A Clear Indictment On Sri Lanka Police

• 752 complaints against the police in three months

by Camelia Nathaniel-Sunday, January 24, 2016

‘Not a day goes by without reports of police officers overstepping the
bounds of the Constitution’

The National Police Commission (NPC) has so far received 752 complaints against the police from October 21, 2015 to date. According to the secretary of the NPC, N. Ariyadasa Cooray, as and when they receive these complaints the NPC calls for a report from the police.

“Currently these reports are being processed, and we are geared to conduct the investigation into these cases. First of all, we have to call for reports from the police, and they may have started preparing these reports already, and I believe that 60 to 70 per cent of the reports are being gathered. We have 9 provincial offices and the complaints received are from the entire island,” he added.

According to Cooray, 60-70 per cent of the cases are complaints about partiality, abuse of power, and police inaction. He said the NPC members had met for a discussion on Friday and were categorising these complaints.

Of over 700 complaints received so far, the latest incidents reported was a youth who had allegedly been killed by police in Embilipitiya.

The following incidents are cautionary tales for anyone who still thinks that they can defy police officers without deadly repercussions, even if it is simply to disagree about a speeding ticket, challenge a search warrant, or defend oneself against an unreasonable or unjust charge. The message they send is that “we, the people”, have very little protection from the police.

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