Sri Lanka: widespread police torture of innocent civilians
Colombo (AsiaNews) - No longer defenders of the law, but sadistic torturers of innocent people: so much so, that several human rights groups have denounced a part of the Sri Lankan police, accused of using "unorthodox" methods to interrogate their suspects. Right to Life, an NGO in the country, organized a meeting yesterday, in which some victims spoke of their experience. Their stories were heard by local religious leaders, members of the opposition and civil society representatives.
Torture is a
regular practice in many police stations, since the time of the Civil War (which
endedin 2009, ed.) Recently,
however, many innocent victims have had the courage to report the abuse. The
latest case was that of Nilupul Aruna Indika, 39, an interior decorator
originally from Mahagedara (Kalutara district). The
man was arrested on May 27 following accusations of stealing from a recently
restored house he had been working on.
Once
at the police station, the police knocked Nilupul down, forced him to keep his
eyes open and poured chili juice into them. The
man tried to pull away, but officers captured him with a chair by sitting on him.
Despite
the pain, the victim continued to deny having committed the crime, because he
was innocent. According
to the testimony of man, one of the police then said "This is not working",
and together with colleagues stripped him and poured the chili juice on his
genitals. Only
the arrival of a providential acquaintance - an Irish national - who was
looking for him, meant that the police let him go.
The
story of Nilupul is not an isolated case, and the use of chili is becoming
more common as an instrument of torture.
In
the face of more than 1500 cases of torture reported by human rights
organizations over the last 18 years there have been only five convictions. According
to the U.S. State Department's Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2012, police torture is commonplace and must
be considered a major violation of human rights.
24/01/2007