Semmaram Encounter Killings Fact Finding Report2

Tamil Research Institution (TRI)
• Section 46 of the Criminal Procedure Code and legislation in all states
regarding use of force, including the exceptional use of lethal force, by all
security officers should be reviewed to ensure compliance with international
human rights law principles of proportionality and necessity. .
• Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code should be reviewed in order to
remove any legal barriers for the criminal prosecution of a public servant,
including the need for prior sanction from the government before cognizance
can be taken of any offence by a public servant for criminal prosecution.
• The Government of India should put in place a mechanism of regular review
and monitoring of the status of implementation of the directives of the
Supreme Court and the NHRC guidelines on arrest, encounter killings, and
custodial violence and deaths in police actions.
• An effective witness and victim protection programme should be established.
XXII.
XXIII.
We recommend the Government of India to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on
Torture to visit India as early as possible and invite the UN Special Rapporteur on
extra judicial killings to re-visit the country to make an assessment on what has
improved after his visit in the year 2012.
We recommend that the Government of Andhra Pradesh provide adequate
compensation on the upwards of Rs. 20,00,000 to the families of all the deceased
victims.
The fact finding team sincerely believes that through its two day mission and subsequent
endeavours will be able to contribute to the ongoing judicial and quasi-judicial
proceedings. It hopes that justice is served in this case. No state force or individual has a
licence to kill in this democracy. Seven decades since independence we as a country
has on various occasions struggled to safeguard our own country women and men. The
state forces meant to protect and safeguard the citizens have walked free after torturing
and killing them in such incidents in the past. For a true democracy and to uphold the
rule of law, it is imperative that civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural
rights are protected and promoted. This culture of impunity has no space in any modern
society.
27
www.tamilri.com