The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has expressed concerns over recent reports of the treatment of certain accused persons by the Fiji Police Force.

The Commission expressed that the police should treat all accused persons in the same manner, irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, political affiliations, race, and social status or background.

The Commission acknowledges that the police have the authority to investigate complaints, question suspects, make arrests, and file charges; however, it must make sure that the rights of those being accused are upheld and protected.

Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Chairperson Pravesh Sharma says that while the police are entitled to detain persons for 48 hours, they should try to process accused persons within a reasonable time, and if possible, the practice of taking accused persons into custody on Friday afternoons and the weekends should be avoided since access to private lawyers and the courts is limited during the weekends.

He says the police should carry out and complete their investigations before taking accused persons into custody for caution interviews.

Sharma says the purpose of caution interviews is not only to enable the police to obtain relevant evidence to strengthen the prosecution case but also to permit the accused to provide their alibis or explanations.

He says the police should investigate the alibis or explanations before proceeding to charge the accused.

Sharma added that during a caution interview, if an accused person only agrees to provide his or her name and address and thereafter exercises his or her right to remain silent, the police should respect that right and terminate the interview and not continue to put questions to the accused person.

He stated that if a caution interview continues beyond one day, the accused person should be permitted to go home and return the next day for the continuation of the interview, unless the police have a good reason to keep the accused in remand overnight, in which case proper facilities such as a

separate cell, bed, clean linen, bathroom, toilet, and meals should be provided.

He also says that for appropriate offenses, police officers should exercise their discretion and release charged persons on police bail to enable them to attend court at a later date.

Sharma says that pursuant to the Bail Act 2002, for a person charged with an offense but yet to be convicted of it, there is a presumption in favor of bail, unless there are good reasons for it to be refused.

The chairperson stated that the police should comply with the rule of law at all times.

Meanwhile, questions have been sent to the Fiji Police Force.