While a report submitted to the 55th Human Rights Council session held this year has highlighted the worrying trend of torture and custodial and encounter deaths in Sri Lanka, the Public Security Ministry is, however, unaware of such a report being presented to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The report has been submitted by Pax Romana (International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs and International Movement of Catholic Students) with views expressed by the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP), the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), and other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Accordingly, it alleges that 24 custodial deaths and 13 encounter deaths involving the Police have been reported during the period from January 2020 to August 2023.
“In September 2020, Police reported threats made by a detainee named Janith Madushanka, alias ‘Podi Lassie,’ to another detainee named Tharaka Perera, alias ‘Kosgoda Tharaka,’ to the Galle Magistrate Court. Perera was subsequently shot dead by the Police in May 2021, despite the then President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) informing the Inspector General of Police (IGP) about an imminent threat against him the previous night.
“On 11 May 2021, Mabulage Dinith Melon Mabula, alias ‘Uru Juwa,’ who was in remand prison with ‘Podi Lassie’ in the Boossa Prison, was also shot dead by the Police. He had given statements to the Police that he had not heard ‘Podi Lassie’ making threats to anyone, as alleged by prison officials.
“In November 2021, another person, known as ‘Tinkering Lasantha,’ was killed in Police custody despite appeals from the then President of the BASL, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), and a Governor who is a presidential appointee,” the report alleged, pointing to three specific instances of custodial deaths in 2021.
The report specifically highlighted the death of Rajkumari in 2023, following her arrest on 11 May 2023 based on a complaint of theft filed by her employer. Four Police officers had been arrested with regard to her death.
The report had urged the Government of Sri Lanka to:
- Ensure the safety of suspects in Police custody and during operations to apprehend suspects
- Ensure independent and timely investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of those responsible
- Provide regular and detailed updates of investigations and prosecutions to the affected families and the general public
‘Common knowledge’
CPRP Chairman Sudesh Nandimal claimed that it was “common knowledge” that Police officials, prison officials, and State security officials carried out acts of torture. “We have complained about these reports of torture and deaths to Geneva,” he said.
“Deaths inside prisons have happened multiple times in the past few years. We have also complained about these inhumane murders that have taken place while suspects are in Police custody. We met specific representatives from the Human Rights Council and they showed a keen interest in this problem,” said Nandimal.
He further pointed to a recent report of a female prisoner who had died by suicide in the Welikada Prison. Prisons Media Spokesperson Gamini Dissanayake told The Sunday Morning that the incident had occurred at the beginning of March.
Meanwhile, the report also raised concerns about the appointment of former Senior DIG of the Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon to the position of Inspector General of Police, highlighting that the Supreme Court had found him responsible for torture.
“The Supreme Court had noted that Tennakoon had ordered the investigation that led to torture and other rights violations and that he had intimate knowledge of the investigation during which Police officers under Tennakoon had tortured several persons,” the report read.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, in his address at the 55th UNHRC session, said: “I remain deeply concerned about recurring, credible accounts received by my office of abductions, unlawful detention, and torture, including sexual violence, by the Sri Lankan Police and security forces, some of which allegedly took place in 2023, mainly in the north and east of the country.
“Last week, the appointment of a new Inspector General of Police was confirmed, despite the Supreme Court’s finding that he was responsible for torture of an individual in 2010.”
Nandimal also noted that the ‘Yukthiya’ operation, launched by the Police in December 2023 to curb drug trafficking and underworld violence in the country, had left a “black mark” on Sri Lanka.
Govt. response
However, Police Media Spokesperson DIG Nihal Thalduwa told The Sunday Morning that the number of custodial deaths as a percentage of the number of annual arrests was very low.
“Deaths due to the actions of officers are even less,” he said. “One suspect had recently jumped down the staircase and had been hospitalised. If he dies, that will also be counted as a custodial death,” said Thalduwa, highlighting the different types of incidents that occur within prisons.
“We are of the stance that any person in custody should be kept safely – this is part of our basic training. We emphasise this during our training and workshops. We undertake to ensure the safety of anyone in custody but there are human errors that arise when we work as humans. If there are 100,000 vehicles on the road, some will face traffic accidents,” said Thalduwa.
When contacted, Public Security Ministry Secretary Viyani Gunathilaka said they had not been informed of the report and would have to refer to it before commenting.
Multiple attempts to contact Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Ministry Secretary M.N. Ranasinghe regarding the matter proved futile.
copied by – https://www.themorning.lk/
