Legal Framework on Arrest, Detention and Torture Section 54 and 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, gives wide powers to the police to arrest a person without warrant on reasonable suspicion. The phrase ‘reasonable suspicion’ is not defined and as such creates ample scope for misuse by police. In Bangladesh, custodial confessions are outlawed unless made to a Magistrate and then, if an accused states that he is unwilling to make a confession, he must be sent only to judicial custody if not released.7 According to Section 27 of the Evidence Act, a statement made by the accused in police custody that leads to the recovery of incriminating information is, when it is found to be true, admissible in court. This provision enables law enforcement officials to use material evidence obtained through torture8. There is a widespread belief that most of the information and confessions extracted during remand are not voluntary. The involuntary means for extracting confession goes against Article 35(4) of the Constitution, which makes provision against self-incrimination and Article 35 (5) which provides that “No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.” In many incidents, however, victims died after arrest even before they were produced before the courts as 7 8 20 Section 162. 164 Cr. P.C. and Sections 25 and 26 Evidence Act. Lutz Oette, ‘Torture in Bangladesh 1971-2004, Making International Commitments A Reality and Providing Justice and Reparations to Victims, August 2004’, A Study prepared for Redress.