An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC.
Sri Lanka–A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture
Chathuri Tharangani is a 25 year old sociology graduate at the University of Kelaniya. In the following interview she expresses her views on policing in her country (this is a translation).
What do you think of the policing system of Sri Lanka?
I think this police system should be changed. I think so because we are all human beings and we need equal treatment. Although we belong to different social status, we all need a good service from state authorities. Otherwise it will be turn to a crisis situation. If we take our Sri Lanka police as an example there are so many possibilities of such crisis. In fact such a crisis already exists. Let us take some incidents–the two killings in Angulana; both young boys, the assault of the student named Nipuna Ramanayake, the murder of the youth named Lalantha in Migahawela, the murder of Gerald Mervin Perera and the murder of Sugath Nishanta Fernando. Now in the situation of Sri Lanka it is difficult to keep the statistics both on the killings caused by motor accidents and by assaults of police. To this extent the police have become barbaric. We have to talk like this way when we consider the actions of the entire police. There are police officer who are good, loyal and law abiding in our country but those are very few in number.
What do you think of use of torture by police?
Before people became civilized, the whole society itself protected the peace in their tribes. At that era the wrong doer was punished in a serious barbaric way. These types of punishments were visible in the rule of kings. We can take the example of thirty two ways of torture called ‘dethismahawada’. When people became civilized step by step, those things were moved away from the society. Today the institution called police has been established and its duty is to protect the society. But it is difficult to say that they do their duties well because their ‘mission’ now is torture. The people do commit wrongs but there should be a method to punish them. (The police in Sri Lanka turn innocent people into criminals by producing false evidence.) Offenders should be punished by the courts not by the police. In Sri Lanka these two roles are being inter-changed because the police do what the judiciary only should do. We can’t agree with the police torture. The police should be a people’s institution which has to ensure the protection of people.
How is the relationship between the police and the people?
To answer this question, we can divide the people into two categories; one, the politicians and the rich businessmen and the second, the powerless uneducated poor people. The relationship between the police and these two categories are different. The police take action on behalf of the first category very quickly. For second category their actions are the use of abusive language and bribes. We cannot say that the relationship between the police and the people is a success.
Will you go to a police station of you have a problem?
Before going to a police station I think not just twice but three or four times. We fear how many problems we have to face instead of the one problem we go to the police for. Another thing is that we don’t know whether we will leave a police station in the same condition that we entered in.
Is there a law on domestic violence in your country?
I do not have a clear understanding as to whether there is a law or not regarding domestic violence. I heard talks of various organizations about domestic violence through media.
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
