THE Garda Siochana is criticised in the annual international report on human rights abuses by Amnesty International for the alleged ill-treatment of people questioned about the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick last year.
The report, published today, also states that a human rights researcher was threatened with arrest while she was interviewing people who made allegations of ill-treatment.
"Some of those who were released without charge also complained that they had been subjected to physical and psychological ill-treatment while in police custody," the report states.
Gardai have denied the allegations and Amnesty states that in reply to contacts about the case, the Government said it was reviewing the provisions regulating detainee's rights as well as the composition and operation of the Garda Complaints Board.
The report says one of the men arrested suffered injuries to his head and body and suffered periods of unconsciousness. Another was taken to hospital four times.
Amnesty says it wrote to the Government and expressed "concern about the apparent lack of adequate safeguards to prevent the ill-treatment of people held in policy custody and during interrogation, including the recording of such interviews and the presence of lawyers during interrogations".
Amnesty is also highly critical of republican and loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland over punishment beatings.
The report, which includes reports on rights abuses from around the world, records that republicans tied people to railings upside down and beat them. One victim of this type of punishment was a 16-year-old boy.