Feudal Forces: Democratic Nations - Police Accountability in

FEUDAL FORCES: DEMOCRATIC NATIONS58 :: POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOUTH ASIAagents, and that the state may recover the same from the guilty officers. This has meant thatthe victims do not need to prove the identity of the accused police official, and proof ofviolation of their fundamental rights entitles them to compensation. 144In April 2003, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka awarded a record payout to Gerald Pererafor the suffering caused by torture inflicted by police in June 2002, which left him in a comafor over two weeks, and caused serious injuries to his kidneys and other internal organs. TheCourt awarded LKR 800,000 and full medical costs. 145 Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, victimsonly have one month after a human rights violation to approach the court for redress, afterwhich the case is time barred under the Constitution. Although the Court had in the pastrelaxed these limitations, the fact remains that the victims cannot approach the Court as amatter of course in such cases.Public good matters: Public interest litigationin South AsiaPublic interest litigation is being used more and more in the region. It has been used byhuman rights organisations to approach the courts to interpret laws around policing and todefine the scope of the powers that the police have. In performing their task of interpretingthe legal provisions, the courts in the region – especially India and Bangladesh – haveplayed in an important role by checking executive excesses and providing policy guidance tothe police in performing their legal duties.The Bangladesh Supreme Court has laid down detailed guidelines for effecting arrest toavoid police abuse of power. It has directed that the arresting officials should disclose theiridentity, that reasons for the arrest should be recorded in a particular register, that personsarrested should be given the reasons for arrest within three hours of arrest, that relatives orfriends of the arrested person should be informed about the arrest, that a detainee shouldbe allowed to consult a lawyer and that any death in police custody should be reported to aMagistrate for inquiry. 146In India, the higher judiciary has been active in passing guidelines to ensure policeaccountability and the Indian Supreme Court has also directed the police to follow theirguidelines when arresting people. 147 In fact, some of these guidelines have recently beenincorporated into the law through an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code. 148 Inanother case, the Supreme Court directed the police to refrain from handcuffing a personwithout judicial permission, so that suspects are not humiliated. 149 Yet another directionmandates that only female police personnel may arrest women suspects, save in exceptionalcases. 150 The Indian Supreme Court has also laid down guidelines for the police on how totreat victims of sexual abuse and what support should be provided to such victims 151 . In arecent case, the Supreme Court directed the central and all state governments to reform thepolice and has laid down seven detailed strategies and mechanisms to implement the reformagenda. 152Obstacles and challengesDespite all the important decisions laid down by certain courts in the region, the judiciary asa redress mechanism has remained beyond the reach of the masses. Apart from the lack ofindependence, and other structural limitations that ail the judiciary in South Asia, this islargely due to expensive lawyers, faulty legal aid mechanisms (where they exist), protractedtrials and corruption. A 2002 public perceptions survey conducted by TransparencyInternational indicated that the judiciary closely followed the police as the most corruptpublic service. 153A major obstacle faced by the judiciary in holding the police to account are special andemergency laws in the region that grant law enforcement agencies immunity from prosecution,limiting the oversight powers of the courts. In Bangladesh, the Special Powers Act provides