Give Us More Teeth – HRC

September 9th, 2012 by sanjeewa

By Indika Sri Aravinda

The Human Rights Commission has requested the President to amend the laws governing the body to broaden its powers, Chairman Priyantha Perera said.

He said that under the current laws, the HRC did not have powers to hold police officers who do not heed its advice responsible. “We want the HRC to be able to bring high-ranking officers who ignore rights offences to courts,”  Perera said.

Perera said that about 95% of the recommendations of the HRC were implemented by the police service, and that the issue lay with the remaining cases. “I spoke to the Inspector General of Police and the president, and have their full backing,” he said, adding that the recommendations had been sent to the Legal Draftsman’s Department. This would be the first time that the laws governing the body, which was established in 1996, is amended.

The HRC receives an estimated 1,000 complaints on unlawful arrests, torture, and unlawful detention each year.

Posted in News | 2 comments

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2 comments on this post.

  1. tomsamusa:

    September 9th, 2012 at 4:09 am

    Pakse may give you only their worn out dentures that has no bite nor teeth.
    What sinking lanka need is total overhaul of leadership.
    Without justice and equality, there is no life in the banana republic.

  2. hansan:

    September 9th, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    So all these days you were wasting our money without teeth. Were you eating Mashmellos you idi..t.