On the International day for the elimination of torture the special consideration of the extremely harsh conditions prevailing in Sri Lanka relating to the observance of human rights needs to be stressed. Abductions, forced disappearances, killing of persons after arrest, torture and other gross abuses of human rights are accompanied by the failure of the countrys policing system, the prosecution system under the Attorney General’s Department and the judicial system. This means that while violations of human rights are increasing, there are no legal mechanisms within the country capable of ending such violations, or even bringing them under some form of control. The agencies of the legal system, in fact, not only aid and abet, but contribute enormously, to the present situation.
It is no wonder that an international survey done by Fund for Peace has, for the second consequent year, named Sri Lanka among the worlds failed states. Among the criterion that is used by this group is the criminalization or de-legitimatization of the state, the progressive deterioration of public services, suspension or arbitrary application of the rule of law and widespread violations of human rights, the security apparatus acting as a state within a state, the massive movement of refugees or internally displaced persons creating complex humanitarian emergencies and chronic and sustained human flight. Perhaps what should be added to this list is the visible absence of any political leadership that is capable or willing to deal with the situation and to turn it around. In fact, the ruling regime is making things worse, as one of the regimes former colleagues, who opted to sit with the opposition, terms it a police state.
The specter of an exceptional collapse of the rule of law leading to the extraordinary collapse of the political system is what the people are experiencing in Sri Lanka.
In this background, last year saw a worsening of the situation regarding the use of torture in Sri Lanka. In previous years there were certain measures which were taken with a view to bring the situation under control. The most important of those measures was the adoption of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which provided for the creation of a Constitutional Council and several commissions to stop the progressive deterioration of the public service. This has been abandoned by the present regime and recourse to court by some concerned groups to get the 17th Amendment back into operation failed as the court held that they had no power to progressively interpret the presidential immunity granted through the Constitution. The constitutional provisions relating to the 17th Amendment specifically meant to stop the progressive deterioration of the public services were considered less important than the constitutional provisions relating to presidential immunity.
A further measure taken in previous years to deal with torture was to initiate prosecutions under the CAT Act, Act No. 22 of 1994. It is claimed that there are over 60 such cases before High Courts in the country. However, prosecutions in these cases suffer from some inherent defects in the legal system; the delays in adjudication in courts; the absence of witness protection and a dualist mentality that is prevailing within the prosecutors office, that is the Attorney General’s Department, have virtually defeated the possibility of effective prosecutions, capable of acting as a deterrence against the use of torture by the police. The result has been the continuous use of torture in almost all police stations on a routine basis despite of such prosecutions.
The colossal crisis of lawlessness that the country is facing has been manifested in many family killings and a glaring example of this is the Delgoda family massacre. The complete alienation of people from the police as well as the judicial system is resulting in various forms of cruelties that people perpetuate on each other as a way of dealing with their grievances. (See for details Sri Lanka: The Delgoda Family Massacre and Confronting Lawlessness http://www.ahrchk.net/pub/mainfile.php/delgoda/.
It is sad to observe that there is nothing within the political programmes or legal strategies in the country at the moment to prevent this situation from becoming even worse.
The prevention of torture day should be a reminder to all concerned persons in Sri Lanka and elsewhere that whatever may happen to turn this situation around can only happen through internal and external pressure. It is the obligation of everyone to exert every possible influence on the government and the opposition to take up the following measures:
Implement the provisions of the 17th Amendment forthwith;
Implement the requests made by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) immediately;
Seek the help of the international community to deal with the widespread lawlessness and the monitoring of human rights in the country.
