Human Rights Violations in the Name of Law

What is the issue?

In India fake encounters and custodial deaths proves human rights violation by the lawmakers.

What are the human rights violation faced by the accused?

• Encounters - In UP within 10 months, 34 alleged criminals were gunned down in 1,142 encounters.
• In which sixteen encounters took place in two days.

• Custodial deaths - According to data released by the National Crime Record Bureau about 591 custodial deaths were recorded across India between 2010 and 2015.
• The death toll in custody in 2016 alone was 92 and the data may not be complete since there could be several custodial deaths that go unreported.

What are the reasons behind such human rights violations?

• Custodial deaths largely occur due to torture by third degree methods, police personnel resort such methods to draw confessions from the accused in the shortest possible time.
• Interrogation is a highly skilled form of investigation and most policemen are not, despite the training, equipped to carry it out deftly.
• The lack of patience and technical skills drive them to adopt unlawful methods like encounters, the tendency of superior officers and even politicians to shield them prevents action against them.
• If stringent and timely action is not taken against delinquent policemen, custodial deaths are bound to become more frequent.

What are the measures needs to be taken?

• The responsibility devolves on senior police officers, who need to devise methods to monitor the number of suspects in each police station and the reasons for their detention.
• Any detention or arrest should be promptly reported to district superintendents, who should, thereafter, ensure that SC and NHRC guidelines are strictly adhered to
• It is important that fake encounters and custodial deaths need probed impartially and if necessary by outside agencies, so that the rule of law can’t be compromised.

Source: Indian Express