No measures taken to end impunity for torture in Sri Lanka – HRW

The Sri Lankan government took no significant measures to end impunity for security force abuse, including police use of torture, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in their 2016 World Report.

Released on Wednesday, the HRW report went on to state that “at time of writing, the government also had not yet repealed the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), despite promises to do so, and continued to detain people under it”.

“While Sri Lanka has legislation prohibiting torture, the government failed to ensure disciplinary or criminal prosecutions against police officers and their superiors,” the report added, noting that “many alleged perpetrators remained in active duty or were merely transferred to another police station”.

“Victims of torture and their families faced a daunting path to redress and justice... Many reported ongoing harassment by the police when back in their villages,” it said.

Whilst acknowledging that “Sri Lanka’s new government has begun to address some of the country’s chronic human rights problems,” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said “much remains to be done”.

“For years Sri Lanka was sinking deeper into human rights despair, so the changed atmosphere under the new government has given hope to many victims of past abuses, civil society activists, and international observers,” Mr Adams said.
His comments come the day after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reiterated that the tens of thousands of missing people from the Tamil North-East were “most probably dead”, angering the victims’ relatives and loved ones.

“It’s now time for the Sirisena government to turn its positive words and initial actions into institutional changes that will have a lasting impact on the country,” he added.

The HRW report also raised concerns around the international community’s actions, stating “concerns remained about the failure of sponsoring states to ensure proper provisions for international oversight of implementation of the terms of the resolution”.

“The US and other sponsors backed away from including language on certain important issues, such as having a majority international judicial presence and command responsibility,” noted the report.