Although the Constitution prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, security forces including the RAB, and the police frequently employ torture and severe physical and psychological abuse during arrests and interrogations in recent years. Abuse consists of threats, beatings, and the use of electric shock. According to human rights organizations, security forces tortured at least 22 persons in 2010.60 The government rarely charged, convicted, or punished those responsible, and a climate of impunity allowed such abuses by the RAB and police to continue.61 The Criminal Procedure Code contains provisions allowing a Magistrate to place a suspect in interrogative custody, known as remand, during which the suspect could be questioned without his or her lawyer present. Most abuses occur during the periods of remand. 60 US Department of States, Annual Human Rights Reports 2010, Bangladesh Chapter (released on April 8, 2011), available at: <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154478.htm>. 61 Ibid. 42

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