Editorial
NHRC chief's suggestion
Govt. must respond positively
The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission would like the home ministry to issue a strong warning against any more deaths in custody. We endorse the statement, for we feel that such a warning will be instrumental in rolling back a malaise which has embarrassed us all in recent years. While we are rather happy that in recent weeks there has been a decline in the number of extra-judicial killings by the security agencies, we still feel that unless a definitive position is taken by the government on a prevention of such deaths, they will recur with little possibility of the bad trend being stamped out in the near future.
For the authorities to adopt the position the NHRC chairman has suggested, there will be quite a few matters that must be cleared up and acknowledged beforehand. The first is that the state has a responsibility to protect the lives and property of citizens. But when citizens lose their lives in the custody of the state, it is quite a hint of what the state could turn into if its security agencies remain unbridled. Every death in custody is a telling comment on the nature of the state. Even one death is one too many and every single death at the hands of the police or RAB is a gross violation of fundamental human rights.
A second point is that the government, which has so far admitted to no extra-judicial killings since it came to office, must step out of this denial mode and acknowledge the reality for what it is. It is unacceptable for ministers to suggest, as the foreign minister did recently, that such killings will take time to be brought to an end. Decisive, swift executive action will lead to instant results.
Let the situation be thought through. Meanwhile, let the RAB operational guidelines be revised, through providing for safeguards for citizens every time the outfit goes into action.
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