The whole country was shaken at the barbaric treatment of Jayaraj and Fenix, a father-son duo, who were subjected to ruthless and merciless actions by the police in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. They had allegedly kept their shop open on 19 June, 2020 during curfew hours, owing to the lockdown in the state. This article isn’t going into the details of the basis of detainment, which can be given some leeway. The stories by the victims, eyewitnesses, and police differ from source to source, but the issue of concern over here is what followed.
Jayaraj was taken into police custody by the constables on duty on the grounds of the shop being open past permitted hours. This is not questionable; the police here were trying to ensure that the rules were followed. His son Fenix came to inquire about his father’s detainment and was taken into custody as well. A little while later, people as far as 500 meters from the police station heard screams and wails of the father and son. They were subjected to treatment which is incomprehensible to us and inhumane even for the most heinous criminal there would ever be. This act of barbarism sparked outrage throughout the country and left so many of us shaken at what the police are capable of.
This isn’t the first time an act of police brutality has taken place in the country. The Hindu reports that in 2019 a total of 1731 custodial deaths took place. Out of these, 1,606 deaths were in judicial custody, and 125 took place in police custody. There has been a surge in police brutality cases all over the world during the lockdown. The cases which happen in countries where the lingua franca is more widely used often get wider attention and coverage.
The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd triggered a global movement against the unjust treatment of black people and blatant shows of racism. These were deaths that were baseless and took place under hostility created by the law enforcers. It will come as a surprise to many, mainly because it is unheard of that police brutality cases are “familiar” in Latin America, as a source puts it. But with the effect of the lockdown, police have been abusing their powers more than ever. In May, police in New Mexico detained a 30-year-old bricklayer, Giovanni López, for not wearing a mask. An autopsy on his dead body revealed that blunt trauma to the head was the cause of death. In Argentina, police beat up and detained a 31-year-old day worker, Luis Espinoza, during a check to ensure that lockdown protocol was followed. After a week, his dead body was found in a ditch. At the end of May, a 14-year-old boy was killed at the hands of the police during a police raid. This led to a row of protests in the country. Like most of the killings taking place, this was also fuelled by racist sentiments. 75% of the victims of killings by police have been black. In 2015, a survey was conducted among the LGBTQ+ community, and here too, 58% of responders reported mistreatment by the police.
Similar acts of brutality have been reported in African countries, and Nigerian police forces have a reputation for brutality. At least 1,476 people were killed by state actors in 2019. In the first half of April 2020, with the lockdown imposed, there were a total of 18 extrajudicial killings, a number higher than the COVID deaths then. Cases of police brutality have been reported in 2/3rd of the states in Nigeria.
Is there a solution to this? When those responsible for enforcing the law abuse their responsibility, how are those at their mercy supposed to react?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed by 48 countries on 10 December 1948, including India and the USA. Article 5 “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and Article 7 “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination” are being violated in the cases of racism acts and police brutality. The National Human Rights Commission is responsible that these basic rights are respected by members in the country. But this sometimes fails with the law system. Section 30 of the Human Rights Protection Act 1993 provides for the establishment of Human Rights Courts for speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights. It provides that the state government may, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification, specify each district a Court of Sessions to be a Human Rights Court to try the said offences. But there is a catch.
Even though the law has made provisions for Human Rights Courts, the criteria under which an offence can be judged as violating human rights isn’t defined. This leaves room for uncertainty and does not guarantee justice being served in case of offences. Violation of human rights at the hands of the police is highly ironic. Citizens have started questioning their credibility and approachability, and there isn’t a concrete solution to this in India. In the case of Human Rights, it is still long till the provisions of the law become more accessible to the common people, and all we can do until then is advocate it.
By Shlok Sampat
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