Human Rights Watch said today that Sri Lankan police are increasingly killing and abusing people under the pretext of Covid-19 pandemic efforts and an anti-drug campaign.
Extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary incarceration have all been documented in the media recently. The government should re-establish independent police oversight and investigate and prosecute allegations of police misconduct.
Human Rights Watch’s South Asia director, Meenakshi Ganguly, said, “Sri Lanka’s police appear intent on building on their past record of major violations, rather than cleaning up their act.” “The UN, the UK, and others cooperating with Sri Lankan law enforcement should note that their involvement risks appearing to sanction abusive agencies if Sri Lanka’s political will to reform is lacking.”
Since May 2021, the police have been linked to a number of unjustified fatalities, some of which have been tied to disproportionate and abusive Covid-19 quarantine enforcement.
The government’s campaign on the drug problem has also been connected to police misconduct. Melon Mabula was fatally shot on May 11 and Tharaka Perera Wijesekera was fatally shot on May 12. Both were being held in police custody for alleged involvement in organized crime, and their lives had been threatened by lawyers and others.
Both incidents, according to the Sri Lankan Bar Association, “have all the markings of extrajudicial killings.”
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa formed a task force of prominent military and police officers in 2020 to create a “disciplined, virtuous, and lawful society,” and the police and the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board were placed under the Defense Ministry.
“The security forces, which destroyed terrorism in the country 10 years ago, have been assigned a new mission – to battle —drug trafficking,” said Gen. Shavendra Silva, who is barred from visiting the United States owing to his alleged role in unlawful wartime executions.
The recent police abuses occur in the context of the Rajapaksa administration’s decreasing civil and political space. The Sri Lankan Bar Association has condemned the use of the Covid-19 pandemic by the police to restrict freedom of expression, including the detention of peaceful demonstrators at a quarantine facility in July.
Washington Center For Human Rights urges international partners to halt their cooperation with Sri Lanka’s oppressive law enforcement authorities until the country’s political commitment to rectify the situation has been established. Such support runs the risk of appearing to approve or legitimize agencies that are unwilling to enhance their human rights compliance.