Police Torture And Good Governance

Police Torture And Good Governance

By Gladson Dungdung

 http://www.countercurrents.org/dungdung230907.htm

23 September, 2007
Countercurrents.org

An ordinary thief has been tortured by the Police in Nath Nagar of Bhagalpur of Bihar in style of a crime scene of any Hindi Film which shocked the entire country at a time when the government of Bihar is trumpeting its achievements as good governance. The government took immediate action and punished the two police men involved in the incident to prove its commitment to the good governance. But the Police Men Association and many senior Police officers deny the incident as a case of police torture and are advocating for reinstatement of the two dismissed police men. They argue that the police men tried their best to protect the thief but the crowd did not allow them to do so.

The live telecast by TV News Channels of Allahabad fake police encounter and Bhagalpur incident of Police torture has created commotion in the entire country. But in spite of this there is no any impact on the Bihar police. The cases of Police torture is increasing day by day. Soon after the Bhagalpur incident, the Police of Bikram Police Station of Patna district severely beaten and caused disappearance of an accused Kaushal Kumar and declared him an absconder to save them from the allegation of torture. In another incident the officer in charge of Phulwarisharif Police station broke hands and legs of a footballer Santosh Kumar and extracted his teeth.

The heart breaking incidents of Police torture have taken place near Patna the capital city of Bihar. There are also many incidents of putting minor boys in the police lock up by involving them in false cases. All these incidents are crucial examples of misuse of power by the officials who are responsible for the law and order. They have made a fun of law. After Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar there is a rapid increment in cases of Police torture, which had not been seen in the history of Bihar so far.

A Human Rights organization People's Watch has monitored and analyzed the case of police torture in four districts of Bihar i.e. Patna, Bhojpur, Nalanda and Nawada. In this study the cases included are Police torture, fake encounter, torture of women, custodial death, Lathi charge, Police firing and negligence in duty which took place between July 2006 to June 2007. The study reveals that out of the total victims in these cases of Police torture 76 percent victims are male and 24 percent are female.

From the line of caste it shows that 47.5 percent victims are from the Dalit community which is the highest followed by the backward community with 31 percent and 21.5 percent of higher caste. If one looks to all these cases in the occupation wise one finds that 45 percent victims are daily wage labourers. Beside them 9 percent students, 5.4 percent house wives, 3.6 service holders and 38.4 percent victims are from the other walk of life were subjected to police torture.

The study reveals the cases of police torture from the angle of age of victims; the 11.4 percent victims are children of age between 0 to 14 years. The 28.3 percent victims are between age group of 15 to 30, 49.3 percent victims are between age group of 30 to 50 and the rest 11 percent above 50 years were victims of police torture. On the basis of education 30.1 percent illiterate or uneducated are victims of police torture. 10.8 percent highly educated people and 59.1 percent literate or educated has been subjected to police torture.

The most startling fact is that in 47.7 percent cases, perpetrators (police or private persons) have lodged criminal cases against the victims. The 7.2 percent of torture victims have died up till now and 5 percent cases of police torture have been compromised. The study also reveals that highest number of torture case, which is 32 percent took place in the police stations. 27.5 percent at home, 22.6 percent in village or outside village and 17.3 percent elsewhere. The perpetrators are 57.8 percent constables 28.5 percent sub inspectors, 9.8 percent inspectors 2.5 percent Dy SPs and 1.4 percent higher officials. The data clearly shows that the lower ranks in police are responsible for the majority of torture incidents.

Here the question arises that why police inflict torture on the people? The State Director of People Watch and former District & Session Judge Abhaya Shanker Prasad discloses that the main purposes of police torture are to acquire information from the people, punishment to the accused, intimidation and teaching a lesson for future. According to him the police commit fake encounter to get overnight promotion in service, to get reward, and to get high amount of money but some time inhuman act of fake encounters are done under political pressure too.

The society is also not less responsible for the incidents of Police torture. It can be said that the society as a whole has become violent and believe in instance justice. The majority people whether they are Advocates, Teachers, Doctors or common men support the Police torture and also deny human rights without a second thought. They question, what for the police is if not for beating? In such a state how can only Police be blamed for torture? If police torture need to be stopped then every one should be made aware of human rights and torture. One must start practicing the human right within, in the family and in the society. There is a thrust need to work towards the accountable and transparent system of governance so that the very human rights of the people can be protected.

Though a bit of good governance is being seen in Bihar in the regime of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. But the way cases of police torture and Dalit atrocities are increasing is a big question mark to the existence of good governance in Bihar. Police torture is the worst forms of human rights violation which can not be tolerated. There is highly need for the government to take strong action to stop police torture. The Constitution of India guarantees the right to life, equality, liberty and dignity of individual to its people and the state has duty to protect these rights. The good governance can not be established till the human rights are protected.

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Torture in the context of ‘Right to Life and Dignity’

Torture in the context of 'Right to Life and Dignity'
Narendra Ch 07 September 2007, Friday
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=126210
As long as the police remain enemies of democracy and the rule of law, and friends of those who abuse power and are corrupt, torture will remain a very important ingredient of policing in Asian countries.

FIGHTING TORTURE has been a long standing campaign of many human rights organisations the world over. Supreme Court directives, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) guidelines and official sanctions, have not deterred officials from inflicting torture on individuals in their custody.

 

 Torture has become endemic in the police stations and prisons of India. It has become an integral part of daily law-enforcement throughout the country. Many cases of death as a direct result of torture sustained in police and military custody are reported annually.

 

Though Indian government signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) in October 1997, the violation continues and its perpetrators still for the most part enjoy impunity.

 

So far as many as 144 countries have ratified the CAT and only eight countries, including India, have not ratified the Convention. India is in the company of countries like the little known Dominican Republic, Gambia, Nauru and Sudan.

 

Though torture is not specifically prohibited under the constitution, legal safeguards against torture are substantial in India. Indian courts have held that Article 21 (The Right to Life) implies protection against torture. However, the practice continues and prosecution for those carrying out torture is rare.

 

Excluding areas of armed conflict, those who are particularly vulnerable to torture by police include those arrested in criminal investigations and those who have been arrested in order to force the surrender of relatives. The police use torture routinely as part of the investigative process, in order to extract confessions or information, or even to falsely incriminate other individuals.

 

It has been alleged that the pressure to meet high conviction rates causes police to use torture to extract confessions, which are more likely to produce a conviction in the case. But various studies establish that torture helps us to bring pressure on a person to agree to what we believe as true. In the process the causality is Truth.

 

Within the country there is public acknowledgment of the problem of torture and strong calls from many areas of society for an end to the practice. Recommendations to combat torture have been made at the highest level by members of the Law Commission, the National Police Commission, the Supreme Court, the NHRC and other bodies.

 

A broad range of non-governmental organisations campaigning for civil liberties, have been actively monitoring and publishing incidents of torture, and providing support for the victims seeking redress.

 

Amnesty International India (AII), along with other human rights organisations in the country, has launched a nation-wide movement called "Stamp Out Torture". Observing Anti-Torture day on June 26, it has demanded that the Government of India ratify the CAT, permit UN Special Reporter on Torture to visit India and report on the cases of torture.

 

Amnesty International also urged to repeal security/anti-terror legislations that enable culture of torture and culture of impunity in situations of armed conflict.

 

Impunity is an important factor in the continuing use of torture. The authorities fail to take action against those who torture people, there is a lack of will in the judicial system and among officials to prosecute those responsible for torture; special laws and other measures are in place which give officials and security forces increased powers and protect them from the due process of law.

 

Amnesty International feels that the threat of terrorism is not new but it does indeed require law enforcement agencies to develop special skills and techniques in policing, investigation and intelligence, including international cooperation. This is needed to avert acts of terrorism, to protect the populations and to bring to justice those who commit or plan to commit such atrocities.

 

Such techniques need to address the new characteristics of international terrorism as it has developed in the 21st century, such as its use of computers and other new technology. That may require the use of new forensic methods and other law enforcement techniques, but it cannot justify the use of old methods such as torture and ill abuse.

 

Governments have a duty to protect the public and to take all reasonable steps to prevent acts of terrorism. But they also have a duty to do this within the framework of protecting the human rights of all. Human Rights groups should certainly stand with the victims of torture and terrorism and demands that they receive justice and reparation.

 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) felt that to eliminate torture, police reform must be given a central place. Ratification of the UN human rights treaties makes no difference to the actual business of using the police as an instrument of brutality. The gap between the ideals proclaimed in constitutions and UN conventions and the day-to-day reality of the routine use of torture coexist. The legislature and even the judiciary of these countries have been unable to take a firm stand to reform and to modernise their police.

 

AHRC has observed that elimination of torture and the modernisation of police are two sides of the same coin. "As long as the police remain enemies of democracy and the rule of law, and friends of those who abuse power and are corrupt, torture will remain a very important ingredient of policing in Asian countries", it added.

 

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) deplored that the use of torture is widespread and is wrongly claimed by the police and other authorities as a necessary means to obtain information from suspects. In particular, the international climate of anti-terrorism has witnessed a disturbing trend towards justifying the use of torture in the name of `security', it said.

 

Amnesty International India director Mukul Sharma has stressed the need to formulate a comprehensive domestic law against torture. "Right to Life should mean and secure Right to Life with Dignity", he asserted.

 

Various studied found that the use of torture can never be justified, either legally or morally. Its effectiveness in preventing attacks by armed groups has never been proved.

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