3rd degree torture by police

3RD DEGREE TORTURE PERPETRATED BY POLICE IN INDIA- Gross violations of human rights by police

At the outset , HRW salutes the few honest police personnel who are silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers , promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we salute them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest to catch their corrupt colleagues.

The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like "Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays , when police are under various pressures , stresses – they are
frequently using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3 reasons for this :

1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.

2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture is used on innocents.

3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the higher-ups need very quick results – under work stress I.O uses 3rd
degree torture on innocents.

Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even the judiciary doesn't have the right to punish the accussed / suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture unabetted. Even during encounters , police only have the legal right , authority to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to kill them.

There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false & biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's of crores of public money – like stock scam , fodder scam , etc involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by police.

In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals , dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas ,
before rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows before rich crooks.

Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose of investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :

1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd degree torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of
encounter killings.

2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and to forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity ,
pension , etc.

3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government contribution as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree torture & encounter killings.

4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from innocents by 3rd degree torture.

5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.

6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his court.

7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.

8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva's report on "torture of tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA".

9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.

10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher training of police personnel.

11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude & knack for investigations.

12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.

13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service matters of police.

14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.

15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of biggies & must be put on detective , investigative works.