Broadly speaking, the following may be considered as the outcome of the campaign against torture carried out by the AHRC and its local network in Sri Lanka.

• The AHRC's effort to combat torture and other abuses by the law enforcement agents in Sri Lanka has been one of its largest campaigns. And these efforts are now beginning to pay off with the government finally acknowledging that yes; torture is a serious problem in the country. These efforts have led to government acknowledgement of the seriousness of the problem, as for example, stated by Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he addressed the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva recently.
• Also, since the campaign, the departments of police and the Attorney General have paid greater attention to the problem of torture than at any time in the past. For instance, the number of cases inquired into by the police, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that is usually entrusted with torture investigations as well as the number of indictments filed by the AG under the Torture Act, have increased. It is noteworthy that a substantial percentage of the original complaints leading to these investigations and indictments have
  been forwarded by the AHRC local partners.
• The number of cases taken up by the UN Rapporteur Against Torture with the Sri Lankan government has increased as per reports to the UN Commission on Human Rights. The original complaint of a sizable percentage of these cases too was forwarded by the local network assisted by the AHRC.
• A large audience throughout the world has received Urgent Appeals made by the AHRC and as a result many interventions have been made on behalf of the victims of these cases.
• Media interventions by the AHRC and its local partners including advertisements in the local newspapers and the electronic media have reached a large audience regularly. Victims have been encouraged to meet with journalist via public hearings and this exposure has had a tremendously sensitizing effect on the public at large. Apart from this, numerous statements have been published by the AHRC mainly on the need for legal reforms to eradicate torture and improve human rights. These too have been picked up and published by the local media, which has also lead to enhanced public awareness of the issues. For example issues such as the urgent need of witness protection, delays in adjudication are the key to preventing redress and the need for solidarity among civil society if the prevalent fear syndrome is to be broken.

As a result there exists a great possibility for the elimination of police torture in Sri Lanka, especially since the initial breakthrough has been made i.e. acknowledgement of the problem by the government and civil society. However there is still a long way to go and only persistent and consistent work will get us where we want to go.

So what are the challenges faced by the AHRC in its campaign against torture?

• Politicisation and militarisation of the law enforcement agency has resulted in these forces being used to suppress rival political parties and for purposes of 'insurgency control' through large-scale extra judicial killings and torture. Entrenched habits are hard to shed -- and remain a major challenge faced by all Sri Lankans.
• It is commonly accepted that the main and most effective criminal investigation method in the country is the use of torture.
• And though the lack of forensic facilities, proper training and political pressures are used as excuses and maybe factually correct, in reality the belief in the necessity for torture, goes much deeper than mere lack of facilities.
• This is because, there is a psychological acceptance of not only the police and the armed forces, but also many people, that torture is normal and the only remedy for combating crime. Mental changes come much slower than the physical. Therefore the issue that torture is totally abnormal and gross and must be eliminated at all costs, must be raised over and over again, until it begins to sink into the national psyche.
• The absence of a State witness protection programme creates threats to the lives of many victims who complain about torture. Fear of retaliation may still be a deterrent for at least some victims to come forward to complain
• There are many reports that victims of torture suffer from psychological trauma, which may even prevent them from continuing with their actions. However facilities for trauma counselling are still very limited in the country.

Overview --  The way forward:

• As mentioned above, the lack of a witness protection scheme is probably the single most serious problem that prevents victims from complaining, seeking redress or pursuing their complaints in the long run. Already the local organization together with the assistance of the AHRC, are protecting witness to the best of their ability, but much more needs to be done. This is because it is only when victims feel safe that they come forward to complain, and otherwise pursue to see justice done. Hence this is essential in breaking the historical chain that keeps torture as a practice in the system.
• In the same vein, the protection of human rights defenders of the network also needs to be improved.
• Finally the future envisages greater research and analysis related to the actual grass root work, gaining knowledge of the systems history and the development of strategies based on deeper studies as well as introducing the current model to larger group of people and organizations in the country and continuing the ongoing international campaign via e-mail and the Internet.