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For Immediate Release
3 October 2002
New Report Reveals Police Torture in Sri Lanka
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 ten-year old and a twelve year old child 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.
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 Department in order to address the endemic and systemic use of torture by police in Sri Lanka.
A full copy of the report is available online at http//www.article2.org/index.php.
ENDS
For further information or comments contact the Forum-Asia Media Office on +66-6 0605372 or media@forumasia.org
Posted on 2002-10-03
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