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Dr. Lyal S. Sunga,
Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong
Almost every country,
including Sri Lanka, recognizes that torture counts as one of the
most pernicious violations of human dignity. Not only does the
systematic and widespread use of torture traumatize the victim
and his or her family, but it terrorizes the community as a whole
and undermines the rule of law throughout the country.
Anyone concerned about
human rights must welcome the release of the special report of
the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) entitled 'Torture by
the Police in Sri Lanka' as part of the Centre's article
2 publication. The report details 22 recent case studies of
torture perpetrated by the police in Sri Lanka, not in the
context of the longstanding armed conflict that has raged there,
but in the course of 'regular' business. Drawing on
authoritative, publicly available sources, such as the reports of
the Judicial Medical Officer, official Supreme Court
applications, complaints, orders and judgements, and other
judicial records and testimony, the ALRC report uncovers a
shocking pattern of human rights abuse. Many of the cases involve
severe abuse suffered at the hands of police, often in connection
with petty or unwarranted accusations and property disputes, or
seemingly without any reason at all. Once in detention, victims
have suffered rape, severe beatings, and even murder. The pattern
of abuse has come to the attention also of the British
Broadcasting Corporation (Sinhala Service), the Geneva-based
World Organization against Torture (OMCT), Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch, among many other groups.
Various organs of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights have also looked into
the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, but mainly as regards
the armed conflict (see Report of the Special Rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr Bacre Waly
Ndiaye submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights
resolution 1997/61; UN Commission on Human Rights
(E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.2 of 12 March 1998) and also
E/CN.4/1998/38/Add.1; the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the
independence of judges and lawyers, Mr Param Cumaraswamy,
submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 1999/31
(E/CN.4/2000/61/Add.2 of 24 March 2000); the Report submitted by
Ms Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary-General
on human rights defenders, pursuant to the Commission on Human
Rights resolution 2000/61 (E/CN.4/2002/106 of 27 February 2002);
the Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women,
its causes and consequences, Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy, submitted
in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/49
(E/CN.4/2002/83/Add.1 of 28 January 2002); the Report of the
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(E/CN.4/2000/64 of 21 December 1999); and the Report of the
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the
visit to Sri Lanka by a member of the Working Group on Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances (25-29 October 1999)
(E/CN.4/2000/64/Add.1 21 December 1999).
Now that peace seems
to be at hand in Sri Lanka, the government must seize the
opportunity to re-establish human rights and the rule of law, not
only in former conflict zones, but throughout the country. The
immediate challenge for the government is to show its seriousness
actually to implement the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Act, No. 22,
it adopted in 1994, and to compensate victims for the immense
suffering they have endured.
Perhaps most
important, the ALRC report makes well-thought out and
constructive recommendations to the government to eradicate
torture in Sri Lanka in a feasible and sustained way. Now it is
up to the government and all other responsible bodies and organs
to seriously tackle the problem
Professor Michael
C. Davis, Chinese University of Hong Kong
This report
['Torture committed by the police in Sri Lanka'] is of
great significance in the effort to close the gap between
international commitments and action. Publicity is often the only
instrument available to close this gap. But too often these kind
of abuses are ignored when countries are off the front page of
the international media. In this case we are talking not only
about a gap between international standards and local practice
but also a gap between local laws and local enforcement. This is
precisely the kind of problem that Article 2 aims to address. In
the absence of local and international enforcement, attention to
this report is vital to progress in this important area.
Asia Forum for
Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia), Bangkok
In response to the
report on torture in Sri Lanka issued by the Asian Legal Resource
Centre (ALRC), a sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development (Forum-Asia) calls on the Sri Lankan government to
take action to stop the widespread use of torture by law
enforcement agencies in Sri Lanka.
The ALRC report,
launched today, details case studies of torture committed by
police during routine criminal investigations. Cases include:
• A pregnant
woman who lost her child after being kicked repeatedly in the
abdomen by police officers seeking to arrest her husband, who was
not home.
• The case, which
has received extensive media coverage, of a 10-year old and a
12-year-old who were tortured by police investigating a theft
from a school canteen. The boys were hung upside-down and beaten
on the soles of their feet, had sharp objects inserted under
their fingernails, were beaten with clubs, had their hair pulled
with pliers, and one had his testicles slammed in a drawer. The
boys were admitted to hospital for several weeks and are still
suffering from the psychological and physical effects of the
torture.
• A man who was
mistakenly arrested, without a warrant, in relation to a homicide
case was blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back, hung
from a beam and beaten with an iron bar for one hour before being
laid on the floor and burnt with matches. The man remains in a
critical condition in intensive care.
Forum-Asia welcomes
the resumption of peace-talks between the Sri Lankan Government
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and congratulates
both sides on the success of recent talks held in Sattahip,
Thailand. However, it notes that all cases of torture documented
in the ALRC report are from police stations in non-conflict
zones, indicating that the problem is independent of the internal
armed conflict situation.
[With regards to the
report,] Somchai Homlaor, Forum-Asia Secretary-General said,
"The obvious disrespect for normal legal procedure on behalf
of the police force and the culture of impunity which has allowed
most perpetrators of torture to escape prosection is a serious
threat to the rule of law in Sri Lanka."
In 1994 Sri Lanka made
torture by a state officer a serious offence punishable by not
less than a seven-year jail sentence. However, to date, no-one
has been charged under this legislation.
Forum-Asia urges the
Sri Lankan government not to allow human rights violations such
as torture to go unpunished, and to implement serious reforms of
the police force and Attorney General's Department in order
to address the endemic and systemic use of torture by police in
Sri Lanka.
World Organisation
Against Torture, Geneva
The International
Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the
world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations
collaborating in the fight against torture, has the pleasure of
announcing the release of a special report by the Asian Legal
Resource Centre (ALRC), entitled 'Torture committed by the
police in Sri Lanka'.
OMCT is gravely
concerned by the practice of torture in Sri Lanka, which OMCT
considers to be systematic as defined by the UN Committee Against
Torture, and it is accompanied by near-total impunity for the
perpetrators, despite the fact that Sri Lanka is a State Party to
the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and has
legislation at the national level designed, in theory, to make
the act of torture illegal and punishable. OMCT also decries the
lack of an effective and implemented mechanism that is able to
ensure that adequate reparation is given to the victims and their
families.
OMCT recalls that
under Article 2.1 of the Convention Against Torture, "each
State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative,
judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any
territory under its jurisdiction".
OMCT has denounced a number of cases of torture in Sri Lanka
during 2002, with the information provided by ALRC's
sister-organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission, a member
of OMCT's SOS-Torture network, and therefore welcomes and
supports the release of this special report, containing as it
does, both detailed case studies and important, highly relevant
and far-reaching recommendations to a range of institutions and
groups, which pave the way for much needed change to this very
grave situation.
* These comments were received in response to the special
report, 'Torture committed by the police in Sri Lanka',
published in article 2, vol. 1, no. 4, August 2002.
Posted on 2002-11-22
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