By Basil Fernando
(October 31, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The incident at Bambalapitiya regarding the pursuit of a young man by the police to the sea and allowing him to die there is another cruel incident that demonstrates the type of policing that exists in Sri Lanka. Police hounding people like dogs is a demonstration of the way that arrests are done. The only exception in this case is that the way that this was done has come to knowledge of the public due to the presence of some persons and a video camera that caught the incident. However, if all the incidents that happen daily at the police stations in Sri Lanka were to be caught on camera, it would show that this incident is no real exception.
The people of Sri Lanka know that this is what is happening at their police stations. However, there is passive acceptance of this kind of cruelty. The media rarely report police brutality and some local reporters unfortunately get their reports from the police themselves. Instead of engaging in investigative journalism, they often give versions of incidents that are in favour of the police.
Despite of the extent of the brutality of the police, there has hardly been any significant debate in the parliament about the nature of policing in Sri Lanka. The people’s elected representatives, while blaming the politicization of the police, do not make any attempt to develop any positive steps in order to deal with the horrible behaviour of the police.
The limited attempt that was adopted to deal with this issue was the creation of the National Police Commission as an institution functioning under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. However, the 17th Amendment was abandoned by this government.
The Executive President of the country and the inspector general of the police should accept the full responsibility for the police brutalities. The president paid some monetary compensation to the parents whose children were victims of the Angulana police murders. This is hardly the way to deal with police brutalities. What is needed is the will to ensure that the police function under the rule of law. The Executive President and the government is responsible for the present state of this collapsed institution.
-Sri Lanka Guardian
Bambalapitya incident: Government is responsible for the police brutalities
