The Attorney General has informed the Supreme Court yesterday (03) that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has prepared a series of guidelines which include measures to be taken to reduce the cases of suspects arrested by the police being killed when they are taken out for investigation purposes such as locating hidden weapons.

Based on a notice issued by the court earlier, IGP C.D. Wickramaratne appeared in the court yesterday where Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, who appeared on behalf of the IGP, informed this to the court.

Accordingly, the President of the three-member Supreme Court Judge Bench, Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare addressed the IGP and said the court issued orders to prepare a series of guidelines in order to establish the rule of law and to safeguard the trust placed in the Police Department.

The Judge thanked the IGP for preparing and submitting the guidelines to the court and informed the IGP to issue necessary instructions and orders to the officers to implement them in an effective manner.

The following points are included in the series of guidelines submitted to the court.

• Protecting the life of an arrested suspect should be the prime responsibility of the police officers and even in cases of an illness, they should be given necessary treatment.

• Serious consideration should be given to the security of suspects arrested in connection with dangerous criminal cases such as being involved in organized crimes, narcotics, murder, and terrorism.

• When such suspects are in custody, Chief Inspectors should ensure their safety and the Sub Inspectors should check on the suspect every half hour and make notes.

• The officers should handcuff the suspects when they are being taken to the places where firearms are hidden and the officers should conduct the search operation in the presence of the suspect.

• Police officers should video record all such cases and such videos can be used as evidence against a suspect. If any incident occurs, the video will help maintain the transparency of the incident according to the guidelines.

• In no case should a suspect be subjected to physical or mental torture to obtain confessions. Arrangements should be made to allow the suspect’s next of kin and the lawyer to meet them when necessary.

• The lawyers should be given maximum support to protect the rights of suspects.

The IGP has issued an order to all the police stations that from now on, the officers must follow these instructions when taking the suspects out of police custody for investigation purposes. If any officer is found to have violated these instructions, strict disciplinary action will be taken against them. 

Delivering the verdict in a petition filed by Fathima Sharmila, the wife of suspect Mohammad Irfan who was killed when he was taken out by the Slave Island Police for investigation in 2008, the Supreme Court ordered the IGP to prepare a series of guidelines to prevent such incidents from happening in the future and submit them in the court on March 24.

However, when the petition was taken up in court on March 24, the set of guidelines was not submitted to the court.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the IGP to appear in court yesterday to show cause as to why the guidelines were not submitted.

The IGP appeared in the court yesterday and informed that the guidelines have been submitted to the court.

(Source – Aruna)