Those detained after the recent protests were beaten up in police custody
According to the President of the Committee for the Protection of Prisoners’ Rights (CPRP), attorney at law Senaka Perera, there have been increasing complaints that police are abusing the state of emergency to torture people in custody. He claims that there have been numerous reports of torture while detained.
“It is now widely known that many of those detained following the recent protests were beaten up in police custody or on remand.” Victims are often afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation. Some have been threatened with not filing complaints with authorities such as the Human Rights Commission. When they file complaints with the Human Rights Commission, criminal officials visit their homes and threaten them to withdraw their complaints or face repercussions. “This is a sad situation,” says Senaka Perera, attorney at law.
“Police abuses have been reported, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention.” The government’s independent oversight of the police should be restored, and police abuses should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted. Convicted inmates were allegedly mistreated, and many victims suffered in silence.
We received a complaint from a Kuruwita Prison inmate named Jeevananda Rajapakse. He was forced to withdraw a complaint against a police officer. The detainee was severely beaten as a result of his delay. A case has been filed against the officer. Chamara William, who reported police torture in detention to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, has since vanished. In his complaint, he claims that he was brutally beaten while in custody.
The police arrested him while he was being treated at the Negombo hospital. Nobody knows where he is after that.
Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch’s South Asia Director, recently stated, “Instead of correcting their actions, the Sri Lankan police continue to perpetuate their history of grave abuses.
” The United Nations, the United Kingdom, and others working with law enforcement in Sri Lanka must recognize that their involvement may appear to condone abusive institutions in the absence of Sri Lanka’s political will to reform. “This is a bad situation,” lawyer Senaka Perera says.
