Camera feasibility study

The Inspector- General of Police (IGP), Pujitha Jayasundera, said a feasibility study was being carried out on the fixing of CCTV cameras in police cells following the government’s announcement last week that this scheme would be put into operation.

Police were examining the model and the type to be installed. details were in the Information Book (IB) at police stations.

The rules made it imperative that a police officer of the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) or or higher inspect the cells and compare notes in the Information Book with ground conditions in the cells. The officer is required to make three visits during the nights.

The senior police officer also had to ensure the suspect had suffered no assaults, harassment or injuries while in custody and ensure medical attention was offered if needed. In the case of a death in the cells, all this information could be examined to determine the cause of death.

“If these steps are followed there is no need to spend millions of rupees on CCTV cameras,” Mr. Kotakadeniya said.

But, he added, this system, introduced by the British during colonial times, was extinct. Today, none of these protocols were followed and so doubts arose about the reasons for deaths in custody.

Senior Human Rights Lawyer Kalyananda Thiranagama also said installing CCTV cameras in cells compromised the inmates’ privacy.

“This [the cameras] will no

“We are looking at normal and zooming-in cameras,” he said.

IGP Jayasundera said all 600 police stations in the country will be fitted with CCTV cameras and that priority will be given to police stations where the lockup cells are a distance from the sergeant-in- charge. “He cannot see the cells from his position and having a CCTV camera will be useful,” the IGP said. doubt help collect evidence in case of a death in the cell but the privacy of a human is being infringed,” he said.

Former prisons commissioner-general Rumy Marzook is in favour of CCTV surveillance. “CCTV cameras will help detect crimes in the cells. Activities can be monitored and conspiracies can be detected,” he said.

He said criminals always had to be kept under surveillance. If there were more than two hardcore criminals in the cell it was dangerous as killings could occur.

He suggested that the hardcore prisoners be segregated from suspects in custody for miscellaneous offences.

Installing CCTV cameras was “a good step considering the volume of crime”, he said.

“Moreover,” he added, “they also allowed police to exonerate themselves if they are innocent.”

In its 2015-/2016 Annual Report on Sri Lanka, Amnesty International said “suspicious deaths in police custody continued to be reported. Detainees died of injuries consistent with torture and other ill-treatment including beating or asphyxiation. Police claimed suspects committed suicide or in one case drowned while trying to escape,’.