Police torture rampant, weaker sections frightened: People’s Watch

Police torture rampant, weaker sections frightened: People’s Watch

By Tariq Anwar, TwoCircles.net

Patna: People’s Watch, the national human rights organization, held a two-day programme here under the project People’s Tribunal on Tortures (PTT) in Bihar. The programme held on July 9-10 was part of the National Project on Preventing Torture in India (NPPTI).

The Bihar PTT was inaugurated on 9th July 2008 at Bharatiya Nritya Mandir in Patna. The jury heard 36 cases and found that each case was different but each sounded a common refrain: torture has lasting effects, and it must stop. The jury also found that most of the victims were from lower and lower-middle sections of society and they were frightened by the police that are supposed to protect citizenry.

At the end of the two-day programme noted social activist Shabnam Hashmi and PTTI’s Bihar chapter director Abhaya Shankar Prasad.

To a question posed by TwoCircles.net about recent torture of some Ulema detained in Lucknow jail, Shabnam Hashmi said the case denotes how much prejudiced the police have become. The case and what happened in a Maharashtra jail with some Muslim inmates who were forcibly transferred to other jail are example of blatant violation of human rights. Abhaya Shankar Prasad said human rights of inmates must be protected.

When TwoCircles.net asked how to combat communalism, Hashmi said the communal lobby has got so strong that it is not easy to take on them. She suggested that Muslims and Muslim organizations should come forward and get involved in social work. This will promote communal harmony and press authorities to be concerned on Muslim issues.

People’s Watch gets support from the European Union and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, a non-profit organisation that promotes liberalism, democracy, respect for human rights and economic freedom.

The PTTI’s Bihar chapter is working in four districts: Patna, Bhojpur, Nalanda and Nawada. Over two and half years (and still ongoing), human-rights monitors conducted over 600 fact findings in cases of police torture. Legal officers pursued 176 of these cases through 706 legal interventions, which targeted governmental authorities, statutory human rights organisations such as National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and criminal cases filed as private complaints, says a report prepared by the organization.

After hearing 36 police torture cases in Patna, the Bihar PTT jury presented following interim observations. A copy of the report is with TwoCircles.net.

General observations

The victims of torture were from the lower and lower-middle sections of society. In some cases, caste, gender and communal bias on the part of police personnel have been alleged by the victims of torture. The attitude and behaviour of the entire state mechanism has at times been capable of characterization as colonial, feudal, insensitive and inactive. The lack of perpetrator accountability led to frustration on the part of the victims, and to a sense of injustice.

Fear of the police

The ostensible role of a police service is to protect the citizenry. However, when police forget their duty, when they regularize torture and use weapons as a means of control, the citizenry cease to see the police as a shield against abuse, rather perceive them as an obstacle to justice. Individuals develop a long-term fear of interactions with police officers; they lose confidence in the police and thus in their own ability to obtain justice.

Psychological suffering

The jury observed that suffering of torture of victims does not end when the torture itself ceases. In case of rape of a minor girl which is brought before the Tribunal, police refused to take it seriously led to the sapping of her mental strength to survive; instead of psychological support, she was interrogated and denied an opportunity to share her feelings.

Each torture victim deserves rehabilitation, so that they may emerge from fear psychosis and reintegrate themselves into their communities as productive and whole citizen.

Based on their observations, the Bihar chapter of PTTI has made some recommendations. Some of them are as follows:

(i) Include a comprehensive definition of the term “torture” in domestic legislation.

(ii) Ensure that torture is a specific criminal offense under domestic laws.

(iii) Recognize customary international law as informing domestic law.

(iv) Assert jurisdiction over extraterritorial acts of torture committed both by national and non nationals.

(v) Stress the importance of effective witnesses and victim protection regimes to ensure that witnesses and victims are not subject to retaliation of any kind.

(vi) Take steps to ensure that all state actors understand the substance and importance of the DK Basu Guidelines on unlawful arrest – including the requirement for a post-arrest medical examination.

(vii) Take steps to ensure that all police and medical personnel follow evidentiary guidelines, including the regular and timely provisions of post-mortem reports.

(viii) Adequately compensate the victims for illegal detention, for physical, mental, emotional and psychological harm suffered, for loss of livelihood during periods of detentions, for medical expenses incurred, and for any loss of life.

(ix) Rehabilitative victims with assistance for resettlement.

(x) Provide medical treatment to treat injuries suffered during detention and counseling to heal the trauma of torture.

The Bihar PTT jury was chaired by Justice Vikramaditya Prasad (Former Judge, Ranchi High Court). Other jury members were Shabnam Hashmi (Social Activist, New Delhi), Ramasharay Prasad Singh (General Secretary PUCL, Bihar) Dr Md Sharif (HOD, LLM, PG Department of Law, Patna University), Hemant (Senior Journalist), Dr Binda Singh (Psychiatrist), Sudhir Pal (Journalist), Sanjay Kumar Choudhary (Lecturer, Chanakya National Law University, Patna) and Prahlad Sarkar (Former Vice-Chairman, Minority Commission, Bihar).