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Improve police treatment of women: NPP

19 Jul 2021

  • Harini seeks HRCSL guidelines for Police
  • Sarath W. defends 99% of cops
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Referring to certain incidents that have been reported where the public, especially women, were allegedly harassed by the Police, National People's Power (NPP) Parliamentarian Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said that the Public Security Minister Dr. Sarath Weerasekera has a great responsibility to set out as to how the Police should deal with women. Speaking at a media briefing in Colombo yesterday (19), she recalled how women were arrested by the Police during a protest, in Colombo on 8 July, against the proposed General Sir John Kotelawela National Defence University (KNDU) Bill. “There have been a number of complaints against the Police in the recent past. We have been paying special attention to the conduct of the Police when women are engaged in protests. We have seen how awkward the way in which the Police treated women who were engaged in a protest in Colombo on 8 July, against the proposed KNDU Bill and some other issues pertaining to problems in the field of education, was” she noted. Speaking further, Dr. Amarasuriya claimed that there were reports of the harassment of women in certain Police stations, adding that it was a very serious situation. Referring to the recent incident where a mother of two children had allegedly been sexually abused by a Police officer in the Padukka Police Station, she said: “During this time, many incidents came to light, including the incident faced by a woman who went to lodge a complaint at the Padukka Police Station. This is a situation that should be taken very seriously. A month ago, I informed the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in writing about the current situation.” Accordingly, Dr. Amarasuriya has requested the HRCSL that the Police be issued with necessary guidelines for dealing with such situations. Emphasising that the responsibility of the Police is to provide security to the people, especially women and children, she explained that people may lose confidence in the Police if they continue to act in a manner that inconveniences the public. “The Police are where we go when we have problems. There is a separate unit in the Police called the Children and Women’s Bureau. Women or children go there hoping for safety. When people in it behave this way, there is no confidence in the people about the Police and the institutional system,” she further explained. Meanwhile, when contacted by The Morning to inquire about the allegations made by Dr. Amarasuriya, Public Security Ministry Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Jagath Alwis said that it is not fair to make allegations against the entire Police department based on a few incidents. “About 99% of Police officers work well. There are a very small number who have some shortcomings. Due to certain incidents, the patience of Police officers can also be exceeded. We do not approve of it, and take action when necessary,” he added. He also said that the participants in the protest in Colombo on 8 July were arrested in order to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.  “If the number of people who attend protests is reduced as a result of that, that is good,” he noted. Alwis also said that although there are a few incidents of Police officers causing inconvenience to the public, on a daily basis, a large number of problems are also solved by the Police.


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