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No torture or humiliation of terror suspects
Police and Armed Forces have been given new directions by President Maithripala Sirisena on the arrest and detention of persons over terrorism related offences. The move on Friday came in the wake of the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva. An oral brief on Sri Lanka is to be given by Human Rights Commissioner Zaid Ra’ad Al Hussein on June 27.
President Sirisena has said the person making the arrest or detention shall identify himself by name and rank to those arrested or to any relative or friend. Every person arrested or detained, he has said, shall be informed of the reason. Searches of women and girls should only be made by other women “with strict regard to their dignity and bodily integrity,” the directive says.
In a preamble to the signed five-page directive, President Sirisena has noted that as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence, he is of “the opinion that it is necessary to issue the directions to the Heads of Armed Forces and the Police.” This, he points out, is to enable the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) “to exercise and perform its powers, functions and duties and for the purpose of ensuring the fundamental rights of persons….”
The directive will apply to those arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and when arrests are made during a State of Emergency when in force. A similar guideline was issued when Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was in office too.
President Sirisena has said the Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order (in the case of the Police) and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence (in the case of the Armed Forces) should formulate a “uniform document” which will contain the name and rank of the person making the arrest and the reasons for it. It will also have to record the place of arrest. If it is not possible to issue such a document, he has said that a Police officer should record such a case in the Information Book (IB). Those in the Armed Forces will be required to report to the Officer-in-Charge of a Police Station who will record a statement in the Information Book. Both Police and the Armed Forces will be required to issue a document when a vehicle is seized stating the reasons and the name of the person doing so.
Among other highlights in President Sirisena’s directive:
- Prompt action to be taken when an arrested person is seeking medical help.
- Attorneys-at-law representing those arrested should be permitted to meet them.
- Adequate basic amenities should be provided in all places of detentions “which would not make the detention itself a torture and humiliation.”
- Detention should be in keeping with the established fundamental rights enshrined in Article 13 (5) of the Constitution that an accused is presumed innocent until he or she is proved guilty.