'Police questioning should be carried out in rooms equipped with CCTV'

 

All questioning by the police should be carried out in rooms equipped with closed-circuit televisions (CCTV), a human rights activist has said.

According to former Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph, this is to ensure that the men in blue abide by the book of the law in the course of their duty.

"Everyone who is called in for questioning, be it inside a police station, or outside, should be protected by the person summoning them.

"The problem now is many investigation officers use their personal office rooms to carry out questioning. The police have a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to follow, but many times, we have received reports of cops using their own office rooms to interrogate and question, when interrogation rooms are already provided," he was quoted telling Berita Harian.

Joseph (above) was commenting on a recent case in Alor Setar, Kedah, where a police inspector in charge of investigating an alleged rape incident involving a teenage girl, was alleged to have raped her himself during questioning.

The 16-year-old victim had reportedly gone to meet the officer to have her statement recorded over the original rape claims against her stepfather. The inspector has since been detained to facilitate investigations.

Suaram pointed out the news as an example of why the country needs to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Elaborating, Joseph said rape allegations concerning women victims should be handled by female officers.

"We have closed one eye to alleged police misconducts for far too long, as the police do not have an effective method to check on such incidents.

"The internal police complaint method can no longer be seen as being strong and effective as it is an internal mechanism without the oversight of an independent body," he said.

Joseph stressed the importance of establishing the IPCMC, which he said would fix the tarnished image of the men in blue. - Mkini