People who have been accused of what is seen as ‘heinous crimes’ may face additional torture. For eg if someone has been accused of pedophilia or killing a mother or a particularly gory homicide, they are seen as bigger criminals both by the police as well as other inmates. They are also likely to be treated more callously, denied healthcare and not offered any support following torture.
People who are seen as enemies of the state or country can face extreme forms of torture. When people are labelled as ‘terrorist’ then even basic sympathy or concern for their human rights can be denied. Torturing these persons are seen as in the ‘national interest’, ‘extraordinary circumstance’ etc.
Journalists or human rights activists especially who have challenged the government can be more vulnerable to torture either to take back or withdraw their allegations or as a way of suppressing their voices. People who had been protesting, who had threatened or attacked police or police property (eg vandalising a police station or vehicle) can be brutally targeted.
Refugees and migrant workers have been known to be picked up by the police routinely and become easy targets to blame for petty crimes especially when there is media pressure to find the ‘accused’ in a crime.
Torture or threats of torture can be used to force people to accept crimes and thus ensure the crime is ‘solved’
When there are larger situations of political unstability, unrest, dictatorial state/union governments, lack of documentation etc. impunity by the police can increase. For eg. during the pandemic and lockdown, police were given unregulated powers to arrest people who violated arbitrary rules. These situations give rise to feeling of impunity and the system is too strained with the issue at hand to follow due diligence on rights of people in custody. Basically there is a suspension of normal rights and over-reach of authoritarianism.
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