Custodial Torture in Pakistan: The Official Transgressions of the Protectors (original) (raw)
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Third degree brutalizes the police, hardens the prisoner against the society, lowers the esteem in which the administration of justice is held by the public. When the administration of police itself resorts to the third-degree methods, he not only degrades himself to the level of an ordinary criminal but even worse, since the police is taken as the custodian of law and the visible manifestation of the state authority would then become the law breaker. It cannot be denied that a democratic system necessitates great devotion, perseverance and patience. It is also valid to contend that the judicial system is often viewed to be dilatory with reference to the long delays in legal trials and at times lethargic administration. However, this cannot be a ground to devolve short cuts in the maintenance of law and order by the police. The police have to function for the interest of the society and by the letter of law; their task is to be bound by law and act accordingly and not to create practices equivalent to law. This is an accepted function of the legislature and not of the police. An accused is a person who might be proved guilty or innocent by the proper exercise conducted by a court of law. Such an individual cannot be denied basic rights by the attribution of torture in custody and in effect turn the whole concept of adversarial system redundant by the complete defiance of human rights ideologies.