The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has directed the Police Hospital to provide health-care services for suspects in police cells throughout the country. Consequently, a medical team from the Public Health Department, led by Dr Iddi Musah, has been formed to immediately offer services to inmates in police cells in the Greater Accra Region. In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra Thursday, the Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent of Police, Mr Kwesi Ofori, said the police clinics in the regions and districts would also follow suit in their respective location. He said where the conditions of suspects were critical, they would be immediately referred to specialists, adding that this had become necessary because the Police Administration had identified that health-care delivery in police cells was a very critical issue. He said decongestion of the cells throughout the country to avoid the outbreak of diseases and respect for the human rights of inmates were also being adhered to, while the means of interrogation at police stations now followed accepted international standards. Mr Ofori said the Police Administration had instituted measures to ensure that unlawful detention was avoided and all minor cases interrogated and bail granted the suspects. He said Regional and District Police Commanders had been tasked to conduct regular checks to ensure that the rights of suspects were not trampled upon. He said institutions such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives, as well as Members of Parliament, periodically visited police cells to find out the situation there. Mr Ofori said there was a wake-up call for the police to meet democratic needs and added that some of the colonial cells were being transformed to meet modem standards. He said vehicles conveying suspects to court had also been provided and were always on the road to ensure that suspects were conveyed to the courts to avoid any delays in their trials. A visit by this reporter to the Nima and the Cantonments Police stations yesterday revealed healthy situations there. At the Nima Police Station, the 200-capacity cell had only 37 inmates as of 1:30 pm while the Cantonments Police Station had 16 inmates. According to the District Crime Officer of the Nima Police Division, Kingsley Amankwah, the cells were inspected six times daily to check against decongestion and dehumanisation of inmates. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana