Law enforcement as usual!

By Maduranga Rathnayake

(December 29, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Money counterfeiting monks, accused monks in rape cases; in a nutshell, all sorts of monks have been proliferating quite steadily in the past several decades, certainly warranting a clean-up in the Sasana –monks’ order-perhaps a clean-up a bit more sophisticated than the legendary Asokian one in the third century B.C. While the reason, as publicised, for the arrest of Buddhist monk Dambara Amila appears to be and could be anything from cheating to criminal breach of trust, and the venerable monk being presumed at all times to be innocent until lawfully proved otherwise, the arrest, however, concerns a far more serious social issue, that is the selective operation of our law enforcement, as a tool of persecution.

Though the then Ceylon police force was established during the British administration, the English always doubted the local Police Vidanes and other officers, and rightly so; for instance, the original Evidence Ordinance made confessions made to police officers inadmissible in court, though the provision now stands amended by various draconian public security laws and regulations. The British strictly regulated recruitments to ensure that good persons only entered the service. However, though the police force, like many other sectors, grew larger and became sophisticated in some aspects, it failed to mature into an independent institution and political interference in all affairs of the police, ravenously after independence, reduced police officers to mere paid serfs and over the decades the police force became the most corrupt institution in the land.

The police enjoy wide powers under various laws, Criminal Procedure Code read with Penal Code, Police Ordinance, Prevention of Terrorism Act, Emergency Regulations etc.; and political interference in the area of prosecuting, that is prosecuting and not prosecuting according to political dictates, has not only crucified personal liberties, in that one is born with at least one or two indictments hanging over his head which may be politically activated at anytime, but also has given rise to a shockingly active culture of victimisation.

The country has seen and known for sure that Honourable Members of Parliament regularly change loyalty in a bid to save them from prosecutions for corruption. The past four years, which, perhaps, is still in everyone’s memory vividly, have seen many cross-overs on the purported ground of strengthening the already very strong hands of the red-rice eating head of state and many instances of corruption have been swept under the political carpet as the police would simply nolle- prosequi. The opposite of it; where persons of allegiance, if they suddenly digressed for whatever reason, would be prosecuted instantly for alleged offences committed during the allegiance. An extension, or may be another aspect altogether, of this practice is where opponents are prosecuted just for being opponents. The Batalanda probe against the longest serving opposition leader Wickramasinghe is one of great many such instances; Tissanayagam’s prosecution is an unmistakable hint of the apocalyptic nature of the political abuse of the police’s prosecuting arm.

Officers who rightfully defied this menace of political interventions in the affairs of the police have been victimised while allied persecutors and passivist non-prosecutors have been rewarded in the true sense of the word, more often, among other perks, with the highest possible ranks and premium stations.

While the Buddhist Monk Dambara Amila’s arrest could be well founded, one sees a familiar modus operandai in this episode as the venerable monk was arrested within hours of his publicly declaring support to the General at the next month’s election.

Seriousness of this grave social issue calls for the implementation of the 17th Amendment establishing the Independent National Police Commission which would, at least, be a positive step towards de-politicising the police and inclusion of a similar or better mechanism in any future new constitution and its proper implementation thereof is a must.