http://www.pvchr.net/2013/04/heard-to-unheard-breaking-silence.html
http://www.pvchr.asia/?id=152
http://www.merinews.com/article/peoples-tribunal-accuses-police-bias-towards-muslim-minority/15883778.shtml
People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, Varanasi
(PVCHR) in collaboration with Human Rights Law Network, New Delhi organized an
Independent People’s Tribunal on Police Torture Against Muslims in Uttar
Pradesh. The event took place on April 3 and 4, 2013 at Kamesh Hut Hotel in
Varanasi. During the tribunal around 30 to 40 victims deposited before a six-member
panel of prominent judges, academicians, former police officials with necessary
testimonies about their problems. Majority of the victims belonged to the poor
section of society and suffered due to the biased attitude of police towards
Muslim minority. Muslims are the principle minority group in Uttar Pradesh. They
have not only suffered historical discrimination socially and economically but in
recent years with the “tag of terrorism” they have also been subjected to worst
forms of repression all over the state. Muslim victims are given selective
treatment on their complaints and thereby denied the right to be treated
equally and equal protection before the law. Their rights, freedom and dignity
are denied everyday just because they happen to belong to a particular
religion.
After the completion of the two days event the jury
members expressed their serious concerns about the increasing number of cases
of human rights violations in Indian society as most of the victims demanded to
put an end to tortuous practices used by the Indian police and a change in
their functioning while dealing with common people.
Jury Recommendations
To put a check on the practice of torture, inhuman
and ill treatments of innocents in police custody, the jury made the following
recommendations:
1-
The
jury unanimously agreed that in all the cases deposed before it, they have noticed
that discrimination has assumed an institutionalized form which is manifested
in the behavior of crucial constitutional institutions of public importance
like police and judiciary. This discrimination is clearly visible in the
attitude of Indian police which is primarily responsible for growing cases of human
rights violations such as forcible and illegal arrest, false cases against
innocents, prolonged detention, custodial torture, rape and extra-judicial
killings.
2-
In
its observation about the human rights situation in Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh the jury noted that increasing police power coupled with flourishing
feudal social structure in Uttar Pradesh, a vast majority is oppressed on
various grounds such as class, caste and gender. Gap is widening between people
and police which lacks accountability as a result the victims of police
harassment and torture do not get justice.
3-
The
jury suggested that police accountability mechanism should be developed and
strengthened in order to establish the rule of law.
4-
The
absence of proper police accountability promotes crime incidents, communal
riots and contributes to public sense of insecurity. Accountability based
policing system can put a check on the institutional discrimination.
5-
There
should be defined provisions for reparation. Compensation is hardly paid to
victims of police accesses. Because nobody is paid and no one pays and
therefore police feels free to act in an undemocratic manner. It is therefore
required that a compensatory mechanism should be evolved with international
standards under which victims of police atrocities and communal onslaughts can
be rehabilitated in a place of his or her choice with same economic standards.
6-
Police
should be sensitized to respect diverse cultures, traditions and religions.
Police personnel should be given on-job training for this purpose and they
should also be sensitized towards the culture of human rights.
7-
More
often police action in any incident is found to be one sided. There is a need
to clearly identify the aggressor and the aggrieved. No attempt should be made
to target a person belonging to a particular religious community specially the
Muslim minority without credible evidences. Indian Police have pre-conceived
notions about the Muslims, for instance the notion that Muslim is one such
community that is always involved in instigating riots and so on. This
mentality provides the space and opportunity to the lower level police
officials to act arbitrarily. Such tendency and practice gets further
encouragement due to negligence shown by the senior level officers.
8-
For
an independent and unbiased functioning of the police, it is highly essential
that people from all communities, faith and religion should be recruited in the
force. Steps should be taken to develop spirit of secularism among police
personnel. A secular police force is crucial for a country which is diverse in
culture. Some lessons can be drawn from developed western nations.
9-
Police
administration should strictly follow the reformatory steps suggested by various
police reform commissions from time to time and the guidelines provided by the
Supreme Court of India. Indian police structure is the byproduct of British
colonial model which needs transformation.
10- Cases related to death in police custody and
death in encounter against the concerned police officials should be registered
and investigated in the same manner as it is done in cases related to ordinary
citizens who attempt to kill or who has killed someone in self defense. In
addition, the responsibility to investigate cases related to death in police
custody should be entrusted to an independent and impartial agency.
11- Court proceedings are a lengthy process which
takes many years to ensure justice for the victim. Legal provisions with
regards to police custody during the trial period should be clearly defined.
Judicial magistrates or judges should be held responsible for not following the
due process of law or ignoring the legal process.
12- Police complaint committees should be official
formed at district levels which should function as per the guidelines suggested
by the police commissions from time to time.
13- In Uttar Pradesh police administration there
is a common practice of giving out of turn promotion to police officials on the
basis of their work performance, this practice should be immediately stopped.
The practice has contributed to the culture of false police encounters.
14- Grievance Redressal Mechanism of State Human
Rights Commission should be further strengthened. There should be an impartial
body with sufficient man power to investigate the cases of human rights
violations.
15- In cases related to police torture, use of
Right to Information Act should be promoted.
16- Supreme Court of India’s guidelines with
regard to bail procedure should be strictly followed. This can help in proving
speedy justice to the cases related to arrest and disappearance. This will also
help minimize the cases of human rights violations.
17- In
general there is a practice when some people are arrested on the basis of mere
suspicion; they are presented before the media during press briefings of senior
police officials as a mark of good work by the police. Photographs of such
accused are immediately published by the media. But they are declared innocent
and freed, they generally do not figure in media reports. This practice should
be immediately stopped.
18- People should not expect police to achieve
more than they can do as per their capabilities. This tendency compels police
administration to use illegal method and practices to achieve desired results.
In sum, all the jury members noted that
increasing incidences of human rights violations are a matter of serious
concern for Indian society and democracy as a whole. There is a need to reform
the functioning of police and improve its image so that faith of victims and
people can be established on the justice system in the country.
