Protecting human rights

The Daily Star editorial of January 15 finds 2012 disappointing for human rights and impresses upon the need for improving the situation in the country. In particular, the infraction committed by state agencies, as reported by a rights body, is considered very worrisome and thus requires positive action. It is in the context of such a scenario that a discussion on the imperative to correct the alleged situation assumes added significance.
To discuss the subject in its historical perspective, it would be proper to recollect that in 1948 the Universal Declarations of Human Rights was established as the primary global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled, asserting the recognition of human dignity of all people as the foundation of justice and peace in the world.
It was the first time in history that the international community embraced a document considered to have universal value, "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations." Its preamble acknowledges the importance of a human rights legal framework in maintaining international peace and security, stating that recognition of the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all individuals is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.
Specifically relating to the police is the 1979 UN code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which states that police officers will respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons, and that force should be used only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.
It is expected that police behaviour should symbolise the respect of human rights and their protection. The way in which police organisations carry out their duties represents an infallible indicator of the level of quality of a democratic society and the way in which the state of law is respected.
It is of paramount importance to foster a culture in police organisation for protecting and respecting human rights. The organisational culture has to be grounded on human rights standards as a fundamental value. Human rights components have to be an integral part of police training, both theoretical and practical.
The impasse between an antagonistic, anti-police human rights discourse and repressive police actions needs to be reestablished as a constructive bridge-building discourse between the police and society. The police's only notion of human rights is in a negative context, where they are the enemy. This leads to a reactive attitude of disparagement of human rights among the police. For them, the human rights discourse only serves to give impunity to criminal elements, and indict zealous police who are defending society.
The importance of human rights for the police must be understood from a strategic perspective, in that demonstrating respect for human rights is strategically advantageous. The police must understand that persistent cases of violence and corruption, and the perceived impunity of the police to commit human rights abuses, contribute to a lack of confidence in the police. This distances the population from the police, resulting in low levels of public-police collaboration, and the growth of private security initiatives.
The human rights and police discourse must be amplified to include human rights abuses that are perpetuated because of a lack of police presence. Human rights advocates must forge alliances with the police in order to encourage them to become human rights defenders. Regarding summary executions, the environment of the justice system must be the focus for intervention. Legal loopholes, inefficiencies, and corruption must be addressed from the principle of providing justice, reducing the incentive for police officers to resort to their own interpretations of "Dirty Harry"-style justice.
To conclude, political will is important because it is at the level of government that law is established, and it is impossible not to evaluate this aspect when one is considering the subject of human rights and the police. The police act in accordance with the law, and it is the law that establishes the conditions in which they operate.

The writer is a columnist for The Daily Star.