Mr. I. G. Pushpakumara (30) a navy officer said to be assigned to VIP security who was on home leave was beaten to death by a mob who believed that he was trying to escape after committing the theft of a mobile phone.
When a crowd chased this navy officer, as some people shouted thief it is reported that he tried to fend off the crowd by firing his navy issue pistol into the air. However, the crowd grabbed the officer, pulled him down and thereafter he was hit with stones and poles and also stabbed in the back. The injuries at the post mortem shows serious head injuries, injuries at the base of the skull and lower jaw. The face had been severely damaged by attacks with blunt instruments. There were injuries to the buttocks which were of non-fatal nature. There were also severe injuries to the chest and back, also suggesting attacks with blunt instruments. He was brought to Kalubowila hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The post mortem was conducted at the hospital and the investigations are being conducted the Dehiwila police.
It is reported that about 15 persons have been questioned by the police and nine persons have been arrested. At the scene of the crime heavy stones and poles suspected to have been used in the attack were found.
The Asian Human Rights Commission has in the past cautioned on many occasions that the type of lawlessness that is spreading in the country is likely to spill into mob violence and killings of suspected criminals. The license to kill alleged criminals has grown in the last few years with the silent encouragement of the former Inspector General of Police for the disposal of alleged criminals by extrajudicial means. Many deaths due to alleged attempts by the suspects to escape police custody have been reported in recent times. Hardly any investigations follow after such killings. The AHRC has also earlier pointed out the growing habit of magistrates declaring justifiable homicide after inquests into such deaths, thus preventing further inquiries into the case resulting in denial of trial into such murders.
In countries where the rule of law has suffered serious setbacks killings of alleged criminals is quite a common phenomenon. In the absence of faith in the institutions of justice mobs take the law into their own hands. It has been commonly reported in Cambodia, for example, that such deaths often happen when the people themselves decide on the fate of alleged suspects of crimes and subject them to death by stoning and other dreadful methods.
The AHRC has constantly pointed out that Sri Lanka suffers from an exceptional collapse of the rule of law. The police investigation system has suffered extreme setbacks and often the serious inquiring officers themselves become victims at the hands of some corrupt elements in the policing system itself alleged to be working together with the underground. The murder of IP Douglas Nimal and his wife has been seen as a clear demonstration of this phenomenon. No one has been arrested for these murders even after the new IGP reopened the inquiries. Long delays in courts also have alienated the people from seeking justice through legal channels. The sheer desperation that results due to the loss of faith in the justice process is now manifesting itself in acceptance of extrajudicial killings which have now spilled into mob killings of alleged suspects.
The Chief Justices tractor is stolen from his house
In another demonstration of the lawlessness spreading throughout the country there were television reports of a tractor belonging to the Chief Justice (CJ) being stolen from one of his residence. The caretaker of the house gave details of the robbery which suggests that even a heavier vehicle may have been used for the transport of the tractor. The caretaker told the reporters that despite of the fact that the police are required to make routine patrols and sign post books at the CJs residence such visits had not been made for quite some time. The television reporters used the incident of this robbery to demonstrate the extent to which crime is spreading in the country and how the policing system has failed. The reporters openly called on the Inspector General of Police to explain how this type of thing can take place. The caretaker of the house queried if this could happen to such a high ranking person as the Chief Justice what is the security available to the ordinary folk in the country?
Lawlessness has become the most troubling day-to-day experience of people throughout the country. This is also aggravated by the increase of people possessing firearms without proper legal permits throughout the country. In the north and the east the carrying of arms by civilians has been a very visible feature. However, the rest of the country including the capital itself is seeing an increasing spread of firearms. The purchasing of firearms and grenades is no longer a difficult task in any part of the country.
The kidnappings and forced disappearances that frequently occur are also often related to attempts at ransoms and for other criminal purposes. Despite of the police claims to be investigating these crimes hardly any person has been prosecuted. The police reports also show the involvement of the police and military personnel in such criminal acts.
The AHRC once more reiterates its position that what Sri Lanka faces is an exceptional collapse of the rule of law. It is the duty of the legislators and the ruling regime to address this issue. However, there seems to be no attempt on the part of the parliament or the executive to deal with this issue by way of any comprehensive strategy. Talk of crime prevention remains at pious promises and there is no visible action on this issue. It is once again the burden of civil society itself to open the discourse of overcoming this situation of lawlessness. If this discourse does not rise with great vigour descent into mob violence may become an even more frequent phenomenon.
(For further information please follow these links:
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/716/;
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/946/;
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/943/)
