Why we won’t see the end of custodial deaths

 

Once again we have voices raised against the number of custodial deaths. Once again we have calls for the police to take effective measures to end custodial deaths.

I don’t see this happening anytime soon.

Eight people have died while under police custody just from Jan 1 till Feb 15. That’s one too many. And we don’t know how many more will die by the time 2022 comes to an end.

First, we need to thank the police for being transparent about the deaths. This is an improvement from previous times.

On Feb 9, Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department director Azri Ahmad said that of the seven cases reported, four died in lockups, two died at the hospital and another man died on the way to the hospital.

On Feb 15, Azri said that a 39-year-old man detained for drug-related offences had died that day while being treated in hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties. He had been arrested only a day earlier.

Azri has given an assurance that the Criminal Investigation Unit on Deaths in Custody, which was set up this January, would thoroughly investigate all these cases.

He also informed the media, on Feb 9, that he had proposed for an integrated clinic to be set up at police lockups to monitor the health of those in police custody.

The sooner this is done the better.

In announcing the setting up of the Criminal Investigation Unit on Deaths in Custody last December, home minister Hamzah Zainudin said the move would “also enhance the image and integrity of the police force”.

What will enhance the image and integrity of the police in this instance is having zero deaths in custody. With eight cases in less than two months this year, we can probably expect cases in 2022 to exceed last year’s figure of 19 custodial deaths.

Last year, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) revealed that in 2020 the police had reported 34 cases of deaths in custody while the prisons department recorded 363 deaths. In addition, the immigration department reported 50 cases while the national anti-drugs agency reported nine.

There are many reasons for custodial deaths. One is the need to solve crimes as fast as possible. If the crime rate goes up, we blame the police. So, policemen are under pressure to solve cases, both from their superiors and the public.

As someone who has covered crime in my earlier years, I can say that many policemen just want to do their duty.

Another reason is the lack of funding to ensure detainees have better facilities or are kept in hygienic conditions.

Yet another is the feeling among some, if not many, enforcement officers that these detainees are after all a burden to society (more so if they have one or two previous convictions) or that they are “after all” foreigners.

One of the immediate measures the police and other agencies dealing with detainees should undertake is to ensure that an inquest is held for every custodial death, as required under the Criminal Procedure Code. This call has been made umpteen times by so many rights defenders.

The police, and other enforcement agencies, should remember the insistence of the Court of Appeal for a public inquiry to be held whenever someone dies while in the custody of the authorities.

The Court of Appeal said this on Aug 8, 2014 in upholding a High Court verdict that the then inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar and his officers were responsible for the death in custody of A Kugan, 22, five years earlier in a police lockup in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

The court said: “There should be zero tolerance to any custodial death in all the remand centres in the country.” It went on to note that “remand prisoners are innocent until convicted in a court of law and like other citizens are entitled to their basic human rights during their lawful detention”.

Earlier, trial judge VT Singham, in finding that there were elements of a cover-up during the investigation by police, had said: “Custodial death should not become the rule of the day. It is a heinous crime perpetrated by the custodians of the law. If custodians of the law themselves indulge in committing such crimes, then no part of society is safe and secure.”

He went on to say that there was an urgent need to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), as recommended by the Royal Commission on Police Reform. We, of course, know what came of that.

It looks as if even being castigated by the bench has not helped improve the situation.

Perhaps magistrates should ask the police more probing questions before signing remand orders, and they and judges should make it a point to enquire about the treatment given to those who appear before them on criminal charges.

Perhaps a little sympathy – at least for the parents – on the part of policemen who question those suspected of criminal activities could help.

Policemen and officers of other enforcement agencies should reflect on how the parents of the dead would feel; how their siblings and friends would feel. Losing a child – whether he is good or bad, whether he is guilty of an offence or not – is devastating to parents.

For years people have been dying in lockups and prison and detention centres, despite anger and calls from rights groups and others. The government does implement some measure or other when there is high public pressure but these have always proven inadequate as attested to by the fact that such deaths continue to this day.

The Malaysian Bar, in a press release on Feb 7, asked: “When will deaths in custody end?”

They won’t.

Not unless those tasked with questioning or handling detainees find it in themselves to respect the rights of detainees and to at least attend to their health needs, and not until more hygienic conditions are available at detention centres and police lockups. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.