'Public has lost confidence in Sri Lankan police’ -AHRC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 August 2003, 16:40 GMT]
The people of Sri Lanka do not have much trust in the Sri Lankan police, said Mr. Basil Fernando, the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Executive Director, at a press briefing Saturday in Colombo, adding that police officials in charge should be held responsible for the human rights violations taking place in police stations.

Human rights activists say that several instances have been recently reported where suspects died in the custody of the Police in Sri Lanka under torture.

“Sri Lankan police should accept the responsibility of deaths that have taken place in police stations when the suspects had been in their custody,” Mr. Fernando said.

He added that suspects in police custody had been tortured and were made disabled for the rest of their lives. “Stern action should be taken to stop human rights violations in police stations,” he said

He criticized the National Police Commission for its failure to carry out its function properly. The National Police Commission has been established under the 17th amendment to the constitution, sources said.