Laws against torture misread: HRW

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed grave concern over the abusive practices resorted to by the Police in handling criminal suspects to obtain confessions and have pointed out that although existing laws are adequate to protect persons against such abuse, they are treated as ‘mere suggestions and not as required police procedures’. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams, in a media statement yesterday following the issue of the organization’s research report on Police torture cases titled ‘We Live in Constant Fear: Lack of Accountability for Police Abuse in Sri Lanka’has noted this disregard towards following stipulated police procedures is an unfortunate situation.

He points out that the Police has used torture as an ordinary way of obtaining confessions and has used torture falsely to ‘resolve’ cases that have not really been resolved.

The HRW’s 59-page report has documented torture methods that have been used by the Sri Lanka Police against suspects to which includes severe beatings, electric shock, suspension from ropes in painful positions and rubbing chilli paste on genitals and eyes. The report further states that factors including arbitrary arrests, failure to properly investigate crime scenes, failure to bring detainees before a Magistrate within 24 hours and other police mistreatment end up contributing to the use of torture instead of undertaking a more timeconsuming process of gathering evidence through investigations.

The HRW has called upon the authorities to create an independent oversight authority and to adopt concrete steps to end police abuse.