Basil Feranando

Introduction

A peculiar feature that emerged through the study of the problems relating to the policing system in Sri Lanka is that the government sources, through various commissions, have identified the same problems which have been substantiated by independent sources.

That the system has become dysfunctional is a common finding. About the manifestation of such dysfunctionalism there is no controversy. That a radical change is needed is also commonly acknowledged. However, in terms of any initiatives for change the issue of policing is not considered a priority by the government and even independent sources appear reluctant to make any determined effort in this direction. There also seems to be an underlying fear that any significant attempt to deal with the dysfunctional nature of the system may have adverse consequences on the country's political system and social life as a whole.

Such reform seems to be regarded as too formidable a task that no one is really willing to venture into. Besides this, there is also apparently an underlying fear that initiatives to change the habits that have entered into the system and the incumbents of the system may cause such retaliation that the political leadership does not feel competent to deal with. It is not the factual elements regarding the failed political system of Sri Lanka that creates controversy, but as to whether these problems can, or should be addressed. The suggestion made in this paper is that it is this overall problem of how to deal with these issues that needs attention, rather than diagnosis of the various aspects of the ailments that affect policing in Sri Lanka.

The premise

Attempts to reform policing have been initiated in Sri Lanka more than once. Still the situation remains critical. The hypothesis taken in this article is that reform of dysfunctional policing system requires a discourse of more fundamental issues such as the nature of the political system within which policing has to take place.

This article speaks of policing only in areas outside the conflict zone of Sri Lanka in the north and the east. In many parts of the north and east large areas are outside the writ of the Sri Lankan police service. In some parts rebels claim to have their own police and judiciary. Such rebels include not only the LTTE but also some armed groups that are opposed to the LTTE. This work does not address the policing issues relating to these areas. It deals with those areas of the country within which the police system still operates under the ordinary law and legal procedures.
 
Studies on the policing system

The Asian Human Rights Commission has closely studied the issues relating to policing in Sri Lanka for over ten years now. Some of the publications based on these studies are: Article 2, Vol. 1, No. 4,  Article 2, Vol. 3 No. 1,  a book entitled An X ray of the Sri Lankan policing system & torture of the poor,  and several reports submitted as shadow reports to UN agencies. Much of the material produced is available on the internet.

There is no significant police reform initiative taking place in Sri Lanka at the moment. Previously there had been some commissions appointed by former governments which produced reports analyzing the problems facing the policing system and which made many recommendations for change. Given the drastic nature of the political and social changes that have taken place in the country, the contents of these reports may seem somewhat obsolete by now. However, for the purpose of record as well as to provide some reference to the historical roots of the present day policing system some mention of these reports may be useful.

A historical perspective

The first of these reports is known as the Soertsz Commission Report which derived its name from the chairperson of the Commission, Justice Francis J. Soertsz and this report was submitted in December 1946. The title of the report was 'Sri Lanka police service – suggestions for improving its efficiency and effectiveness.' This was published as a sessional paper and covers such topics as the composition of the force; the conditions of the service and selection of officers for promotion and transfer; procedure for investigations of complaints made by the public against the police; the powers and duties of the police, especially in relation to preliminary investigations of offenses, the arrest and custody of the accused and suspected persons; the institutions of prosecutions in court and the expeditious conduct thereof; amendment of the police ordinance and of other existing legislation for giving effect to the recommendations of the commission and a final chapter entitled 'miscellaneous' which covered such topics as Port Police, public prosecutor, criminal investigations department and political police.

Another commission report was published by the government publication bureau in October 1970 and this was named the Basnayake Commission. This commission's mandate was to cover the following issues: The nature and the scope of the functions of the Police Force, and the measures that should be taken to secure the maximum efficiency of the Police Force for the purpose of maintaining law and order, and to secure a greater measure of Public co-operation and confidence; the measures that should be taken to reorganize the Police Force, having regard to Ceylon's status as a independent country; the structure and composition of the Police Force, the methods of recruitment and training of personnel for the Police Force, the terms and conditions of service (other than basic rates of pay) and the selection of officers for promotion and transfer; the procedure that should be adopted for the investigation of complaints made by the public against members of the Police Force, especially in relation to –

(i) the preliminary investigation of offences,
(ii) the apprehension and custody of accused or suspected persons, and
(iii) the institution of prosecutions in the Courts and the expeditious conduct thereof ; the adequacy of the security and safeguards provided hitherto to members of the Police against risk to life and bodily injury involved in the performance of their duties, and the adequacy of the compensation hitherto payable where injuries were sustained, or where death resulted from  any injury sustained, in the course of their duties; any amendments to the Police Ordinance and to other existing legislation which may be necessary for giving effect to our recommendations on the matters aforesaid or for securing the objects and purposes of such recommendations; and any other matter connected with, or incidental to the matters specified above in respect of which we may receive representations; and to make such recommendations as we may consider necessary as a result of our inquiries in respect of the aforesaid matters.

The report of a further commission was published in 1995 which is generally known as the Justice D.G. Jayalath Commission Report, the mandate of which was to examine and report on the following matters: The structure and composition of the Police Force; the methods of recruitment and training of personnel for the Police Force; the selection of officers for promotions and transfer; the nature and scope of functions of the Police Force and the measures that should be taken to secure the maximum efficiency of the Police Force for the purpose of maintain law and order; the measure that should be adopted to encourage better relation with the general public; the establishment of a Permanent Police Commission to administer recruitment, promotions and disciplinary control in the Police Service; any other amendments to the Police Ordinance and to other existing legislation which may be necessary for giving effect to the recommendations on the matters aforesaid or for securing the objects and purpose of such recommendations.

Some general observations on the previous studies

Already in 1946 a serious crisis in the policing system was perceived and by 1970 much graver problems had surfaced. Then by 1995 a completely new set of problems had arisen due to larger politicization of the system and the introduction of paramilitary elements as policing units such as the Special Taskforce. None of the recommendations of the above commissions were put into effect.
 
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution- October 2001

Perhaps the 17th Amendment was the most significant attempt made so far to recognize the serious problems in the Sri Lankan policing system together with several other public institutions. The central problem that this amendment tried to address was the politicization of the public services. This amendment provided for the appointment of a Constitutional Council who would have the obligation to appoint the commissioners for several commissions including the National Police Commission (NPC).  The NPC had the powers of appointment, promotion, transfer and disciplinary control of all police officers except for the Inspector General of Police. It also had the duty to establish a public complaints procedure. The first commission came to be appointed in November 2002 and by the end of the term of the first batch of commissioners the Constitutional Council had ceased to exist so that it was not possible to appoint the new commissioners. Ever since, there have been no appointments to the commission, by the procedure prescribed by the Constitution. In 2006 the Executive President made appointments to the commission bypassing the provisions of the constitution. As the NPC derived its authority form the constitution itself, the appointment of its members bypassing the constitution has raised questions about its legitimacy.

Identification of areas needing reform

At the moment there are no reform programmes being undertaking by the police. However, there are many areas that have been identified by some senior police officers, international experts, as well as the public as major areas that need to be addressed in any serious attempt at reform. These are, the elimination of criminal elements from within the policing system; to reestablish command responsibility within the police hierarchy; the establishment of a credible system of criminal investigations; the elimination of torture as the most commonly used method of criminal investigation; the training of police in the more sophisticated methodologies of investigations including forensic training; measures to ensure police attendance in courts and compliance with court orders; the establishment of a proper system of disciplinary control within the police and the establishment of a credible public complaints procedure.

The elimination of criminal elements from within the policing system

The Inspector General of Police himself recently identified the criminal elements within the police together with soldiers and deserters as being among the culprits for some of the very grave crimes in the country such as abductions, disappearances and murder which increased sharply at the end of 2006 and continuing into 2007.

COLOMBO, - Sri Lanka's police admitted Tuesday that its own security personnel have been involved in kidnappings for ransom and vowed to crack down on mounting  abductions and killings of civilians. Police Inspector General Victor Perera said a "large number" of police officers and troops had been arrested on charges of abduction and extortion.

The former Inspector General of Police who retired in 2006 also pointed out the criminal elements within the policing system.

…….While the IGP, referring to the Auditor General's latest report on the Police Department, is quoted as saying:

"...that corrupt officers were liable to be blacklisted, taking into account the corruption and fraud cases pending against them."

In the same article he went on to say:

"One of the shocking revelations highlighted in the AG's report was where certain senior officers had swindled thousands of rupees in the police cash reward scheme. Cash rewards of Rs. 1,500 were regularly paid to individuals or groups of police officers for outstanding service in the field but reportedly, the audit report highlighted occasions where the figures were altered to read Rs. 15,000."

And the IGP went on to remark that:

"...the audit report on individual police stations were so serious that if action was to be taken, then most officers would be liable to be sacked."

In the aftermath of the assassination of the High Court judge, Ambepitiya, J, by a drug lord, there was much public criticism about high ranking police officers being linked with drug dealers and underworld figures.  However, perhaps it was the assassination of Inspector of Police (IP) Douglas Nimal and his wife that brought the most acute criticism against the police connivance with drug dealers. IP Douglas Nimal who was investigating several drug related crimes was arrested on false charges and later released by the Attorney General. He complained that some persons, including high ranking police officers, had implicated him in order to obstruct his investigations. He was murdered shortly after his release while traveling to pursue his complaints.

Dealing with the internal situation of the serious involvement of police officers in crime should be one of the primary aims of any police reform. A reform that leaves out this aspect is very likely to receive very little public attention, support or credibility. Perhaps the example of Hong Kong where a similar situation was successfully addressed through an agency outside the policing system itself, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) should be seriously studied.

To reestablish command responsibility within the police hierarchy

The loss of command responsibility has been discussed from many points of view. One common point of reference is the politicization of the police by which is meant the politicians playing a direct role in the command responsibilities of the organisation. The debate on the 17th Amendment to the Constitution mentioned above was entirely on this theme. Political influence over the police is perceived to have extended to all aspects of the administration and often it is alleged that it also influences criminal investigations. The influence on the administration is on the selection of persons by way of recruitment as well as promotions purely on the basis of connections to individual politicians or a political party.

This also often affects transfers where one of the common fears is people being transferred to far away places or conflict zones as punishments for non-compliance with the demands of political elements.

The interference into investigations is that either due to direct interference or indirect forms of influence statements are not recorded or investigations are not proceeded with. There are instances when in the midst of sensitive investigations the investigating officers are transferred from their positions. Over a period of time many officers also learn "to read what will be approved and not approved by their political masters." This behaviour can be so ingrained that they will avoid some investigations altogether, for example into cases such as extrajudicial killings, abductions, disappearances and the like.

Due to political interference often subordinate officers can become even more powerful that their superior officers. On the other hand when subordinate officers perceived that their superior officers behave in a manner to unduly cooperate with politicians the moral authority that such officers have is also lost. The instances are many when politicians deliberately undermine the high ranking officers in a way to get them to toe the line.

Under the Department Orders the specific duties of supervision are assigned to superior officers. An officer in charge at a police station has very specific duties regarding all the officers linked to a police station. An Assistant Superintendent of Police has duties to attend all police stations regularly at short intervals to read all the books maintained at the station as well as to be personally present at the crime scene in the event of investigations into serious crimes, were some of the requirements prescribed in the Departmental Orders. In recent times there is a widespread complaint that this supervision often does not take place.

One of the factors that undermines the command structure of the police was the involvement of the police in gross human rights abuses during the periods when emergency laws and anti terrorism laws prevailed. In the post independence period, in the early decades such situations were few and sometimes the officers who engaged in such acts were disciplined. However, when various insurgencies broke in police officers together with military officers were used to eliminate insurgents which meant that they were allowed to abduct persons, keep people in illegal detention, to torture them and even to kill them and dispose of their bodies. The generally estimated number of such killings at the hands of the police and the military in 1971 when a minor rebellion lead by a small group of persons was crushed ferociously by the Sri Lankan government is around ten thousand. No official inquiries have been held into this event. In the second phase of a rebellion by the same group, the JVP between 1987 and 1991 an official figure of around thirty thousand persons disappeared mostly in the south. Commissions were appointed to inquire into the periods in which disappearances were described as abductions followed by assassinations and the disposal of the bodies. These were also done by the police and the military personnel aided by paramilitary groups.

From the point of view of maintaining command this meant a tremendous lowering of standards and the loss of internal guidelines for the maintenance of hierarchical relationships and codes of conduct. These periods have also destroyed the morale of the law enforcement agency.

The establishment of a credible system of criminal investigations

One of the most commonly expressed criticisms regarding policing in Sri Lanka by persons from within the system itself, by local and internal critics including some UN agencies is that in recent years the Sri Lankan police have not resolved any of the major crimes that have taken place in the country.

These crimes includes massacres such as the extrajudicial killings of the 17 aide workers in Muttur; killings by the military as well as insurgent groups (LTTE and other armed groups opposed to the LTTE); killings of journalists and other activists including human rights activists; large scale abductions and disappearances  throughout the country including in the capital Colombo. There are also of allegations about large scale corruption.

The reasons attributed to the weakening of the capacity of the Sri Lankan police to conduct credible investigations into crimes and gross violations of human rights is the lack of protection for the investigating officers, which arises from factors such as the politicization of the system as well as internal divisions within the policing system itself which can create serious physical risks for investigators; the increase of violence by terrorist elements and military elements in which investigations are prevented by the physical force of alleged terrorist and military; the increase of links between criminals and the police (this was referred to earlier); the enormous increase of corruption throughout the country including within the political establishment; the breakdown of the judicial supervision of the investigating process and the lack of higher demand for credible criminal investigations maintained by the judiciary ; disruption of the system of command responsibility (this was also commented upon earlier); the lack of forensic facilities and training ; the development of nationalist sentiments which try to undermine the legal norms and standards with regard to crime. Added to these problems is the abandonment of the 17th Amendment by which even some limited interventions were made possible by the National Police Commission to intervene in order to deal with some of the problems mentioned above. The shocking impact of the absence of criminal investigations was revealed by Mr. Michael Birnbaum QC, on behalf of the ICJ who said,

"...to dispel serious concerns about whether the justice system is now able to carry out independent and credible investigations into who was responsible for these killings and to mount effective prosecutions."

The elimination of torture as the most commonly used method of criminal investigations

"…Torture is often a short cut to getting information, and as a result it is systematic and widespread… We are not talking about isolated cases of rogue policemen: we are talking about the routine use of torture as a method of investigation. It requires fundamental structural changes to the police force to eradicate these practices." 

"I had the privilege of addressing about 100 Inspectors on 'Investigations techniques to minimize violation of human rights' at a police department programme conducted by the United nations Development Programme (UNDP) in early June this year. When I asked these officers their opinion of human rights, especially the aspect of torture, their observations were that they had to resort to the use of force to solve cases due to the following reasons:

• Sense of shame and loss of face if they fail to solve the case by recovering the weapon of the offence or the fruits of the crime, where there were several eyewitnesses testifying against the suspect.
• Lack of resources – personnel/vehicles, equipment etc. to pursue investigations;
• The period of custody of 24 hours being insufficient.
• Pressure from superiors to solve the cases, with the implications that the consequences of non-compliance or failure to successfully complete investigations within the time limit would result in unfavourable reports to their personnel file or other strictures, which would adversely affect their career prospects.
…..And when I asked them whether I was incorrect in saying that in almost all the instances of torture in police custody, the victims were the poor, the destitute and the defenceless, they sheepishly admitted it was so."

Sri Lanka enacted a law incorporating the Convention against Torture and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment Act (Act No. 22 of 1994). In terms of this act torture or cruel and inhuman treatment is punishable with a mandatory sentence of seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of not less than Rs. 10,000/=. Over 50 cases have been filed and there are already two convictions. However, due to the long delay in the filing of these cases followed by long delays in the courts many victims come under severe pressure and many abandon pursuit of their case. The delay in adjudication and the absence of a witness protection programme defeats the purpose of Act No. 22 of 1994. Besides this the other factors regarding the dysfunctional nature of the policing system negates the possibilities of even positive legislation such as this act.

The training of police in the more sophisticated methodologies of investigations including forensic training

While there are some attempts with the assistance given by organisations such as SIDA there have been some improvements in the education of some officers on forensic issues. However, there has not been any systematic attempt to replace the earlier model of obtaining oral evidence through torture by the introduction of new methodologies of investigation. The core of the problem is that within a system that has become dysfunctional due to the reasons described above training and even the introduction of new knowledge and technology is of little use. Often there is talk about improved forensic education as the solution to the crisis faced by the police force. However, this can be valid only when much more serious problems which affect the entire organisation are addressed.

The significant role played by the Police Force in the administration of criminal justice makes it an integral component of any strategy aimed at curbing crime.  Therefore it is important that the Police Force be geared to perform at its maximum potential.  The Police reforms proposed herein are intended to achieve progressive changes in Policing practice and provide a framework for improving standards, reliability, consistency and responsiveness within the Police Force.

In this regard Senior DIG Chandra Fernando was invited by the Committee to discuss and help identify the several problems, which appear to mitigate against the capacity of the Police Force to provide an efficient service with regards to the implementation of criminal justice.

This discussion highlighted the need for a reform programme aimed at improving the performance of the Police Force making it more flexible through diversity and workforce modernization, increasing its capacity, providing better conditions, training and development and investing in communications, IT, forensics and best practice.

a) Lack of material resources:  The lack of technological support and equipment in the context of modern investigative techniques.

The Committee believes that the drive for better performance goes hand in hand with the need to provide new resources, tools and technology to the Police.  However, the primitive nature of investigative techniques presently used by the Police i.e. outdated fingerprinting technology and the lack of rudimentary investigative equipment such as Polygraph machines (lie detectors) in Sri Lanka, highlight the urgent need to invest in equipment relating to IT and forensics.

Therein the Committee strongly recommends that scientific and technological support for criminal investigations be significantly improved in order to facilitate a meaningful effort in curbing crime.

Measures to ensure police attendance in courts and compliance with court orders

One of the revealing factors about the nature of the policing system in Sri Lanka is a finding by the same committee which submitted its final report in April 2004 and identified the failure of the police to comply with court orders to attend court as one of the major reasons for the delays in courts. The committee made the following recommendation:

The Committee makes the following additional recommendations pertaining to the Police in the context of advancing best practice:

a) Compulsory attendance: The Committee recognises the need to
introduce administrative measures requiring Police Officers to attend Court on a compulsory basis, in view of the frequency with which Police Officers obtain leave and abstaining from Court sighting inappropriate grounds, which has been observed to result in unnecessary disruption of Court proceedings in the recent past.

In this regard the Committee recommends that the Ministry of Justice advise the Judicial Service Commission ("JSC") and the judges Institute to educate Judicial Officers on the necessity to take prompt and appropriate action against Police Officers who default on appearances on inappropriate grounds.

The recognition of this factor is significant in that it shows a breakdown of the link between the courts and the police. Under the present circumstances it is difficult for the magistrates to give the necessary orders to the police relating to investigations and the matters relating to the basic rights of citizens. This breakdown may be traced back to times of the beginning of the insurgencies in 1971. Ever since the police have used the excuse of having to attend to other duties such as the security functions or for providing security for politicians as matters that need to be given higher consideration than attendance in court. The police hierarchy has done very little to correct this situation despite of a government appointed committee having recognized this as one of the fundamental aspects affecting the administration of justice.

The establishment of a proper system of disciplinary control within the police and the establishment of a credible public complaints procedure

It is also admitted that the disciplinary process within the police is quite primitive and the safeguards for complainants is very limited. The National Police Commission has itself pointed out that despite of large numbers of complaints received against police officers the number actions taken against them are very few. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution itself recognized the need for the establishment of a public complaint procedure. The article 155G requires that such procedure should be established. In January 2007 by a Gazzetted notification the National Police Commission announced such a procedure. However, still the system of the conduct of investigations has not been changed.

The problem of police discipline is linked to the more fundamental problems of a dysfunctional system and cannot be dealt with in isolation purely by instructions to improve discipline.

The conditions needed for police reform

A question that has been raised by many persons during the course of the last ten years of the Asian Human Rights Commission's study on Sri Lankan policing is that whether a system such as the one existing in Sri Lanka can be reformed at all. Such concerns are expressed by senior criminal lawyers, judges and other intellectuals including some policemen themselves. When speaking privately most policemen admit that there is something gravely wrong with the system and that there is no serious discourse at all about putting this right.

All these conversations remind us of the great fall of Humpty Dumpty that not all the king's men and all of the king's horses could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Therefore discussions about police reform should concentrate more on the factors that contribute to making systems dysfunctional rather than minor aspects of reforms such as the introduction of forensic science and the like.

The need for a change discourse on police reforms

The type of crisis that the Sri Lankan policing system faces is a part of a larger political and societal crisis. The salient question is as to what type of policing the state as well as civil society wants to have. So long as the state fears the development of an efficient policing system as a threat to the way the state exists in the country at the moment the implicit answer to that question is that the state has allowed the system to become dysfunctional. An efficient policing system will threaten the existing pattern of misrule abuse of power and corruption.

As long as the state and society cannot arrive at an agreement to eliminate these factors the talk of police reform will remain of little practical value. The real problems are the issues of the nature of the state and the role that the policing system has to play within such a system.

It is respectfully submitted that mere discussions on the introduction of forensic science or the improvement of training and the improvement of discipline of the police will contribute little to the understanding of the magnitude of the problem or the finding of solutions.

A regional and international discourse on the dysfunctional policing system, the causes of such dysfunctionalism and the overall approached to deal with it will contribute more to solving not only the problems of policing but also of some of the basic problems of the rule of law and democracy. The experiment made by Hong Kong with the Independent Commission against Corruption in 1974 is a relevant experience in studying a more fundamental type of police reform that while reforming the policing system also contributes to overcome some of the basic problems affecting the political system within a country.
 

[Footnote: see the PDF file for footnote locations]

127  Please see: http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0104/
128  Please see: http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0301/
129  Published by the Asian Human Rights Commission, (September 2005), edited by Basil Fernando & Shyamali Puvimanasinghe
130  Please refer to the following web sites: www.ahrchk.net, www.alrc.net & http://www.article2.org/
131  The mission statement of the NPC as shown in its website at www.npc.gov.lk reads as follows: Our Mission: Transforming the Sri Lankan Police into a truly modern elite force with emphasis on respect for rule of law, professionalism, transparency, and  responsiveness to public aspirations.
132  March 6, 2007 (AFP)
133  Daily Mirror – March 7, 2006
134  Justice Ambepitiya was assassinated on November 21, 2005 and later an alleged drug lord and some of his accomplices were convicted for the killing. While there were several allegations against some senior police officers in the press during this period no official inquiry was conducted into the matter.
135  For a detailed statement on the collapse of command responsibility please see Chapter 15 of An X ray of the Sri Lankan policing system and torture of the poor published by the Asian Human Rights Commission, (September 2005), edited by Basil Fernando & Shyamali Puvimanasinghe.
136  The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has mentioned over 100 such abductions and disappearances since September 2006.
137  The Sri Lankan judiciary has not intervened in dealing with the failures of the criminal investigations in the way the Indian Supreme Court has done in its judgement on the Best Bakery case (Zahira Habibulla H Sheikh and Anr. PETITIONER, State of Gujarat and Ors. RESPONDENT, CASE NO.: Appeal (crl.)  446-449 of 2004). The court in its judgement found that "... the justice delivery system was being taken for a ride and literally allowed to be abused, misused and mutilated by subterfuge." The court blamed "the investigation ... [was] perfunctory and anything but impartial, without any definite object of finding out the truth to book those who were responsible for the crime. The public prosecutor appears to have acted more as a defence counsel ... The Court is turn appeared to be a silent spectator, mute to the manipulations and ... indifferent to [the] sacrilege being committed to justice. The role of the State Government ... [suggests] that there was no seriousness ... in assailing the trial court's judgment." The Supreme Court stated "crimes are public wrongs [in which] ... it is not just the accused who has must be fairly dealt with." Faced with "political patronage ... muscle and money power," the Court has an obligation to get to the truth. The hesitation of the witnesses was directly traceable to money, muscle and politics. In this situation, courts had to take a "participatory role" and were not mere "tape recorders." In ordering a re-trial, the Court was not punishing the accused but giving truth a second chance…..
138  See the Absence of forensic facilities by Dr. Clifford Perera, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Galle, Sri Lanka at Chapter 16 of An X ray of the Sri Lankan policing system and torture of the poor.
139  Please refer to the AHRC statement at the following link: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/950/
140  Dr. Radhika Coomaraswarmy, in an interview with Lorna McGregor of REDRESS quoted in the ALRC alternative report to the second periodic report of Sri Lanka to the Committee against Torture – September 2005
141  Please refer to Chapter 4 of An X ray of the Sri Lankan policing system and torture of the poor.
142  Committee Appointed to Recommend Amendments to the Practice and Procedure in Investigation and Courts. This committee was appointed to submit a report to the government on the eradication of laws delays. The committee consisted of the following: Mr. C.R. de Silva P.C. (Chairman) Solicitor General, Mr. Ranji Abeysuriya P.C. Attorney-at-Law, Mr. N.S. Rajapakse High Court Judge, Mr. M.N. Burhan Magistrate, Mr. Dappula de Livera Senior State Counsel.
143  Ibid
144  Ibid