Torture of suspects in police custody alleged

Complaints against police abusing the Emergency regulation to torture people under custody have increased, says the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP).Chairman of CPRP, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera said that there were complaints from victims of torture.

“It is now a known fact that many who had been taken into custody, following recent protests, were beaten in police custody, or remand custody. In most of the cases, the victims do not come forward in fear of reprisals, or some had been intimidated not to take their complaints to authorities, such as the Human Rights Commission. When they go before the Human Rights Commission the perpetrator officers visit them at home and threaten to withdraw their complaints or to face repercussions.

This is a sad situation,” Perera said.Perera said that there were reports of police abuses including include alleged extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. The government should restore independent oversight of the police and meaningfully investigate and prosecute alleged police abuses.Perera said that the convict inmates undergo cruel treatment and many victims were forced to suffer in silence. “We received a complaint from an inmate in Kuruwita prison by the name of Jeewananda Rajapaksa. He had been forced to withdraw a complaint against an officer. Since the inmate delayed the withdrawal he had been beaten severely. Now a case against the officer is pending,” Perera said.

One Chamara William, who had lodged a complaint against torture under custody against police at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, had later gone missing and still his whereabouts are unknown.  In his complaint he alleged of brutal beating under custody. He was receiving treatment at the Negombo Hospital and from there he had been taken away by the police. Thereafter his whereabouts are unknown.

South Asia Director at Human Rights Watch Meenakshi Ganguly has, in a recent statement, said: “Sri Lanka’s police seem intent on building on their past record of serious abuses, instead of cleaning up their act. “The UN, UK, and others working with Sri Lankan law enforcement should recognize that without the political will to reform on Sri Lanka’s part, their engagement risks appearing to endorse abusive agencies.”