Serving justice

Six people including five police officers were found guilty of assaulting a suspect to death while in custody by the Badulla High Court on Monday showing an instance when justice has prevailed in a custodial death. The verdict is yet another example of why police torture needs to be dealt with at a national policy level. 

Last month, a UN rights watchdog called on Sri Lanka to investigate “routine torture” of detainees by security forces and rebuked the Government for failing to prosecute war crimes committed during the war. Despite several steps by the Government, torture remains systemic within the law enforcement system and a much stronger effort is needed to protect human rights.

In a report, the United Nations Committee against Torture cited continuing reports of abductions of people disappearing into “white vans”, deaths in custody, poor conditions of detention and the use of forced confessions in court.

Despite the Sri Lankan Government’s efforts to reassure the international community, the panel of 10 independent experts also voiced alarm that a member of the government delegation sent to Geneva was suspected of holding “command responsibility” over the most notorious Colombo centre for abuse in the last two years of the conflict.

The recommendations cited “consistent reports” from national and UN sources that torture remains common in regular criminal investigations and is often used in an environment of impunity.

However, the number of complaints of torture has been declining in the last three years, from 600 complaints in 2013 to 420 complaints in 2015 and about 208 in 2016, according to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. But even the current numbers are high, showing that little change has been made within the police to protect suspects against torture.

The HRCSL says the prevailing culture of impunity where those accused of torture is concerned is also a contributing factor to the routine use of torture as a means of interrogation and investigation. Police routinely use transfers to cover up the most heinous of acts, essentially giving offenders license to continue their despicable practices even in the case of custodial deaths.

The current Government continues to underplay the prevalence of torture with the strongest example of this being the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code which will restrict the rights of those who have been arrested to have access to their lawyers. The new amendment will provide security forces with the power to obtain statements from detained suspects before they have access to legal representation. Activists have said the move will encourage the use of torture and statements made under duress.

However, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has disappointingly sided with law enforcement authorities, insisting the amendment will not impact “law abiding citizens”, and defended the challenges faced by policing in catching wrongdoers. This blatant disregard for human rights and the golden principle of “innocent until proven guilty” is unacceptable at a time when the Government claims it is dedicated to structural changes that will end abuse endured over many years.

The insensitivity of the Government borders on carelessness in allowing such a policy that clearly disadvantages vulnerable groups to be implemented. The oft trotted out excuse that torture happens because of a “few bad apples” within the police is grossly understating the obvious and letting down the public’s right to protection as enshrined in the Constitution.