Sri Lanka’s long-standing issues with its law enforcement agencies, subculture brutality, and abuse of authority from State institutions are well recorded. Therefore, this week’s statement released by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) regarding custodial deaths came as no surprise. The HRCSL reported 49 deaths in police custody and 30 during confrontations from 2020 to May 2025. Commissioner of HRCSL Nimal G. Punchihewa also renewed calls for urgent reforms to restore public trust and ensure accountability.  According to him, the commission is drafting guidelines to prevent future deaths and promote lawful policing practices. 

Let us hope that such recommendations come soon, and are widely enforced, and not end up like previous guidelines issued by the HRCSL to the Police with the aim of reducing ‘encounter death’ and custodial deaths. The previous guidelines, reinforced by a circular by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and multiple court orders and determinations have done little if at all anything to stem the issue, thus far.

Meanwhile, another area where State power is often abused was flagged again this week, with the Sri Lanka Liquor Licensees’ Association accusing certain Excise officers of allegedly demanding bribes from liquor licence holders to maintain their establishments. Chairperson of the association Ajith Udugama stated that the Commissioner General (CG) of Excise has been informed in writing about such incidents. Udugama stressed that Excise officers are harassing licence holders who refuse to pay bribes and are also making false allegations against them. He said that although there are many major offenders among the licence holders, Excise officers are focused on minor incidents which are being used to solicit bribes. Udugama also claimed that some Excise officers had given liquor licences to their close friends and relatives during the tenure of the previous Government. A letter of complaint in this regard has been directed to the Excise CG while copies have been sent to the President, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, and the Criminal Investigation Department.

These two statements underscore the trust deficit between the public and law enforcement agencies, and also point to one reason why there are so many shortcomings in upholding law and order in Sri Lanka. One of the key issues which has been a part of the problem is the lack of integrity and professionalism in the law enforcement agencies. Today, many have little or no respect for the Police. The Police Department is widely believed to be ineffective, and a haven for crooks, and politicised cops, that often use the law as they please. As unpalatable as it may be, that is the widely held public perception. The point of view about the Excise Department is not very different. Some in the community boast that they can source ‘foreign liquor’ and local liquor through ‘friends’ at the Excise Department at a cheaper price than they are available in the retail market.

In many countries where there have been similar issues, governments perform integrity checks on key state officials, prime amongst them are law enforcement officials. Integrity tests are often simulated events that place a police officer unwittingly in a monitored situation with an opportunity for unethical decision-making. Many countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Canada and Australia use integrity tests, as they are useful means to prevent and detect police corruption. Integrity testing for law enforcement has become a crucial internal control mechanism for Police departments around the world. In 2011, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in the UK, invited Transparency International UK (TI UK) to commission an external review of a report written by ACPO itself titled ‘Managing Police Integrity: ACPO Approach 2011’. Such are the lengths democratic countries go to ensure the integrity of their law enforcement apparatus. There are similar integrity testing mechanisms for Judiciary, the State sector, military and national security apparatus, in many countries. It is high-time that the Government used their ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ slogan to begin doing some real house cleaning, and law enforcement, corrections, and revenue raising agencies are the best place to start.