The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has presented a document to the acting Inspector General of Police, Chandana Wickremaratne with regards to the communal violence that took place in several areas following the Easter Sunday attacks and their observations as well as their recommendations to avoid future conflicts of this nature.
The letter addressed by the Chairperson of the HRCSL, Mrs. Deepika Udugama has cited that he and other commissioners had visited the sites of the mentioned communal violence and had noticed several discrepancies after speaking with affected villagers, community leaders, police and military personnel.
The letter detailed that there seemed to be no preventive measures taken even after it was identified that there was a possibility of retaliatory violence against the Muslim communities after the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Further, intelligence should have made it possible to identify areas prone to such attacks and possible precautionary measures such as roadblocks at entry points to such areas, or a concentrated presence of the police/STF or any of the Tri Forces could have been deployed to prevent the outbreak of the violence.
The HRCSL observed that the destroyed villages (in Hettipola) had not had the benefit of police/STF or Tri Forces intervention to stop the attacks and it seemed that the mobs appeared to have had a free hand to engage in the destruction.
Further, the HRCSL claims to have received many complaints to the effect that the police officers stood by as mobs congregated in certain areas even during curfew hour.
The document cited ICCPR Act No.56 of 2OO7 (Section 3) identifying that causing incitement to racial and religious violence is prohibited by the mentioned ICCPR Act and that bail for suspects may be granted to suspects( also only in exceptional circumstances) only by the High Court (Section 3 (4) ).
However, the communique stated that eye witness accounts stated that when suspected persons were arrested, crowds gathered outside the police station demanding the release of those individuals, to which the police had moved the suspects to the Hettipola Police Station from the Bingiriya Police Station owing to crowds demanding their release, and later transferring back those individuals to the Bingiriya Police upon which they were released on police bail for mischief.
The HRCSL observed several other unsatisfactory situations to which they recommended guidelines to the Police Department to ensure that such incidents such as communal violence as well as ensuring the equal protection of the law to affected citizens and also to the public at large.
The letter addressed by the Chairperson of the HRCSL, Mrs. Deepika Udugama has cited that he and other commissioners had visited the sites of the mentioned communal violence and had noticed several discrepancies after speaking with affected villagers, community leaders, police and military personnel.
The letter detailed that there seemed to be no preventive measures taken even after it was identified that there was a possibility of retaliatory violence against the Muslim communities after the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Further, intelligence should have made it possible to identify areas prone to such attacks and possible precautionary measures such as roadblocks at entry points to such areas, or a concentrated presence of the police/STF or any of the Tri Forces could have been deployed to prevent the outbreak of the violence.
The HRCSL observed that the destroyed villages (in Hettipola) had not had the benefit of police/STF or Tri Forces intervention to stop the attacks and it seemed that the mobs appeared to have had a free hand to engage in the destruction.
Further, the HRCSL claims to have received many complaints to the effect that the police officers stood by as mobs congregated in certain areas even during curfew hour.
The document cited ICCPR Act No.56 of 2OO7 (Section 3) identifying that causing incitement to racial and religious violence is prohibited by the mentioned ICCPR Act and that bail for suspects may be granted to suspects( also only in exceptional circumstances) only by the High Court (Section 3 (4) ).
However, the communique stated that eye witness accounts stated that when suspected persons were arrested, crowds gathered outside the police station demanding the release of those individuals, to which the police had moved the suspects to the Hettipola Police Station from the Bingiriya Police Station owing to crowds demanding their release, and later transferring back those individuals to the Bingiriya Police upon which they were released on police bail for mischief.
The HRCSL observed several other unsatisfactory situations to which they recommended guidelines to the Police Department to ensure that such incidents such as communal violence as well as ensuring the equal protection of the law to affected citizens and also to the public at large.
- Take heed of early warning signs, including complaints and appeals by residents, and take preventive action when there is even the slightest hint of communal unrest. This includes providing reinforcement to those areas early, not after the event;
- Urgently provide crowd control training and necessary equipment such as tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and water cannons in a manner that is easily accessible to provincial police stations;
- Instruct OICs of the need to strictly enforce Section 3 of the ICCPR Act, No.56 of 2007, in relation to those who are inciting communal violence; and
- Ensure that no undue political or other external interventions are tolerated and that strict legal action is taken against those who obstruct police officers from performing their duties.