|
1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is a regional non-governmental organisation holding General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), having its registered office at Floor 19, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China. It submits this document to the Committee against Torture (hereinafter, “the Committee”) to coincide with the consideration of the second periodic report of the State party of Sri Lanka to the Committee in accordance with article 19 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter, “the CAT”).
2. More broadly, the ALRC has 20 years of experience in human rights and rule of law issues throughout Asia upon which to make its observations. It has actively engaged with international human rights mechanisms throughout this time. Since obtaining General Consultative Status of ECOSOC in 1998 it has regularly made written statements to the annual sessions of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on a huge range of issues throughout Asia, and of relevance to the global human rights movement. It has submitted 40 written statements to the 61st session of the CHR. It has submitted a number of alternative reports to various human rights treaty bodies. These include comments on the report of Cambodia concerning the implementation of the CAT (April 2003) and comments on the 16th periodic report of Nepal to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (December 2003). Together with the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) it submitted an alternative report on state-sponsored violence in Sri Lanka in September 2003 to the Human Rights Committee, and attended the hearings of the committee on the same. This report extensively referred to the endemic nature of torture of Sri Lanka and put forward comprehensive recommendations. In 2004 it also submitted a proposal for a new agenda item under rule 5(4)(a)(ii) of the Guidelines for the Application by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, with reference to the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/3, 7 June 2004). In March 2005, ALRC submitted an alternative report entitled “Institutional torture, extra judicial killings and uneven application of law in Thailand” to the Human Rights Committee on the occasion of consideration of the initial report by the State Party Thailand in accordance with the article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
3. Staff members of the ALRC have prepared this document in collaboration with colleagues in Sri Lanka based upon their accumulated experience regarding the situation of human rights there, in particular that of torture. The ALRC and its sister organisation the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), have for many years pointed out the use of torture in Sri Lanka through statements, reports, press releases and urgent appeals. The ALRC has also sought to become increasingly involved in specific cases of violations of civil and political rights, with a view to proposing legal and institutional changes in order to prevent further abuses, and ensure punishment for the perpetrators and redress for the victims. The ALRC and AHRC have both increasingly communicated their observations and concerns to the relevant domestic and international agencies. These include the President of Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister, the Attorney General (AG), the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the chairperson and the commissioners of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the chairperson of the National Police Commission (NPC), the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other special rapporteurs.
4. The ALRC has submitted a number of written statements on torture in Sri Lanka to the annual sessions of the CHR. To cite a few, in 2000, to the 56th Session, ‘Torture and detention in Asia’ (E/CN.4/2000/NGO/62); in 2002, to the 58th Session, ‘Torture in Sri Lanka’ (E/CN.4/2002/NGO/71); in 2003, to the 59th Session, ‘Torture committed by the police in Sri Lanka’ (E/CN.4/2003/NGO/145); in 2004, to the 60th Session, ‘The need for a witness and torture victim protection scheme in Sri Lanka’ (E/CN.4/2004/NGO/36) and ‘National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in serious need of reform’ (E/CN.4/2004/NGO/24) and in 2005, to the 61st Session, ‘Threats to lives of torture victims in Sri Lanka and the lack of witness protection’ (E/CN.4/2005/NGO/63), ‘Threats and intimidation to those who seek justice in Sri Lanka’ (E/CN.4/2005/NGO/108) and ‘Poor quality staff undermining work of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka’ (E/CN.4/2005/NGO/54).
5. The ALRC has studied the situation of torture in Sri Lanka in depth for many years. In August 2002 it released a 72-paged, ‘Special Report on Torture Committed by the Police in Sri Lanka.’[1] The cases contained therein are attached to this report as Appendix 1. Subsequently, in 2004, ALRC released a 100-paged, ‘Second special report: Endemic torture and the collapse of policing in Sri Lanka.’[2] The cases contained therein are attached to this report as Appendix 2.
6. The ALRC’s sister organisation, the AHRC, has issued a number of urgent appeals and updates on the issues of torture, policing, prosecution and judiciary in Sri Lanka during the last 5-8 years through its Urgent Appeals programme. The number of reported torture cases has increased dramatically during the last several years. In 2000, the AHRC issued nine urgent appeals and related updates on torture and policing in Sri Lanka; in 2001, 12 urgent appeals and related updates were issued; in 2002, 37 urgent appeals and related updates were issued; in 2003, 50 urgent appeals and related updates were issued; in 2004, 98 urgent appeals and related updates were issued; and until August 2005, 74 urgent appeals and related updates were issued.
7. All the cases cited in this report have been submitted through the AHRC's Urgent Appeal programme to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other relevant special rapporteurs after receiving the cases from local groups and individuals associated with the AHRC in Sri Lanka. These include the Citizen’s Committee for Human Rights, Panadura; Dambulla Human Rights Institute, Dambulla; Families of the Disappeared, Katunayaka; Gampaha Human Rights Front, Gampaha; Human Resource Institute, Polpithigama; Janasansadaya (or People’s Forum) in Panadura; Kandy Human Rights Forum, Kandy; Media Resource Centre, Kandy; Organisation for Human Rights, Galle; Organization to Safeguard Democratic and Human Rights, Ratnapura; People against Torture (PAT), Colombo; Right to Life Human Rights Centre, Katunayaka; Rule of Law Centre, Colombo; Socio-Economic Training Institute Kandy (SETIK), Kandy and Wayamba (Northwest) Human Rights Forum, Kurunegala
8. The ALRC has been unique among human rights organisations globally in bringing article 2 of the ICCPR to the forefront of all its work. It is unique in having a bimonthly periodical, article 2, named after this integral section of the ICCPR, which is dedicated to raising issues on effective implementation of human rights standards.
______
Notes:
[1] ALRC, Special Report: Torture committed by the Police in Sri Lanka, article 2, Vol. 1., No. 4, August 2002, Hong Kong
[2] ALRC, Second Special Report: Endemic torture and collapse of policing in Sri Lanka, article 2, Vol. 3. No. 1, February 2004, Hong Kong
Posted on 2005-10-21
remarks:2 |
