi is to assist the police in maintaining law and order (The Independent 30 June 1998; PPI 4 Jan. 1999; AP 2 Nov. 1998; The Economist 28 Nov. 1998; DPA 14 Apr. 2000). An early November 1998 AP report states that about 16,000 Rangers personnel were deployed in Karachi (2 Nov. 1998), but an early January 1999 PPI report puts that figure at 14,000 (4 Jan. 1999).

Anthony Davis states that during the second Benazir Bhutto government (1993-February 1997), the police and Rangers routinely used extrajudicial executions of terrorists and terrorist suspects to control the security situation in Karachi (JIR 1 Jan. 1999). The Rangers maintained their "trigger happy" ways even after the election of the Nawaz Sharif government in February 1997, according to The Economist (28 Nov. 1998), and continue to patrol Karachi streets (DPA 14 Apr. 2000).

For additional information on the methods and extrajudicial activities of the Rangers in Karachi, please consult the following Research Directorate Issue Papers: Pakistan: The Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi January 1995-April 1996 (November 1996), and Pakistan: Update on the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi (June 1997).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

The Associated Press (AP). 2 November 1998. Zahid Hussain. "Police Search Door to Door Arresting 70 People." (NEXIS)

Deutsche Press-Agentur (DPA). 14 April 2000. BC Cycle. "Troops Placed on Alert to Stem Sectarian Tension in Pakistan." (NEXIS)

The Economist [New York]. 28 November 1998. US edition. "Pakistan: Desperate Justice." (NEXIS)

The Independent [London]. 30 June 1998. "Seven Shot Dead in Karachi." (NEXIS)

Jane's Intelligence Review (JIR). 1 January 1999. Vol. 11, No. 1. Anthony Davis. "Pakistan: State of Unrest." (NEXIS)

Pakistan Press International (PPI). 4 January 1999. "Rawalpindi and Islamabad Districts to Get Computerized ID Cards from May 04, 1999."

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). State of Human Rights in 1997. 1998.

IRB databases.

Jilani, Hina. Human Rights and Democratic Development in Pakistan. 1998.

LEXIS-NEXIS.

World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems. 1989.

World News Connection (WNC).

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International.

CIA World Factbook 1999.

Law Enforcement Sites on the Web.

Officer.com

Terrorism Research Centre.

United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN).

World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems.