CCTV in cells plan under fire from ex-DIGs and rights experts

The Law and Order and Prisons Reform Ministry's plan to have CCTV cameras installed in police cells to monitor detainees and prevent cell deaths has come under severe criticism by crime experts and human rights lawyers who say the expensive exercise violates the human rights of the suspects.

The decision follows the controversy over a series of deaths in the recent past where suspects arrested for minor offences have been found hanging in their cells. Police have attributed the deaths to suicide.

Retired high-ranking police officials and senior lawyers say the watchful eyes of the camera lenses will compromise the suspects’ privacy, even affecting the performance of their day-today activities.

At a recent meeting, the Association of Retired Chiefs of Police (ARCP) – a body consisting of about 60 senior retired officers pointed out that the government’s plan to spend massive sums on the purchase of CCTV cameras and installing them in police stations was “highly unwarranted” when police had, it said, a practical and foolproof method of monitoring cells.

H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya, a former Crimes DIG, said police Departmental Orders historically had protocols on how a suspect in police custody should be handled and detained in the cell until produced before a magistrate.

The guidelines specifically mentioned the safety and security of the prisoner, and specified the logging of activities such as meal times, occasions when suspects were taken to court, returned to cells and bailed out. These