Reflections on Sri Lanka’ Constitution

Posted on October 7, 2010 by srilankalawlessness
H.A. Parackrama Karunaratne (28) of No. 34, Badiwewa, Ma Oya,Jayanthipura, Polonnaruwa went to make a complaint of gambling near his house. He was arrested, tortured and hand cuffed to a tree while his other wrist was cuffed to his leg by a sergeant of the Ma Oya Police Post on 26 April 2010.

The picture above speaks for itself. It depicts what happened to a young man who went to get police assistance to stop illegal gambling happening near his house.

When the man went to police station to find about what action had been taken on his complaint the police sergeant who had earlier taken down the complaint behaved strangely. The picture shows what he did to the complainant.

Why did the sergeant do that? No Sri Lankan will find it hard to guess — the gamblers knew how to get the police officer on their side.

There is nothing unusual about the story. It is now, more often than not an example of what happens in both small and very serious matters.

The citizen that does the right thing gets into trouble and one who dares to do wrong thrives — in everything — business, politics et all.

The situation prevailing in the country is what is known as abysmal lawlessness. To go by the law is to be the loser while the law breaker is the winner.

The all important question is how did this come about? How did this happen? The answer is very simple – it was by way of the country’s constitution, which was adopted in 1978. It was a constitution made to defeat law and discipline; to create an almighty ruler, who is above the law — a supremo — a brother who is number one.

The result is the chaos we see every day.

To fail to understand this is to fail to understand anything about Sri Lanka.

Without law, without control of corruption, what can policing mean, except what is depicted in this cartoon.

The case mentioned above took place a short time ago. For details please refer to the story below; (more…)

Filed under: abductions, Constitution, corruption, fundermental rights, illegal arrest, illegal detention, Judiciary, justice, police, politics, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Enjoying Revenge

Posted on August 24, 2010 by srilankalawlessness

Two cabinet ministers laughed in public about the police assault of two opposition Members of Parliament at the Galle police station. They added to their laughter by adding to the story, saying that nothing else is to be expected when anyone tries to assault police officers inside a police station. That was a twist to their merriment. The two ministers were also showing that truth is whatever they say it is. Truth was unimportant. They also referred to JVP’s past, saying they have done this kind of thing in the past. Ha, Ha, Ha.

If a Tory MP was assaulted, by some strange chance, the reaction of the Labor government (or vice versa) would be very different. There would have been an expression of horror and immediately there would have been action against the police officers through a high level inquiry. The political coloring of the victim MPS would have been irrelevant. The status of the Members of the Parliament would have been the primary consideration. All attempts would been taken to assure the public that such things are not taken lightly.

The least that the two ministers could have done before they opened their mouth on the incident was call for an inquiry and to wait for the report. That way they could have kept their own dignity and helped to preserve the dignity of the position of the members of parliament. (more…)

Filed under: civil war, extrajudicial killings, human rights, justice, police, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Nattami who fought against police brutality

Posted on June 3, 2010 by srilankalawlessness

Ugly Things and Beautiful People—Part 1

 He was an old man, surely over the age of 70. He wore a sarong and an old shirt. By looking at him one could tell that he was obviously a very strong person. He was tall and dark in complexion. One day he went to talk to two lawyers; both were much younger than he and physically lesser in stature and he had no particular reason to trust either of them. However, he had come in search of help and knew that he needed to talk to them. He had already tried with a few others and failed but could not afford to give up.

He repeated his story to two lawyers. It was about his 17-year-old grandson who had been arrested by the police for no apparent reason. Having learned of the arrest he went to the police station and found the boy lying unconscious on the floor of a holding cell. Thinking that the boy was dead he cried out in anguish; a cry that came from the depths of his soul. He then shouted out at the top of his voice, “You have killed my grandson”. (more…)

Filed under: abductions, attorney general, civil society, corruption, extrajudicial killings, human rights, illegal arrest, Judiciary, justice, police, Poverty, Sri Lanka, Supreme Court, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Samples of brutality that happened in the late eighties

Posted on May 6, 2010 by srilankalawlessness

MCM Iqbal, Secretary to several commissions of inquiry in Involuntary Disappearances recalls some of narratives of cases told by witness before the commissions. This is from a taped interview with Basil Fernando

 Since I was secretary at two of the separate evidence commissions that were conducting inquiries into disappearances during the so-called period of terror, from the late 1980s to the middle of the 1990s I was able to listen to the evidence given by many of the complainants personally, I was present when the inquiries were being conducted.

And some of the cases remain in my mind, because they were so gory, such brutal cases that I can recollect most of the information pertaining to them. I will just narrate a few of them to give a sample of the kind of brutality that existed during that period.

There was a mother, she was about 60 or a little more than that, who came before the commission. She said that since her son had disappeared, she had been looking for him everywhere until she heard from somebody that there were hundreds of heads of people who had been killed and planted on posts around the valley, on Kappetipola Road in the hill country of Sri Lanka. (more…)

Filed under: abductions, child rights, civil society, corruption, disappearances, human rights, police, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations, witness protection | Leave a Comment »

Sri Lanka: The Emergence of the Power of the Intelligence Apparatus

Posted on April 23, 2010 by srilankalawlessness

A Book Review

A Comment By Tapan Bose

 The book “Sri Lanka: Impunity, Criminal Justice and Human Rights” authored by Basil Fernando and published by the Asian human Rights Commission is about Sri Lanka’s descent into utter lawlessness. The book is not a chronicle of events. The book provides us an insight into “abysmal lawlessness and the zero status of the citizens”, the militarisation of the state, the bypassing of the constitution and the levels of impunity that the executive enjoys.The author inquires into how such a situation could arise in Sri Lanka where the institution of parliamentary democracy was introduced nearly eight decades ago.

Basil Fernando tells us that the very foundation of Universal Human Rights, which is based on the concept of “equality for all” and “equal treatment before the law” remains an alien notion to the ruling elite of these countries. These countries might have adopted constitutions that granted basic fundamental rights to all citizens and ratified various international human rights covenants. Yet among the ruling elite of the post colonial countries of South Asia, the ruling elite continued to remain rooted into the region’s feudal and caste based systems of governance and justice. The sad reality is that even after sixty years of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and enormous investment by the UN and other international agencies in the propagation, education and training in Human rights, the vary basic of these rights are still not available to the people of the countries of South Asia. (more…)

Filed under: civil society, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, fundermental rights, Judiciary, justice, media, rule of law, Supreme Court, torture | Leave a Comment »

Conversations – Sri Lanka: A murder tolerating nation – Part One

Posted on December 20, 2009 by srilankalawlessness

(This is first of a series of conversations on the contemporary situation of Sri Lanka)

“The rebels were marked by their anarchic tendencies rather than in trying to fight back against what are evil in society with a view to create a better society. They showed a similar lack of concern for the security of human life as the state itself. Thus the situation that remained within the Sri Lankan context is one where murder is by the state as well as the rebels.”

 What we are facing in Sri Lanka today can be described without any exaggeration as a very crazy situation. There is hardly anything rational that an average citizen could expect from his society.

The saddest aspect of this craziness is the level of fear that is spread through the entire society. Nobody wishes to do what would normally be called the right thing or the better thing because of the type of repercussions that can be expected to their lives or the lives of their families.

Let us take the case of a doctor who sees the gross neglect that is around his patients. If he sees the lack of medicine or the lack of basic facilities he finds difficulty to speak and talk about these things. In private conversations he might. Otherwise he will not make any kind of visible protest in order to get things done. (more…)

Filed under: abductions, civil society, corruption, crime, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, human rights, justice, media, police, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Seeking human rights in Sri Lanka is difficult

Posted on December 12, 2009 by srilankalawlessness

The world Human Rights Day on Thursday passed in Sri Lanka without anything to celebrate in terms of positive achievements in the area of human rights. In fact, looking for human rights in Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly similar to finding water on the moon or in a desert.

Permissiveness of corruption that has begun to permeate all areas of life is virtually destroying all possibilities of achieving human rights, either in the field of civil and political rights or social, economic and cultural rights. It is also destroying all mechanisms of good governance. Naturally, groups that suffer the most are also the most vulnerable in society like women, children, elderly and ethnic minorities.

The system of executive presidency that exists in Sri Lanka is very similar to the system of absolute power of monarchies. This has undermined the parliamentary system and the judicial system, which had developed to some extent in the past.

In recent decades, admiration for dictatorships that developed within two major political parties, the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party helped to promote the system of executive presidency. The president in Sri Lanka is above the law and there is nothing in the legal system, which can exercise any form of checks and balances to control the abuse of power by the president. (more…)

Filed under: abductions, civil society, corruption, crime, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, human rights, justice, police, politics, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Reform of a police system rotten at the top

Posted on December 10, 2009 by srilankalawlessness

“Within a rule of law system, the only kind of punishment that is allowed is the punishments that are authorized through the operation of due process, through the orders given by the judiciary itself.”
…………………………………………………………………

 The problem of policing is very much at the forefront of discussion these days. It would not be of much use to delve into details of all the accusations that are made against the police, which are usually being repeated all the time. It is better, rather, to go into the core issues of solutions, if there is a solution to this problem at all.

The central problem with the Sri Lankan policing system is to do with the very top of the profession itself. The policing system is a hierarchical system that is run from top to bottom. The problem of policing in Sri Lanka today is a problem that remains at the very top. The officers from the rank of the Assistant Superintendent of Police, (known as ASP’s,) to the position of the Inspector General of Police, (known as IGP) are the persons who bear the responsibility of running the policing system. It is this top ranks that is really the problem of policing in Sri Lanka, and without dealing with these top ranks, talking about a better policing system for the future is a futile exercise. (more…)

Filed under: civil society, corruption, crime, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, human rights, IGP, illegal arrest, illegal detention, justice, police, politics, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

The Phantom Limb: Failing judicial systems, torture and human rights work in Sri Lanka

Posted on December 5, 2009 by srilankalawlessness

A Study of Police Torture in Sri Lanka by Morten Koch Andersen and Basil Fernando

This study is a result of the cooperation between the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT).

 The study was done in January 2008 and the data was processed during April and May 2008 at the AHRC office in Hong Kong. The idea and outline of the study was developed by Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission and the processing and analysis of the data and the writing of the report was completed by Morten Koch Andersen of RCT.

The study seeks to explore the routine use of torture by the police and illuminate the widespread violence and human rights violations that are part of everyday life in Sri Lanka. It seeks to show the apparent neglect of the Sri Lankan state to stop these atrocities and provide adequate protection and remedies for the victims by ignoring publicly (more…)

Filed under: civil society, corruption, crime, human rights, police, politics, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations | Leave a Comment »

Anniversary of Gerald Perera’s murder: The ASP who was never prosecuted

Posted on November 24, 2009 by srilankalawlessness

Gerald became a friend of mine through unfortunate circumstances. He was the victim of torture at the hands of an Assistant Superintendent of Police and a group of policemen attached to the Wattala police station.

Further misfortune was to follow. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, presided over by late Justice Mark Fernando, granted him all the relief that he claimed by holding against all police officers and awarding a recorded sum as compensation in a fundamental rights case.

It was only at this stage that Attorney General’s department thought of launching a criminal investigation against the police officers, which finally led to the filing of an indictment under the Convention Against Torture Act. (more…)

Filed under: abductions, civil society, corruption, crime, extrajudicial killings, human rights, justice, police, rule of law, Sri Lanka, torture, violations, witness protection | Leave a Comment »

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