By R. Wijewardene

Earlier this year the nation was gripped by the horrifying case of Varsha Regi, a six-year old girl kidnapped for ransom and then murdered in Trincomalee.

In the aftermath of the enormous public outcry that followed the case the police moved remarkably swiftly. Just days after the murder two suspects were arrested, however before any formal trial could begin — both suspects were dead. Both died in police custody — one suspect was shot while trying to escape, while the other was reported to have taken cyanide while being escorted to the scene of the crime.

With the main suspects dead the case was essentially closed and slipped out of the public eye.

Where justice in Sri Lanka is concerned this is a familiar pattern. The same series of events — a high profile crime, followed swiftly by the arrest of suspects who are promptly shot/commit suicide while in police custody, is repeated again and again.

Shot while trying to escape

In the high profile Delgoda massacre case a family of five was hacked to death in their home over an apparent land dispute. Weeks later two men suspected of involvement in the killings were arrested by the police and then shot ‘while trying to attack the police and escape from police custody’ — again the case was effectively closed at this point.

These are not isolated incidents, hardly a week goes by without reports of child molesters being shot while trying to escape from police custody, or suspected murderers killed while ‘attacking police officers’ with arms they’ve somehow managed to gather while in police custody.

According to a report by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), over 100 suspects have been killed in police custody over the past year.

In almost every case the police’ version of events is difficult to credit. Typically — bizarre escape attempts and arbitrary attacks by suspects compel the police to resort to lethal force. In other cases suspects are said to have committed suicide. Of course the unspoken reality is that many if not all of these deaths are summary executions.

According to Basil Fernando of the AHRC, “this is a policy sanctioned by the highest levels of the police and government — the former IGP openly admitted that it was necessary for the police to eliminate undesirable elements as the justice system is simply too inefficient.”

Operating outside the law

While many might applaud the killing of murderers, child molesters and other violent criminals, particularly as the country’s formal justice system would in most cases allow them to walk free — the idea that the country’s police are operating completely outside of the law is deeply disturbing.

Extra judicial killings by the police force in a country where the rate of genuine convictions through the courts remains abysmally low are an unambiguous indication of a complete break down of law and order.

The island’s criminal justice system has effectively ceased to function — the overall conviction rate stands at 4% which indicates that in the remaining 96% of cases suspects escape unpunished.

To compensate for the shortcomings of the legal system therefore the police are alleged to be actively pursuing a policy of extra judicial killings — “In order to eliminate undesirable elements and give an impression that something is being done,” claimed Fernando.

Illusion of justice

 While many are prepared to applaud the actions of the police when it is reported that suspected murderers, drug dealers etc., have been shot dead, these killings ultimately provide only the shallowest illusion of justice.

Suspects are killed without any trial or hearing and there are no guarantees regarding the guilt of those who die.

In most cases where suspects are reported to have been killed in unusual circumstances magistrates upon receiving a police report declare the police action justifiable homicide, and the case is closed.

According to AHRC this is “a violation of the law. Magistrate’s must investigate any killings that take place in police custody and submit a report to the Attorney General’s office – but this never happens.”

The police version of events is invariably the only one presented and once the magistrate pronounces a verdict of justifiable homicide the case is closed. Only in a few exceptional cases where the families of suspects are suitably wealthy or well connected are appeals made to the courts.

Usual story

Another feature shared by the majority of these killings is that shootings usually take place when the police are leading the suspect to a location outside of the police station — either to gather evidence, or inspect a murder scene.

In the Delgoda case the police reported that the suspects who were already in custody, were being led to the crime scene when they somehow managed to recover hand grenades and threaten the police — at which point they were shot.

By reporting that a suspect’s death took place outside the police station, police are able to explain a lack of witnesses and also justify their actions as necessary to prevent an attempted escape or assault

Ultimately, more than simply a question of human rights, the death of so many un-convicted suspects in police custody is profoundly unjust and extraordinary in a country where there is no political will to officially implement the death penalty.

Extra judicial killings

In Bangladesh and India where extra judicial killings by the police are also commonly reported, courts including the supreme courts of both countries have moved to take action and caution the police, but in Sri Lanka these questionable killings are inevitably left uninvestigated, which implies that they are at least tacitly approved of by the establishment. In the absence of any discernible law the police therefore have quite literally been made judge, jury and executioner.

And no one who has any experience of the country’s notoriously corrupt police force can possibly be comfortable with the nation’s agents of law and order enjoying such broad powers.

The simple reality however is that law and order in the country has broken down and the only solution to the perennial problem of crime now appears to be a sort of vigilante justice but extraordinarily it’s the police who are playing the roll of vigilantes.

“Tamils will settle for a federal solution”

By Ruwan Yapa Our Toronto Correspondent

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) is a national organisation that has been actively serving Canada’s Tamil community since October 2000. As the unified voice of Canada’s Tamils, the CTC has avidly worked to integrate various community service organisations and individuals from coast to coast in an effort to better represent and serve its nationwide community.

The Congress’s main function is to systematise Tamil-Canadian concerns and act as the community’s spokesperson on a municipal, provincial, federal and international level. The CTC boasts of local chapters in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia as well as a National Capital Region chapter in the city of Ottawa.

Excerpts of an interview with National Spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress, David Poopalapillai.

Q: Do Tamils still feel like second class citizens?

A: Yes, absolutely. Presently, Sri Lanka has more than 300,000 Tamils languishing behind barbed wire internment camps with bare necessities. Families have been separated and prevented at least, from meeting their relatives and easily obtaining help. International media has also been restricted. Aid organisations and groups, with the resources and infrastructure to help, have limited access. All these measures lead Tamils to feel like the population is being subjected to a collective punishment.

Secondly, the climate of fear is very high among Tamils in Sri Lanka as they do not feel they are safe or secure in any part of the country. Traditional Hindu festivals are stopped even in the hill country, where the war had a zero presence. On top of this, elected Tamil officials in the north and east are being successfully prevented from meeting the people who elected them to address their grievances and find remedies. These elected officials have no voice whatsoever in any decisions being taken or implemented in the north and east for a very long time.

While the displaced Tamil people have been housed in the camps for the last 25 years in many parts of the north and east, any displacement that has taken place among the majority community has been addressed immediately and they were settled with government assistance and led to lead their normal lives within a reasonable time.

There are many other examples I can mention but due to the time constraints, I am cutting it short. All these examples clearly show that Tamils not only feel like second class citizens but they are being treated as second-class citizens.

Q: What do you feel needs to be done in order for Tamils to feel like Sri Lankans?

A: Sri Lanka has to address the root causes and all the points listed above and give Tamils a sense of belonging. More importantly, Tamils should be allowed to have a political voice to address their concerns. They should feel their political voice is part and parcel of the collective political decision making process.

Q: Do Tamils still believe that a separate state is the only viable solution? Or is the dream of an independent Eelam now dead?

A: At this point of time, the Sri Lankan government’s actions are strengthening the thirst for an independent homeland for Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka. There is no inclusive approach from the leadership or any established political parties in Sri Lanka. The beauty of democracy lies in how well the majority treats its minorities, the saying goes.

Unfortunately, it is a distant dream in Sri Lankan politics. Until this dream becomes true, the thirst for an independent homeland for Tamils is going to stay well and alive.

Q: Are Tamils willing to accept federalism?

A: Tamils always believed in federalism in Sri Lanka. I want to take this opportunity to point out to you that it is the short-sighted chauvinistic policies of the successive Sri Lankan governments and the majority political parties in the country for their own electoral benefits that pushed Tamils to ask for independence. If a high form of federalism, such as the Canadian or Swiss model, are put forward, we are quite sure Tamils are willing to seriously look at it.

Q: Are they ready to consider themselves Sri Lankans and reconcile themselves with the modern Sri Lankan state?

A: The level of violence perpetrated by the government apparatus on ordinary Tamils is quite high in the last few decades. The levels of impunity these perpetrators enjoyed and are presently enjoying are beyond belief. Until these perpetrators are identified and brought to justice, reconciliation is difficult.

Q: What do they feel is the best way to take their struggle forward? And is violence still an option?

A: For the international Tamil diaspora, violence is not an option. By holding hands with progressive and political forces and governments around the world, isolating Sri Lanka politically and economically is the way forward. I want to remind you that in the past, many more powerful nations than Sri Lanka were isolated in this way and finally relented from their destructive policies and poor governance. Those governments addressed the grievances and root causes that created strife in their nations and are now flourishing.