Human rights violation under police custody in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article is intended to examine the methods and practice of torture under police remand, and its justification from the Bangladesh perspective. It argues that human rights are violated with impunity to the government's law enforcing agencies from the moment of suspicious arrest until the end of the remand period in the name of extracting confessional statement. The police have consistently been misusing their power to arrest people without warrant and in most cases for illegal purposes on the excuse of maintaining law and order situations of the country. The arrested people are often subjected to brutal torture in order to extract information and confession. The police have lost public confidence and immediate reform measures are required to recover the trust of the people. In response to rising pressures and continuing criticisms from various quarters, a slow move towards reforming the law and procedures of police remand is under way. This article is intended to emphasize the urgency of such reform and lastly the article offers certain remedial measures with some highlighted recommendations to solve or minimize the torture at custody and violations of human rights in the name of remand for extracting confessional statements from a detained person.