In the wake of the latest custodial death involving a 22-year-old youth, civil society group Aliran poses a series of questions to the prime minister, chief of which being: "Will there be no end to this?"

"Why are there so many deaths under police custody? And why do these corpses bear marks of police brutality? Do we have professional personnel or sadists interrogating suspects?

kugan family bukit aman 230109 banner"Do we really get to the truth or force confessions out of these unfortunate suspects through coercion and brutal means?" asked Aliran president P Ramakrishnan in a statement today.

Commenting on the case of Kugan Ananthan, he said the bruises on the body "clearly establishes" that he had been "subjected to torture and inhuman treatment" while under custody.

Who inflicted these injuries and why was this necessary? he asked.

Instead of addressing this issue, Ramakrishnan said, the police seem to be after those who managed to obtain this evidence to expose the horrors that take place in police stations.

"What has happened is not an isolated case. Apparently, they take place on a regular basis. Why is this so? We need answers.

"Can the Inspector-General of Police (Musa Hassan) go public to provide the answers? He is duty bound to respond to this challenge," he added.

Kuhan, who was arrested in connection with several car theft cases on Jan 15, died at the Taipan police station on Tuesday.

Following a massive public outcry, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail has classified the case as murder.

Commission of inquiry

Ramakrishnan also highlighted the recent case of B Prabakar (below) and C Solomon who claimed that they were tortured by the police, including being scalded with hot water.

man-tortured-at-brickfields-police-station-prabakar"These are not professional policemen but goons in police uniforms who resort to barbaric antics to coerce suspects to confess. In this case they poured boiling hot water on them.

"We need to ask the IGP whether suspects are human beings? Do they have their rights? Are they entitled to their human rights? Do they lose their human dignity the moment they are detained?" he added.

Seven policemen were subsequently charged in connection with this.

Ramakrishnan said Aliran wants Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into the police conduct when they interrogate suspects.

"This is the only way to get to the truth. Internal inquiries by the police do not command the public's respect or confidence," he added.