Audio-video recording of police interrogation during remand of suspected accused at police stations and in custody of other law enforcing agencies may significantly contribute to reducing the viciousness of torture and demand for bribe from the persons detained.
The presence of lawyers of the accused during the questioning of the suspect or the accused may also uphold the human rights issue of the detained, according to various human rights bodies.
The prayer for remand has invariably become a tool for the investigating police officers to demand some undue monetary benefit from the family of the accused persons by threatening them with torture of the accused persons while interrogating in camera.
The interim government formed the Police Reform Commission to reform the police force.
The CCTV surveillance of the rooms at the stations improves the safety of persons staying therein and helps prevent extraordinary incidents.
Shahdeen Malik, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, said all instances of abuse of power by police in arresting citizens and torturing them on police remand (in police custody) go unchallenged precisely because victims lack the resources as well as confidence in the efficacy of the judicial system. The very few cases in which the abuse of police power was challenged were litigated either in 'public interest' by national organisations or by rich and powerful persons who were subjected to such abuse by police.
"The few cases against members of law enforcement agencies on allegations of custodial torture and extortion raise serious questions about the authorities' willingness to hold their own to account. For instance, on February 14, 2023, two traders in Dhaka filed complaints of torture and extortion against police officers with the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court under the 2013 Act," according to sources.
"In another case, on January 29, 2023, Abu Hossain Rajan, a lawyer who used to work for a private hospital, alleged that he was detained incommunicado and taken to the Detective Branch headquarters every day where he was tortured during interrogation in custody," it added.
"The case of a yarn trader Rabiul Islam of Gazipur, who died due to torture in police custody, not only shed light on alleged custodial torture leading to the death of the victim, but also revealed how the police allegedly fabricate stories to cover up their misdeeds," it stated.
If remanded to police custody, the accused person will be subjected to inhuman physical and mental torture defying his fundamental rights and will suffer long custody period without trial.
Nearly 92 per cent of respondents in an opinion poll carried out by the Police Reform Commission (PRC) have sought reforms of interrogation in police custody criticizing the existing practice of torture during grilling that often leads to suspects' deaths. The opinion came as they conducted the survey among 24,442 randomly selected people under a study headlined, "What kind of police do we want?" (Kemon Police Chai).
Sources said allowing the police to take an accused for questioning during remand creates the scope for torture and pressure to collect bribe money from detained persons. The public survey was carried out in the wake of recent criticism in Bangladesh and around the world about the violent role of some police personnel in suppressing the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The police have finally lost the century-old wide discretionary powers concerning arrest, detention in custody and remand, as the Supreme Court may 24, 2016 upheld a High Court verdict against the arbitrary use of their sweeping authority.
The HC verdict delivered on April 7, 2003 asked the government to amend some provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1898, which provided the police with the controversial powers, for their inconsistency with the Constitution. It also made proposals for bringing amendments to three other laws for safeguarding people's liberty and fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution. They are Penal Code 1860, Police Act 1861 and Evidence Act 1872. The HC verdict said the amendments are required to limit the arbitrary use of powers by the police.
The High Court Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in the celebrated case of BLAST and others v Bangladesh and others delivered its judgment on April 7, 2003, observing that sections 54 and 167 of the CrPC are not fully consistent with the freedoms and safeguards which are guaranteed in the Constitution.
Torture is routinely used by the law enforcers to extract 'confessions' in Bangladesh, said a platform of 10 rights bodies. The organisations also demanded an immediate end to this impunity.
