Lock-up deaths: Custodial fatalities a global phenomenon; ethnicity factor still unproven

PETALING JAYA: Police brutality and deaths in custody are not a local problem it happens all over the world, according to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Social Sciences criminologist Assoc Prof Dr P.Sundarmoorthy.

"It's not a new problem in the world of policing,” he added, saying it was an issue of serious concern, but did not consider the number of deaths to be particularly high in Malaysia.

This year alone, Amnesty International has reported deaths in police custody from countries such as Togo, India, the Bahamas, and even Australia.

"In fact, the rate of deaths in custody in Australia is considered to be high by experts," he said.

The high incidence of custodial deaths there led to the formation of a Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1987. Despite this, the problem persists decades on.

Lawyer Fahri Azzat (from www.loyarburok.com) remembers a public outcry over a custody death when he was in Perth, Australia in January 2008.

"There was a huge hue and cry then because an elder aboriginal elder (known as Mr Ward) died from dehydration and heat at the back of the remand truck while being transported from his district to the detention area,” he said.

Psychologist and Criminologist, School of Health Sciences, USM Dr Geshina Mat Saat said there is enough evidence in both developed and developing countries that indicates that such unacceptable behaviour occurs.

“If compared to elsewhere in the world and compared to the number of criminals around, then the problem is reduced to numbers and is perceived as not serious,” she said.

"The beatings and lost of life should not happen at all."

In 2009, Amnesty International presented a report to the United Nations about torture and deaths in custody that occurred in France as a result of excessive or prolonged use of restraint techniques.

It noted that most of the victims were men of Arabic or West African descent.

Arguably, the most famous lock-up death occurred in South Africa in September 1977, when anti-apartheid activist Steven Biko was tortured to death in police custody.

Sundramoorty, however, disagrees with the perception that minorities are the most affected when it comes to deaths in custody.

"I did a study many years ago in the United States and I found that ethnicity is not a factor in police brutality," he said.