Social and Political analyst, Ivan Kyei Innocent, has expressed grave concerns over the alarming rate at which suspects end up dying in police custody in Ghana in recent times.
Reacting to a recent account by the mother of a boy who recently died in police custody at Kasoa, Mr Ivan Kyei took to his Facebook handle and called on President Akufo-Addo to act swiftly to ensure these disturbing concerns of some members of the public are thoroughly investigated to allay the fears of many.
Below is the Post:
#Heartbreaking: I still wonder why in a so-called civilized democratic dispensation like ours, suspects or individuals perceived to have committed one crime or the other continue to die in police custody after being subjected to endless cruelty and inhumane treatments; all in the name of forcing or extracting confessions from them. The count is overly disturbing, very sad, all right thinking men in society are quite over this ugly development.
I think these silly acts of barbarism are not only antithetical to the principles of natural justice but also pose a grave danger to everyone in the sense that, you may be the next innocent victim who didn’t get the chance to fight his innocence in the court, because the police killed you in custody. This is the danger we all face, and until it happens to someone so dear or close to you, you may regard these rampant occurrences as normal trends.
I hate crimes and have always argued that, criminals must be made to face the full consequences of their acts but I don’t support or subscribe to any form or kind of extrajudicial killings by either the police or any other institution because a suspect may be either guilty or innocent and therefore deserves a chance to be thoroughly examined by a court of competent jurisdiction.
It’s the duty of the state to ensure that criminals face the full brunt of the law and not the fury of ceremonial hooligans in uniform who are awkwardly orientated to the standards and ethics of modern policing. It is very embarrassing to note that some of our guys in uniform hold a firm belief that suspects are as guilty as hell and must be paid back in custody, a conviction which is primitive and unprofessional. The President must act swiftly to ensure that these disturbing concerns of the public are thoroughly investigated to allay the fears of many. I’m Ivan Kyei Innocent, and I’m no cynic