THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Twenty per cent of the police force in the state are goons and criminals,”State Human Rights Commission chairman J B Koshy has said. He was speaking after inaugurating the three-day international seminar on human rights and policing at Government Law College, here, on Monday. “Though state police force is one of the best forces in the country, 20 per cent of personnel are working to execute their ‘political agenda’. This 20 per cent create a wrong perception about the entire force in the minds of people,” Koshy said.
“Of the 12,300 cases that I had attended last year, 4,500 were against the police ranging from custodial torture to death,” he said. Koshy also said that the policemen are facing various issues. “The police men are human beings and they need leisure time amid the hectic duty hours. In necessary circumstances, policemen can approach the commission for filing complaints against senior officers,” he said.
Delivering the keynote address, Russian Professor Vesselin Popovski , vice-dean of Jindal Global Law School said human rights has a global significance and it’s wrong to perceive it as a ‘western’ concept. “Human rights are universal, not western. In every village and town in the world, human rights has its significance. Infact, the human rights became universal post the World War II.
The age-old epics and myths in India had discussed the importance of human rights. Therefore human rights have more value in this country”, Popovski said.
He also emphasised the need of professionalism in the police force in order to enforce the law effectively.
N R Madhava Menon, Chancellor, Guru Ghasidas University, Chattisgarh, presented a paper on ‘Liberty Vs Security’- Constitutional balancing. ADGP (intelligence) A Hemachandran, Adv Rajesh Munjal, Justice Narayana Kurup, chairman police complaint authority and college principal K R Reghunathan spoke .