Please - Odhikar

Susan Ward, AED: I have just two few comments. I suggest that we should not forget to keep
in mind the human rights content, because somebody mentioned, while discussing who is a
victim and what is a victim, I think it may not be very popular but if we think of it from a human
rights perspective we have to remember that every one is entitled to human rights and that
includes criminals. They should be brought under the law and punished for their criminal
activities but that does not mean that torture is okay.
Closing Session
Presided by: Mr. A. F. Hassan Ariff, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court and Former Attorney
General for Bangladesh
Hassan Ariff: I am recapitulating the suggestions that came from the discussions. The first one
was the need of a definition of a victim. I think this is more semantic than a real need, but from
the organizations point of view, of course there will be an attempt to define a victim and a
witness. The second suggestion was that there should be an arrangement for compensation for
the victims. Suggestions came for enhancing punishment for the perpetrators, which will have
the effect of deterring others from terrorizing victims and witnesses. The suggestion has also
come for special court and instead of going for a new structure, let's go for an implementation
within the exciting legal regime. There should be procedural checks and balances, and in the
process of investigation, the victims and witnesses must be allowed to more participation. We
can take assistance from the Rome Statute, in case of victim and witness protection. Another
suggestion was that there should be a partnership with between media; and there should be an
approach by the media regarding the development of professional ethics. The legal aid system
was discussed and the need for an effective mechanism and machinery of giving assistance and
protection to victim and witness raised. An elaborate discussion on how the present system is
working was done all day. The law of bail should be reexamined to stop its misuse was another
recurring issue. The prison system is another important issue, because the syndicated criminals
are very strong. In case of the identity of the victim I think the victim should never ever be an
element in the report, we should talk about the offense, not the victim. A positive note was the
announcement that the Home Ministry is going to have a separate female police cell in every
police station. This brought the suggestion that there should be a police station watch body in
every police station. Girls in safe custody are a separate issue that has a broader aspect of victim
and witness protection. Ultimately we must not forget the human rights perspective of the whole
issue. Denial of human rights will not help us in protecting victims and witnesses.
Subodh Pyakurel: All the countries of the south Asia must come together and work strongly to
protect the victims and witness, and we have to work with our grassroots people so that this will
be interlinked with our awareness building and people's solidarity movements from the
respective countries and that will emerge too as a regional movement.
Gene V. George, USAID: This discussion is the first step towards recognizing the need to have
proper legislation and a system to protect both victims and witnesses. The rights of the victims
and witnesses to testify freely are indispensable for the proper functioning of the judicial system.
Therefore, the protection of their rights is at the core of access to justice. It is essential for any
democratic country striving to develop a modern criminal justice system to be able to properly
served and defend both victims and witnesses. In south Asia, the incidents of violence against
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