Custodial killings must stop
for any death in custody, the custodian will face rigorous life imprisonment or be fined Tk 100,000. In addition, he/she must compensate family members of the victim with a sum of Tk 200,000
Lack of awareness about the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013which stipulates tough punishment for tortures and deaths in custodyhas apparently created scopes for law enforcers to be involved in extra-judicial killings, legal experts said. According to a report in this newspaper on Wednesday, the law stipulates that the police, RAB, BGB, customs, immigration, CID, intelligence agencies, Ansar and VDP, Coast Guard and other public servants cannot extract confessional statements by torturing any detainee. According to the new law, for any death in custody, the custodian will face rigorous life imprisonment or be fined Tk 100,000. In addition, he/she must compensate family members of the victim with a sum of Tk 200,000.
Since the relatives of the victims of custodial deaths are not that much aware of the law, they usually do not seek legal remedy to the offence. Deaths and tortures in custody have become almost a regular feature in Bangladesh in recent times. According to an Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) report, law enforcement agencies have killed 128 people in separate incidents of crossfire in 2014 while 146 people were killed in 2015. Deaths in custody are serious violation of human rights and no democratic government can escape this responsibility. These dastardly acts occurred during the rules of the successive governments.
As a citizen of a democratic country a person should enjoy some fundamental rights. Stripping a person of this right is sheer violation of the rights. In the past, excesses committed by members of the law enforcement agencies in the name of maintaining law and order came under serious criticism by conscious citizens and the human rights organisations. The law says any custodian torturing a detainee is liable to commit offences defined under the law. Also, any person attempting to commit, aiding and abetting to commit, or conspiring to commit such offence must be considered as an offender.
Deaths in custody should not be allowed to continue as it erodes the credibility of a government. It is high time for the government to take effective measures to stop this in the interest of preserving human rights and maintaining the rule of law. Massive awareness should be generated among the people and the law enforcers about the detrimental effects of custodial deaths.
