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Custodial deaths: Police await new guidelines

18 Dec 2021

By Skandha Gunasekara The Sri Lanka Police have not received any new instructions regarding preventing custodial deaths, despite reports that the Ministry of Public Security has issued new instructions, The Sunday Morning learns. Responding to a query by The Sunday Morning, Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nihal Thalduwa said that so far, no directives have come from above. “We have not been given any instructions regarding the prevention of custodial deaths. At least not in the last six months. There may have been instructions issued much earlier but I have not seen any such circular either,” Thalduwa said. He further noted: “There are relevant laws established to make sure detainees have the necessary protection while in custody.” However, a spate of custodial deaths, including those of two alleged underworld figures, despite warnings by lawyers and the Human Rights Commission that the lives of suspects held in custody were in danger, triggered public outcry for action. It was reported earlier that the Ministry of Public Security had issued specific instructions to the Police to prevent custodial deaths. There have been several incidents of police detainees being killed while in custody – the most recent being of H.S. Lasantha, alias Tinkering Lasantha, who was shot dead despite warnings given by his lawyer to authorities that there would be an attempt on his life while he was revealing a weapons cache. According to the Police Spokesman, 17 “model police stations” out of a total of 47 have had CCTV camera systems installed. The 47 police stations had been identified to be upgraded as “model police stations” in 2019 and the project of installing the camera systems had begun that year. The model police station project sees a select number of police stations that aim to provide better and more efficient public services, he said. An increase in custodial deaths and abuse of force by police officers in Sri Lanka over the last few years was also highlighted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the European Union (EU). Recently the Scottish Police Service decided to suspend training offered to the Sri Lanka Police due to concerns regarding human rights.


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