Custodial deaths have brought criminal justice to its knees

For decades, Sri Lanka has witnessed a grim and depressingly familiar pattern. Individuals held in the custody of the State, whether by the Police or the Prisons Department, have died under strikingly similar circumstances. The official explanation has become almost formulaic with the detainee, often described as an alleged underworld figure, taken to recover hidden weapons, attempted to escape or attack officers, and was fatally shot. These accounts have been repeated so often that they have ceased to invite scrutiny and have become a convenient script to justify deaths that demand the highest level of investigation.

Successive governments have failed to confront this phenomenon. Even more troubling is the role played by institutions entrusted with upholding the rule of law. The police, who are expected to impartially investigate custodial deaths, have failed to investigate their own. The Attorney General’s Department, responsible for prosecuting those implicated in criminal wrongdoing, has never pursued meaningful accountability. The judiciary, which must insist upon due process and protect constitutional rights, has too been unable or unwilling to ensure that those responsible are brought before the law. Whether through institutional inertia, deliberate neglect, or outright complicity, the justice system has repeatedly failed to hold perpetrators accountable.

The ongoing high-profile extortion investigation has exposed what appears to be the logical and disturbing evolution of years of impunity. In a remarkable revelation, the son of a former Justice Minister and several associates have been accused of obtaining Rs. 120 million in exchange for ensuring that an underworld figure held in State custody would ‘not be killed.’  The allegations are extraordinary not merely because of the amount involved, but because they reportedly implicate individuals occupying the highest levels of law enforcement and and Government,

Minister in-charge of the Police, and a former Secretary to the President. Although investigators have yet to officially confirm these wider allegations, their very existence should alarm every citizen.

According to information that has emerged, the alleged extortionists cited the extrajudicial killing of notorious underworld figure Makandure Madush as proof that the detainee’s life was genuinely at risk while in police custody. That such an argument could carry credibility is itself a damning indictment of the State. It reflects a public perception that custodial deaths are neither exceptional nor accidental, but an accepted feature of the criminal justice system.

This is the inevitable consequence of decades of inaction. When extrajudicial killings are ignored, they cease to be isolated abuses and instead become opportunities for exploitation. What began as a failure to investigate unlawful deaths has allegedly evolved into a sophisticated racketeering enterprise, where individuals with influence can profit by offering “protection” from the very institutions responsible for safeguarding those in custody. Such a situation represents not merely corruption, but a complete collapse of the rule of law.

Public confidence in the Police, the Attorney General’s Department, and the broader justice system has been severely eroded. Citizens cannot be expected to trust institutions that appear incapable of protecting even those under their direct control or unwilling to investigate credible allegations against their own officers and officials.

Even at this late stage, there remains an opportunity to arrest this institutional decay. Every custodial death, regardless of the victim’s alleged crimes or reputation, must be treated as a potential extrajudicial killing and investigated independently, transparently, and without political interference. Those responsible, regardless of rank or office, must be prosecuted and punished.