Enact law for protection of victims, witnesses: PRC

The Police Reform Commission (PRC) has recommended enacting a law for the protection of the victims and witnesses as the police can safeguard them from the criminals under a legal framework.

“Enacting a law for victim and witness protection would be an important step in ensuring public-friendly policing. The police would be able to play an active role in protecting victims and witnesses and gain the trust of the public,” the PRC said in its recently released final report.

It opined that this law would make the responsibilities of the police force clearer and more accountable and help build a positive relationship between the people and the police.

The reform commission said currently, there is a lack of an effective legal framework to protect victims and witnesses from intimidation or influence by the criminals.

“This law would ensure legal protection and the rights to privacy of victims and witnesses. This would make it easier to ensure the prosecution of criminals, which would play an effective role in curbing crime,” it said.

The PRC said that a law on victim and witness protection would be helpful in establishing a model of public-friendly policing as well as building a just society.

It has stressed re-evaluating the need for Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in building a people-friendly policing system.

A large proportion of the allegations of human rights violations against law enforcement agencies in the last 15 years point to the involvement of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), it said.

RAB has come under severe criticism from domestic human rights organizations due to serious allegations of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture and illegal arrests, it said.

In addition, its activities have been widely debated in the international arena, and in some cases, it has been banned, it said.

“In this context, it is very important to re-evaluate the need for RAB in 2025,” the PRC said.

To ensure accountability of police and build a people-friendly police system, it is essential to reassess the necessity of RAB by reviewing its past activities and allegations of human rights violations, it said.