A statement for the commemoration of the independence of Sri Lanka

The 64th commemoration of Sri Lanka’s independence takes place at the time when the country’s justice system is in a hopeless crisis. The abuse of the judicial process for political reasons has created doubts about the independence of the judiciary itself. The government shows no will to respect the rule of law. The police and the Attorney General’s Department are immersed in problems that seem to defy any kind of [...]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mohamad Rasul (11) is a resident of No: 33/05, Palliyawatte, Poruthota, Koshshikade. Rasul was a student of Palanguthura Al-Fala School. On the 19 January after being subjected to severe torture by the principle Rasul was expelled from the school at 12.30 pm. Up to now Rasul remains missing. The officers attached to the Kochcikade Police Station are refusing to accept or investigate the complaint made by his mother.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mohamad [...]

SRI LANKA: Police denied justice to the student who was fatally assaulted

ISSUES: Denial of justice; impunity; rule of law

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Kaluthanthrige Jesus Deneicios Fernando (15), of No: 22/30, Asarappa Road, Asarappa Watte, Negombo was grievously assaulted by some hotel staff on the instigation of the hotel owner. He underwent serious surgery and remains in hospital. The Headquarters Inspector of the Negombo Headquarters Police Station will not carry out his [...]

On January 17 the Asian Human Rights Commission sent an open letter to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka on the issue of the AG’s Department taking over the defense of a Superintendent of Police in a private plaint. In that letter the AHRC said:

By this decision you will be protecting an accused charged before a court of law. This is very opposite to what an Attorney General who exercises the public prosecutors role is suppose to do. This is [...]

(PTI) Sri Lanka will conduct its first all island census in three decades in March, officials said today.

The census will be held on March 20 and the revision rounds will take place in the next two days, Suranjana Vidyaratne, director of the department of census and statistics said.

The two initial stages of mapping and listing of buildings have already been completed.

Vidyaratne said data collection of occupied homes and information gathering of persons who have gone abroad for a duration of [...]

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) calls for the establishment of an International Protection Mechanism to Protect Tamils in the island of Sri lanka. Declared Year 2012 as International Investigation Year.

December 28, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ — Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) calls for the establishment of an International Protection Mechanism to Protect Tamils in the island of Sri lanka. Declared Year 2012 as International Investigation Year.

TGTE’s third Parliamentary Session took place in Buffalo, New York, from December 14th to 17th [...]

Countries, like Britain, that are signed up to the 1951 United Nations Convention on refuges agree not to deport those claiming political asylum to their country of origin if their lives would be in jeopardy.

A recent report from the organisation Freedom from Torture indicates that, despite the war in Sri Lanka having ended over 2 years ago, in which government forces killed over 40,000 innocent civilians, torture is still rife. The report documents 35 cases of men and women who [...]

SKLPC(UK)

India Gardens

West End Road,

Northolt,

Middlesex,

UB5 6RE

Tel: 020 8733 8203

Act Now was recently passed a report by the group Freedom for Torture which was featured on C4 News and the Guardian. The document (copy attached) is more proof that torture is still rife in Sri Lanka. The group’s evidence is supported by the detailed forensic science reports of 35 different cases of men and women since 2009.

On Monday 7th November, a director of Act Now, Tim Martin, addressed a crowd outside 10 Downing street at a ceremony for [...]

(Asian Human Rights Commission)

The implications of the failure to prosecute Duminda Silva

The editor of the Sunday Leader, in an article entitled ‘The law is an ass’ questions the statement by a government spokesman that Duminda Silva is not a suspect in the killings of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others. Some members of Bharatha Lakshman’s family also condemned this in the bitterest terms and expressed their lack of faith in due process being carried out as there are powerful [...]

Human rights campaigners from a number of groups including Act Now, Tamil Solidarity and the Tamil Transnational Government (in exile) were out in Nailsea on Saturday calling on the local MP and Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, to support calls for an INDEPENDENT investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.  Prime Minister David Cameron and the Foreign Office have already backed that call.

Over 2,500 leaflets were distributed throughout the town and DVD’s of the recent Channel 4 documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s [...]

Sian Evans, the singer of the recent UK number one hit ‘Louder’ and lead vocalist of the band Kosheen, has backed Act Now’s campaign calling upon the United Nation’s Human Right’s Council (UNHRC) to demand an independent investigation into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Sian said " it’s time the UN and the International Community take action and hold those responsible of committing atrocities accountable."

The UNHRC will be meeting in October to decide upon their course of action [...]

According to reports yesterday, July 5, 2011, about 2,000 persons from the Kahawatte area participated in a protest demanding the removal of the police working in the area. The reason behind this protest is the inability of the police to effectively investigate the murders of seven women who were killed in separate incidents. The people fear that the failure of the police to bring the persons behind the murders to justice could result in more innocent people becoming victims. [...]

In my earlier short essay titled Replacing investigations with gossip, I tried to point to the absence of outrage against forced disappearances in Sri Lanka, which I ended by saying that there must be some cultural for such an attitude. In this second short essay I venture to look into what that cultural root may be.

Prageeth Ekneliyagoda (R) and Sandaruwan Senadheera (L) prominently among demonstrators at the funeral of TNA Jaffna member of Parliament and lawyer N. Raviraj who [...]

A police spokesman commenting on the report on torture issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission last week stated that there had been a weakening of the policing system during the prolonged conflict with the LTTE where the priority was given to anti-terrorism. Answering questions from the BBC Sinhala Service the police spokesman mentioned that the training of the police has suffered greatly during this period and now there are efforts on the way to remedy the situation. The police [...]