Why do you strip people half-naked? - Deputy NYA Boss questions Police rationale

Deputy Chief Executive officer(CEO) of the National Youth Authority(NYA)has questioned the Ghana Police Service of the rationale behind stripping people half-naked and displaying them on television after their arrest.

This week, the Ghana Police Service arrested 26 Nigerians who are suspected to be involved in various cyber crimes.

Upon their arrest, the Police retrieved phones, Laptops and some substances suspected to be Indian hemp.

These suspects were displayed on National Television whiles the Central Regional Police Commander addressed the media about their arrest.

Reacting to the videos, Akosua Manu who is an advocate for the youth could not fathom the reason behind stripping the young men in front of the cameras and stripping them of the little dignity left of them.

To her, it’s imperative that the Police finds a solution to this which has been the order of the day when people are arrested.

The post she shared on Facebook read “I saw a news item yesterday where the Police had arrested several suspected fraudsters in Kasoa. The television station cameras captured the young men who were stripped down to their threadbare boxers. What I found most bizarre is this need to strip these men down to their bare bottoms literally.

A quick google search on the arrest of persons by the Police will show that this is not a recent phenomenon. What is the rationale? That should they escape, it will be easy to find a half-naked man in the streets? Is no consideration made for them to keep their trousers on? Why this conscious effort to strip people of their dignity even as suspects and not convicts? Is this legal? I find the whole process irritating, especially if a court adjudges some of the suspects in the video to be innocent or discharged because the prosecution did not start or there is a lack of evidence.

Will they be granted the same audience to have their say? Police work is excruciatingly hard, and I commend the Police for their commitment to fighting crime. However, the Police must ensure that they find a balance between respecting the dignity of all persons and their duty to arrest, investigate and prosecute crimes. If an accused person is innocent until proven guilty, it falls on the police to respect the dignity of all accused or suspected persons during their arrest, detention and prosecution bearing in mind that all are innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Until then, any form of cruel, degrading, or inhumane treatment should not be countenanced”.